ST. MARYS - St. Marys football doesn't want any more disappearing acts in its future.
The Blue Devils meet Parkersburg Catholic on Saturday night at Parkersburg High School's Stadium Field. Game time is set for 7:30. Both teams enter with identical 1-1 records.
One week after pulling off an impressive win against Ritchie County in its season-opener, St. Marys appeared to be on its way to a 2-0 start after taking a 22-7 lead into the fourth quarter of last week's game with Wirt County.
Wirt County, though, had other ideas and ripped off 28 unanswered points in a seven-minute span while pulling off a 35-22 victory.
"We lacked the energy last week that we had in Week 1," St. Marys coach Jodi Mote said. "Against Ritchie County, we had 11 guys just getting after the ball on defense.We were blocking guys on offense and our special teams was sound.
"One week later, we are just going through the motions. Looking at film, we looked like two different teams - Wirt County kept at it and maybe it's a wake-up call we needed. I take full responsibility and will make sure that does not happen again."
The Blue Devils have an opportunity to redeem themselves against a Parkersburg Catholic unit which defeated Pocahontas County 20-14 despite giving up nearly 60 pounds per man along the line.
The Crusaders only dress 18 players, but continually win games and advance to the postseason.
"Offensively, they do a lot of different things than they have done in the past," Mote said. "They do what I call a spinner with a double wing. They try to get a lot of misdirection. They try to get the defense going one way then they go the other way.
"Our defense has to stay disciplined, and stay home."
Sophomore Clemens Raitmayr, a foreign exchange student from Austria, made his debut with the Blue Eagles by converting on all three extra point attempts and adding a 20-yard field goal in a 24-7 win against Williamstown.
"He came down to practice one day with his host family, introduced him to everyone then he got changed, went out and kicked a bunch," Magnolia coach Mark Batton said. "He really enjoyed it and came back the next day. It took him a couple of weeks to get adjusted to his steps, then spent the next week fine-tuning everything."
