For three quarters Friday night, St. Pius dominated Westminster — before things got dicey and the Golden Lions had to hold on for a 27-13 victory.
St. Pius (1-0) eased to a 24-0 halftime lead and went up 27-0 in the third quarter on Thomas O’Leary’s second field goal. Then, Westminster sophomore utility man Rankin Woley scored two touchdowns in the final period to pull the visitors close.
Good thing the Golden Lions have O’Leary, a special teams plan and senior wingback/cornerback Jack Pelt.
St. Pius scored first, when junior linebacker/fullback Forrest Whitlark blocked Westminster’s first punt, and then scooped it up to score on a 32-yard play. Add field goals of 22 and 47 yards by O’Leary, factor in a missed PAT after the Wildcats’ final score, and you have the margin — 14 points.
“Every (O’Leary) kickoff but one was in the end zone; we punted the ball well, we didn’t let them get any returns,” said St. Pius coach Paul Standard, whose team fell in last year’s Class AAA state championship game to Buford. “And I think the blocked punt turned the momentum of the game.”
Westminster (0-2) stopped the Golden Lions to open the game with a three-and-out, and St. Pius followed the same way. Then, Whitlark got loose on the Wildcats’ right side. He was not alone; the Golden Lions flooded that side for the punt block.
“We hadn’t really worked on a lot of punt blocks so we put a couple in this week,” said Whitlark, who started at outside linebacker. “The one we ran, a lot of guys got on the left side and I just got lucky.”
Westminster, which fell 18-0 a week earlier in its opener against Blessed Trinity, nearly evened the score moments later. Senior quarterback Jake Forte’s play action fooled the Golden Lions and wide receiver Jackson Egan was all alone some 50 yards downfield.
The ball fell through his hands, however, and the Wildcats soon punted.
Junior quarterback Joey Connor’s 66-yard run set up a second score for St. Pius. Wilson rumbled up the middle for a 9-yard score and O’Leary’s PAT made it 14-0.
Pelt scored on a 22-yard sweep around right end to stake St. Pius to a 21-0 lead with 8:43 left in the second quarter, then thwarted Westminster’s best scoring chance in the first half when he stepped in front of Wildcat wide receiver Chris Ottley in the end zone and returned it to the 9-yard-line with 5:47 left in the second quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Woley blew off left tackle and went 71 yards for a score. He added a 1-yard run late in the game.
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