After being beaten handily on all sides of the ball last week against Don Bosco Prep (NJ), the St. Joe’s Prep Hawks bounce back with a commanding 35-6 win over St. Ignatius (Cleveland, OH).  

After turning the ball over on an interception on their first drive, the Hawks retaliated by forcing a fumble on the very next play.  The Hawks capitalized on their second opportunity by scoring a touchdown on a 30 yard pass from QB Kevin Shaw to WR Darryle Simmons.  On the ensuing kickoff, Hawks kicker Alex Talbot kicked the ball much shorter than intended, and after a lucky bounce, the Hawks recovered the ball at the Ignatius 25 yard line.  After that, St. Ignatius struggled to get anything going, especially struggling on the later downs, going a combined 2/13 on 3rd and 4th down conversion attempts.

Not surprisingly for the Hawks, it was their running backs that stood out, namely the highly recruited junior D’Andre Swift.  Swift ran for two touchdowns Saturday, and caught for another one.  His speed and agility from the backfield gave the Wildcats problems, as it seemed no player on that defense was able to bring him down by themselves.  Senior Captain Benny Walls also had a good day, picking up a few yards whenever needed, and scoring a touchdown in the process.  

On the defensive side of the ball defensive end Joe Dumond was the Hawks’ premier player.  With Notre Dame commit William Eichenberg out on the already hurting offensive line, Dumond was able to pressure Ignatius quarterback Dennis Grosel all day, coming away with several sacks.

The Hawks have a lot of positives to take away from this game.  First, their team as a whole was able to bounce back from a tough loss with a dominating win, which shows this coaching staff’s ability to get their players in the right frame of mind each week.  Also, St. Joe’s looked strong on both the offensive and defensive lines, which are areas where they are inexperienced coming into the season.

Coach Gabe Infante and his team have a buy week due to the papal visit, giving them extra practice time to prepare for teams such as Malvern Prep (PA) and St. Joseph’s Regional (NJ), both of whom the Hawks have upcoming home games against at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.