Knights hold on for narrow win over Steelhawks (10 photos)

There were positives on both sides of the field following Friday’s senior high school football clash between the St. Mary’s Knights and Superior Heights Steelhawks.

With a 14-point lead at halftime and a 19-point lead late in the third quarter, the Knights held on for a narrow 25-23 win over the Steelhawks in week two action.

The game plan shifted for the Knights when Nick Pagnotta suffered an ankle injury in the early moments of the contest and was unable to run the ball as much as he normally would as a major part of the St. Mary’s offence.

“It was tough with Pagnotta hurt,” Monico said. “90 per cent of our offence is based on him running the ball, getting the ball, and keeping the ball in his hands. It was tough but I give a big shout out to Carter Ianni. He played a fantastic game.”

Ianni would find himself running the ball 15 times for 116 yards for the Knights in the win.

“He ran super tough,” Monico said. “He punted well all game. He deserves a lot of credit.”

Pagnotta did remain in the game, serving as quarterback for the Knights and threw a pair of touchdown passes in the victory.

For Superior Heights, the late comeback is something to build on after some early mistakes in the contest.

“We made some mistakes that cost us early on in field position and some points,” said Superior Heights co-coach Steve McLeod, who is splitting the coaching duties with Fred Casselman. “They’re things that we recognize and know we can clean up.

“We’re definitely proud of the effort and they didn’t quit,” McLeod added.

“We could have easily given up in that game,” Casselman added. “You could see the kids wanting to work back (into the game) and be resilient.”

The Knights opened the scoring thanks to a 22-yard touchdown catch by Chuck Webb in the opening quarter and a convert by Kyle Finateri and increased the lead to 14-0 on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Pagnotta to Dylan Forsyth.

Mitch Della Vedova got the Steelhawks on the board on the opening play of the second half when he ran the ball 100 yards from scrimmage. Gavin Smith missed the convert, making the score 14-6 St. Mary’s.

The Knights lead increased midway through the third quarter as the Steelhawks conceded a safety to make the score 16-6 St. Mary’s.

Forsyth picked up another touchdown late in the third quarter. With the convert, the Knights took a 23-6 lead.

A second safety conceded by the Steelhawks made the scored 25-6 with just over a minute to go in the third quarter.

Della Vedova ran the ball in from 64 yards out. With a convert from Smith, the Steelhawks made the scored 25-13.

The St. Mary’s lead got cut to 10 points after the Knights conceded a safety with 8:21 to go in the fourth quarter.

A 28-yard touchdown catch by Malcolm Boyer and a two-point convert by Della Vedova made the score 25-23 St. Mary’s with 6:23 to go.

Della Vedova finished the day with 238 yards rushing on 19 carries and also caught a pair of passes for 21 yards.

Defensively for the Knights, Carter Bonin has six tackles and an assisted tackle, as did Evan Sicoly.

Zach Martin had 10 tackles for the Steelhawks.

St. Mary’s returns to action on Sept. 27 against Korah after a bye week in week three.

Superior Heights is back in action on Sept. 20 against Korah.