Football: Columbus Academy rallies to beat St. Charles, stay unbeaten
Thursday, September 14, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Columbus Academy running back Thomas Greyson rushes for a touchdown during the Vikings’ 23-16 win over St. Charles Sept. 14. Photo: Kevin Rouch
There were still more than three quarters remaining when host Columbus Academy found itself in a two-touchdown hole in a matchup against fellow unbeaten St. Charles on Thursday.
The Vikings, as had been the case while giving up an average of just eight points during their first four games, then clenched their defensive fist and rallied for a 23-16 victory that improved their record to 5-0.
It’s the best start for Academy since 2001 when it won its first six games and finished 9-2.
“We made some catastrophic mistakes that typically crater teams, but this heart, this character … these guys are some of the best people I’ve ever been around,” Vikings coach Robin Miller said. “This is an unbelievable win for the program. (St. Charles is) going to win a lot of games. (Our) defense has been outrageous. They made key plays when we really needed them.”
St. Charles, which dropped to 4-1, was giving up an average of just 12.8 points heading into the matchup but couldn’t maintain control after the fast start.
The Vikings took a 20-14 lead on a 13-yard run by quarterback Jack Yeoman with 6 minutes, 52 seconds to go in the third quarter.
St. Charles quarterback Ryan Mooney dives into the end zone for the score during the Cardinals’ 23-16 loss to Columbus Academy Sept. 14. Photo: Kevin Rouch
Academy began its next possession at its own 2 and was stopped for a safety with 4:13 left in the third to cut it to 20-16.
St. Charles couldn’t take advantage of the miscue, however, fumbling at its own 41 on its next drive and having two other second-half drives end with interceptions.
Academy sophomore Parker Stoner had one interception and one fumble recovery, senior Nick Yakam had a forced fumble and an interception and Michael Milenkovski had a fumble recovery to lead the defense.
“We’ve worked together really well, and whenever we give up big plays, we come back and keep fighting,” Stoner said. “We’re physical and we like to play hard. We’ve got good leadership and we kept fighting and kept playing until the game was over.”
St. Charles took a 7-0 lead with 8:53 to go in the opening quarter when Pervonne Vera returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown.
A 40-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Mooney to Joey Schmitt late in the first quarter set up a 5-yard scoring run by Mooney two plays later that gave the Cardinals a 14-0 advantage.
Columbus Academy’s Nick Yakam intercepts a St. Charles hail Mary pass to nail down the win for the Vikings Sept. 14. Photo: Kevin Rouch
A 36-yard touchdown run by the Vikings’ Mikey Jauchius with 10:36 to go before halftime cut the deficit to 14-7 and a 10-yard scoring run by Academy’s Greyson Thomas with 3:42 to go in the second quarter tied it at 14.
“We came out slow, and we’ve made that mistake a couple times in the past, but I know that every single person has the capability to beat anyone that we want to,” Thomas said. “I have full faith in my line and in the defense and I just want to keep going with this season.”
Thomas, who also had a 47-yard run on the drive that he scored his touchdown, finished with 132 yards on 15 carries.
Jauchius added 68 yards rushing for the Vikings, who begin Central Buckeye League action Sept. 22 at home against Whitehall.
Mooney threw for 169 yards for the Cardinals, who were limited to 40 yards rushing.
“We knew it was going to be a tight game,” said Cardinals coach Deke Hoker, whose team must now face CCL-rival DeSales on Sept. 22. “They have a good team. We have a good team. They made more plays down the stretch than we did. We had too many errors, and you can’t do that against good teams. We’re 4-1 at midseason and we’ve got to learn from this and move on.”