The Apollo-Ridge Vikings used a 14-0 fourth-quarter advantage to pull away and defeat Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 27-12, Saturday night at Moon High School’s Tiger Stadium.
The loss dropped OLSH to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in WPIAL Class 2A Allegheny Conference action while Apollo-Ridge improved to 4-2 and 2-0.
The Vikings were led by Alex Clawson on offense and defense as he tallied 114 yards and a touchdown, completing 6 of 8 passes.
Clawson’s top target was Jaden McCray, who caught three passes for 66 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown reception that put the Vikings on top, 20-12, in the fourth quarter.
On the defensive side, Clawson intercepted OLSH quarterback Fabian Nixon and also recovered a fumble. He was glad to come home with a victory after traveling over an hour to Moon Township.
“It feels a lot better to drive here after a win,” Clawson said. “You forget the pain in your body after a game too.”
Apollo-Ridge struck first on a 56-yard drive that was capped by McCray’s 7-yard touchdown run to go up 7-0 late in the first quarter.
Clawson then picked off a Nixon pass at the OLSH 28-yard line.
Clawson found Logen Schrock for 22 yards, getting the Vikings to the OLSH 6.
McCray then ran for his second touchdown of the night to put his team up 13-0 before the end of the first quarter.
The momentum swung to the Chargers in the second quarter.
After getting good field position at the Apollo-Ridge 36 on a punt, OLSH’s Prentice Organ took one to the house on the first play of the drive to make it 13-6.
OLSH went for more, manufacturing a drive that entered the Apollo-Ridge red zone. But a Chargers fumble that was recovered by Clawson gave the Vikings the ball back going into the half.
The Chargers took up the first eight minutes of the third quarter and finished their drive with Nixon’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Owen Nestor.
Nixon attempted to run a sweep right for the 2-point conversion, but was blown up short of the goal, enabling Apollo-Ridge to maintain a 13-12 lead.
OLSH was forced to punt halfway through the fourth quarter, and when the punt hit an Apollo-Ridge player, the Chargers’ Chris Harris recovered at the OLSH 47-yard line.
But the Vikings defense came up big, forcing a fumble and Avery Grant fell on it.
Apollo-Ridge followed up with Clawson’s 53-yard touchdown pass to McCray on the very next play to make it 19-12, and the PAT increased the lead to 20-12.
The Vikings sealed the game on Preston Clemens’ 36-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Nixon completed 5 of 21 pass attempts for 43 yards. Organ finished with 91 yards rushing on 13 carries for OLSH.
The Vikings rallied two sacks, a pick six and two fumble recoveries in the fourth quarter.
“We made adjustments on defense,” McCray said. “We made adjustments to the offense, and we stopped them. We were able to get sacks. We’re able to get picks and then got the ball back and we took it in for another one.”
The Chargers look to bounce back next week at South Park.
Photos by Mike Longo Jr.
Thank you, as always for the coverage. More thanks for the glimpse of our son “51” getting it done. We missed the game and the photo made our day. Thank you!