There was little that went right for host Mount St. Joseph on offense Saturday against Edmondson. The Gaels committed four turnovers, went 0-for-4 on fourth-down conversions and never got within 19 yards of the end zone.
On this day, about the only thing that did go right for them was the final score.
Eighth-ranked Mount St. Joseph first took advantage of a series of fluke plays to take the lead, then used intense defensive pressure to keep it in a 9-6 win over the No. 10 Red Storm.
"I thought Edmondson's defense was really well-prepared. They had a good game plan for us and really took away what we normally do pretty well," Gaels coach Chip Armstrong said. "In the end, it was that fluke play in the end zone that held up."
That fluke play was one to behold.
Trailing 6-0, the Gaels faced a fourth-and-long from the Edmondson 22 with 1 second left in the first half. Quarterback Kyle Fuller then sent a floater into the end zone that defensive back Dwayne Purdie picked off near the goal line.
Trying to put an exclamation point on the play, however, Purdie made a series of moves to dodge would-be tacklers, held out the ball as if to lateral and ultimately fumbled. When the ensuing scramble had come to an end, Gaels running back Brian Morton found himself on top of the ball in the end zone.
"I was just there at the right time," Morton said. "It popped out, and I just grabbed it."
Late in the third quarter, the Gaels (2-0) took advantage of another key miscue, when Edmondson attempted to punt out of its end zone. An errant snap sent the Red Storm scrambling to recover the ball, and in the ensuing mad rush, Jeffrey Matthews tackled Lawrence Jackson for the safety.
"We preach all year that you've got to finish - there's no point in getting there and not finishing," Edmondson coach Dante Jones said. "Coming out in the second half, that play was behind us. We just never reasserted ourselves."
That was particularly true on offense, where the Red Storm (0-1) had managed just 14 total yards midway through the fourth quarter. They finished with 104 yards after putting together a pair of late drives.
Led by linemen Joe Englehart, Sean Dornbush and Mike Dahl, the Gaels put constant pressure on All-City quarterback Jerry Lovelocke, who completed just five of 22 passes.
