St. Edward forced four big turnovers, including one to close out the game, as they topped Genoa-Kingston 15-14 in the season opener.
Trailing 14-12, the Green Wave marched 45 yards down the field and took the lead with 4:58 to play when sophomore Joe French booted a 42-yard field goal.
That gave the Cogs ample time to put together a drive of their own, and they did just that as they moved the ball from their own 20 to the Green Wave 28.
With 15.2 seconds to play and out of timeouts, the Cogs tried to move the ball a little closer on second down to set up a more manageable field goal attempt, but senior middle linebacker Joe Stump jumped on the Adam Price pass and intercepted it to seal the win.
“I read the guy going out on the little flare pass that we’ve been practicing all week and I just read the ball and made the play,” said Stump.
Added Coach Mike Rolando, “We figured they were going to throw, because they were out of timeouts. (Stump) came all the way over from middle to get underneath that and made a great play.”
Stump had a big game all-around, as he recovered a fumble and an onside kick earlier in the contest before his game-ending pick.
Offensively, the Green Wave leaned hard on junior running back Davontae Elam, as he rushed the ball 26 times for 166 yards and a pair of touchdowns, accounting for all but 18 of his team’s yards on offense.
“I want to give credit to my line for stepping up, they came up big in the second half and gave me the push and we just kept going and never gave up,” said Elam.
The Cogs relied on their running game as well, as Sal Lopez led the way with 23 carries for 123 yards and both of his team’s touchdowns. Eli Thurlby added 68 yards on 11 carries and Jose Ruiz chipped in 39 yards on 10 carries.
However, their three fumbles proved costly as two of them led to Green Wave touchdowns. Andrew Yarwood and Will Bothwell joined Stump in recording a fumble recovery.
