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St. Paul Como Park tops Breck, rattling off third straight victory

By Luke Hanlon, SportsEngine, 10/07/17, 10:00AM CDT

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Cougars' quarterback Robert Adams ran for 160 and a touchdown.

Como Park senior linebacker Donnie Ventrelli (23) collaborates with teammate Kaspian Menne (72) to sack Mustangs quarterback David Roddy late in the 3rd quarter as Como Park wins their homecoming game 18-13. Photo by Travis Ellison, SportsEngine

St. Paul Como Park linebacker Donnie Ventrelli (23) collaborates with teammate Kaspian Menne (72) to sack Mustangs quarterback David Roddy late in the third quarter. The Cougars won their homecoming game 18-13. Photo by Travis Ellison, SportsEngine


Cougars senior running back William Wooten (5) sheds an attempted tackle from Breck School defensive back Alex McKenna (5) as the Cougars come out on top with a close 18-13 victory. Photo by Travis Ellison, SportsEngine

Cougars senior running back William Wooten (5) sheds an attempted tackle from Breck School defensive back Alex McKenna (5) as the Cougars come out on top with a close 18-13 victory. Photo by Travis Ellison, SportsEngine

St. Paul Como Park won its homecoming game on Saturday, but it couldn’t play the game at home.
 
Como Park got a new turf field over the summer, but the project was not completed on time, and the Cougars have had to play their home games at James Griffin Stadium, the home of St. Paul Central, one of the Cougars’ rivals.
 
The only way Como Park head coach Kirby Scull could describe the situation was disappointing.
 
“And I know the kids are disappointed,” he said.
 
Scull was not disappointed in the play of his team today, however, as the Cougars defeated Breck 18-13.
 
The Cougars had control with the effectiveness of their run game. They ran for a total of 438 yards. Quarterback Robert Adams led the way, running for 160 yards and a touchdown. He added a touchdown and 50 yards in the air as well.
 
The touchdown he threw was a 28-yard pitch-and-catch to Donny Ventrelli. Ventrelli did a little bit of everything today, as he caught that touchdown, he ran for 19 yards and a touchdown, plus he added a sack on defense.
 
“I thought I played great and my team played great,” Ventrelli said. “Homecoming is always a fun game.”
 
Ventrelli was one of many members of the Cougar defense who constantly pressured Breck quarterback David Roddy all game. While Roddy did a good job of maneuvering away from pressure multiple times, it was too much for him to avoid negative plays. The Cougars defense came away with four interceptions in the game, all four of them coming from different players.
 
“We didn’t execute on offense, we didn’t execute on defense. We had some bright moments on both sides, we were just not consistent enough,” Breck head coach Jon Martin said about his team’s performance.
 
One of the bright moments he was talking about came at the end of the first half. With 24 seconds left in the half, the Cougars ran a pass play, hoping for a big play to try and go up by two scores. What happened instead was an interception by Elijah Zackery, and he returned it to the Como Park 14. Then, David Roddy found Josh Roddy open in the end zone to tie the game with no time left in the half.  
 
“If I had to do it again, and I knew it was going to end like that, for sure I (would’ve) taken a knee,” Scull said about the decision to pass.
 
The touchdown was one of two that Roddy threw. He finished the game with 176 passing yards; 117 of them were to Josh Roddy.
 
Martin was upset with the outcome of this game, and he had a simple answer when asked what his team needed to adjust before the end of the season.
 
“The kids need to do what they’re coached to do and stop doing their own thing.”

Photo Gallery

Mustangs junior quarterback David Roddy hurdles defender to cross the first down marker but a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct takes the Mustangs backwards in their 18-13 loss to St. Paul Como Park. Photo by Travis Ellison, SportsEngine

Mustangs junior quarterback David Roddy hurdles defender to cross the first down marker but a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct takes the Mustangs backwards in their 18-13 loss to St. Paul Como Park. Photo by Travis Ellison, SportsEngine

First Report

St. Paul Como Park came up with an 18-13 homecoming victory against Breck in a Twin City Red subdistrict battle on Saturday afternoon.

Despite being homecoming for the Cougars (5-1, 4-1), they played at James Griffin Stadium, home for St. Paul Central. The Cougars got a new turf field this summer, but it was not ready in time for this year’s football season, so they've been playing their home games less than three miles south at St. Paul Central.

That didn’t bother the Cougars on homecoming, as they won with a combination of a reliable running game and a stingy defense. The Cougars ran for a total of 438 yards, led by quarterback Robert Adams, who ran for 160 yards and a touchdown.

The St. Paul Como Park defense also came up big as it was able to force four turnovers, all interceptions, setting up the offense with good field position multiple times.

Breck’s offense had trouble holding onto the ball, but it was still able to make some big plays. The Mustangs were led by quarterback David Roddy who threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns. His main connection was Josh Roddy, who caught seven passes for 117 yards and a touchdown.

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