CALUMET TOWNSHIP | South Bend St. Joseph showed why they are ranked 35th in the state Friday night against Calumet. The Indians had four different players score in their 35-0 win over the Warriors in the Class 3A sectional semi-final.
The Indians opened the scoring near the end of the second quarter on a fourth and goal from the 1-yard line. Quarterback Matthew Monserez ran in from one yard out to give St. Joseph a 7-0 lead.
On Calumet’s possession, a fourth and 22 at their own 21 yard line forced the game's lone punt. After James Adams' punt, the Indians started at their own 39. On the next play, Tajah Smith ran for a 61-yard touchdown to put the Indians up 14-0 early in the second quarter.
Calumet tried to answer, and had a 19-play, 9-minute drive that started at their own 34. The Warriors faced a fourth and goal on the 5-yard line, but Adams’ run was two yards shy of the goal line. It took St. Joseph three plays to add another touchdown. Monserez threw a 73-yard pass to Denton Gillis that gave the Indians a 21-0 lead going into halftime.
“That was tough,” Warriors coach Ivan Zimmer said about their failure to get into the end zone and the subsequent 73-yard touchdown pass by the Indians.
“If you go in to halftime down 14-7, it’s a whole different ball game.”
The Indians (7-4) scored on their first possession of the second half, on a 14-yard screen pass from Monserez to Smith. Smith had 102 yards in total offense for the Indians.
Backup quarterback Dylan Scott rushed for a 9-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to put St. Joseph up 35-0.
St. Joseph had 320 yards of offense, compared to Calumet’s 155. Monserez was 7-of-9 and threw for 170 yards.
Adams had 80 yards rushing to lead the Warriors, but he had to sit out most of the second half due to an ankle injury. Kurt Davia had 40 yards receiving for Calumet.
“For our kids to come out and play St. Joe’s the way they did, I was extremely proud,” Zimmer said. “I thought we’d be able to move the football. During the game we had two or three critical injuries, and we have a lot of two-way guys.”
Calumet finishes the season with a 1-10 record, after getting their first win last week.
“I was really proud of the football team. We worked hard all season, and about four weeks ago the kids started buying it. Last week I think we shocked the state by beating Gavit. We’re proud of these kids sticking together. The camaraderie between these kids is pretty good, they’re all underclassmen.”
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