Mandeville blanks St. Paul's in opener

Mandeville’s Skippers turned in a solid defense effort Friday night, shutting down the St. Paul’s Wolves offense to secure a 17-0 district opening victory at Hunter Stadium in Covington.

MHS (3-0) and St. Paul’s (3-1) went toe to toe in the early going with both defenses controlling the tempo. Mandeville junior backup quarterback John Wenzel entered the fray, replacing starter Andy Bertoniere with 1:13 remaining in the opening quarter with the game scoreless. Wenzel produced in a clutch way, connecting on 7-of-13 passes for 106 yards including two TD tosses. Wenzel hit senior wide receiver Michael Garrido on a 17-yard scoring toss with 8:35 left in the second quarter to put the Skippers up 6-0. Junior place kicker Matt Dombrowski tacked on the point after.

The score was set up when Mandeville senior Kody Keowen put the Skippers in great field position, returning a punt 49 yards down to the Wolves’ 25. St. Paul’s senior linebacker Jordan Bodenheimer made a touchdown saving tackle on the return. On first down, Wenzel called his own number, picking up eight yards. He then found Garrido in the middle of the end zone after he worked his way free from the St. Paul’s defense.

Mandeville third-year coach Guy LeCompte said he made the switch at quarterback because his team needed a spark.

“John has great leadership. He is a person who is going to live up to the challenge. He is very competitive. He’s tough, and that showed. He came through when we needed him,” LeCompte added.

LeCompte said Wenzel came in with the hot hand so he stayed with him.

Wenzel said the Skippers watched film all week, and came in prepared.

“I knew I needed to step it up when I got in the game. We haven’t beaten St. Paul’s in a few years. It was time for us to win,” Wenzel said.

LeCompte also praised the play of the Skippers’ defense.

“They kept us in this game the whole time. My hat is off to our defense. All year they have been playing well. Craig Jones, our defensive coordinator, is doing an outstanding job and the defensive coaches. Those guys are working their tails off to get the players in the right positions, at the right time to succeed,” LeCompte said.

The Skippers held the Wolves to just 125 yards of total offense, allowing 74 yards on the ground and just 51 through the air.

Jones was beaming with enthusiasm on his defense’s solid performance.

“I’m so very proud of them. We played a different defense. We probably haven’t run a 50-defense in about three years. I think that threw St. Paul’s off in the beginning. I just think our defense played great. They broke on passes, made solid tackles, and forced turnovers. It was a tremendous defensive effort,” Jones said.

Following the first Mandeville score, St. Paul’s faced another stiff challenge by the MHS defense, which forced a three-and-out. Wolves’ punter Will Gensler got off a 54-yard punt with a nice role with the ball being downed at the Mandeville 12. Junior running back Darrell Adams, who led the Skippers’ ground game with 47 yards on nine carries, gained eight yards on first down. Wenzel hit Will Bunns for a long gainer, which was initially good for 63 yards, but Mandeville was tagged with a post-play penalty, bringing the ball back up field to the St. Paul’s 40-yard line. Adams carried for five yards. Wenzel went back to work, hitting Bunns with a short pass along the left sideline as the speedy wide out appeared to be uncovered due to a mix up in the Wolves’ secondary. Bunns made a quick sidestep move, eluding a tackler, and he scampered untouched into the end zone for a 35-yard score. Dombrowski was true on the PAT to give the Skippers a 14-0 lead with 5:09 left in the first half.

Wenzel said before the snap they didn’t have Bunns covered so we just made an audible at the line. “I hit him with a quick pass, and he used his athletic ability to score,” Wenzel said.

St. Paul’s Julien Lamothe returned the ensuing kickoff 34 yards, giving the Wolves good field position at their 39 with five minutes left in the half. Mikhail Washington gained five and 10 yards on two runs, picking up only the second first down for the Wolves in the half. Wolves’ signal caller Ricky Wendel, who struggled hitting on just 7-of-18 passes for 42-yards, hit Patrick Huval for a yard. Huval had three catches for 29 yards, giving him 13 receptions for the season.

Stephon Smith carried on two straight plays, picking up six and then one yard. With 1:58 left in the first half, facing fourth-and-two, Wendel was picked off by MHS senior defensive back Austin Storms. On the interception return, the Skippers were flagged for an illegal block. MHS took over at its 25 with 1:38 remaining in the half. The Skippers were unable to move up field, settling for a 14-0 halftime advantage.

St. Paul’s Washington fumbled with 7:36 left in the third quarter with Max Lancaster recovering for Mandeville at the Wolves’ 16-yard line. Wenzel rushed for six yards followed by Adams for two yards and then a yard, setting up fourth-and-one from the seven. LeCompte decided to go for a field goal. Dombrowski clicked from 25 yards out of a Chris Houlemard hold to finish off the scoring with 5:41 to play in the third quarter.

St. Paul’s Jermaine Sams returned the ensuing kickoff 73 yards being tackled on a touchdown saving stop by cornerback Jerry Mitchell at the Mandeville 22. The Skippers failed to pick up a first. On fourth-and-eight, Jake Saltalamacchia attempted a 37-yard field goal, which was wide left with 4:40 left in the third quarter.

With 1:34 remaining in the quarter, St. Paul’s finally put together its best drive of the game. The Wolves picked up four consecutive first downs before stalling at the nine-yard line. Saltalamacchia, who had connected on four-of-six field goal attempts in the first three games, was wide right from 26-yards out.

St. Paul’s coach Ken Sears said turnovers and penalties.

“We couldn’t generate anything. We’d get a big first down, get the chains moving, and we would get a penalty. It’s the same things that were ailing us last week. We have no consistency on offense,” Sears said.

“Hats off to Mandeville. They had an excellent plan. Their kids earned their victory.”

Mandeville gets back into action Thursday night due to the St. Tammany Parish Fair, hosting the Slidell Tigers, which blanked Covington 35-0. St. Paul’s travels to Hammond to take on the Tornadoes also on Thursday. The Tors fell to Fontainebleau 36-0.