Shamrocks knock off undefeated Merrill

On Saturday, October 17th the #4 ranked undefeated Merrill Vandals visited Portland for a big game with the #6 undefeated Shamrocks. The game lived up to expectations, with the Shamrocks bringing home a close victory 26-22. 

In the first quarter, the Shamrocks came out on fire and started with a defensive stop. They wasted no time and marched on a long drive, capped with a 15 yard touchdown rush from Derec Fedewa. Connor Cross also ran in a 6 yard touchdown to make the score 12-0 after one quarter. 

The Shamrocks continued their dominance in the second quarter, forcing a Merrill fumble deep in their own territory, and Connor Cross again punched it in from 5 yards out, and he also ran in the two point conversion. Defensively, Braxton Teachworth crunched and stripped a ball from the Merrill quarterback, and Derec Fedewa scooped and scored from 23 yards out. This made the score 26-0 Shamrocks just 5 minutes into the second quarter. Merrill was not giving up however, and they marched down the field and scored, and then scored on the two point conversion leaving the score 26-8. St. Patrick drove down the field in the final minute of the first half, but a pass from Connor Cross to Derec Fedewa was caught out the back of the end zone, and the drive sputtered. 

In the third quarter, St. Patrick gave up another touchdown and two point conversion, making the score 26-16. 

In the fourth quarter, the Vandals again scored, but the Shamrocks shut down their two point conversion. St. Patrick receieved the ball with about 7 minutes left in the game and drove all the way down the field, eating up most of the final minutes. On 2nd and goal, Connor Cross broke loose up the middle and in attempting to score, he fumbled the ball on about the one yard line, allowing Merrill to recover in the end zone for a touchback. On the next series, the Shamrock defense shut them down and on 4th and 2, Derec Fedewa tackled the quarterback for a loss, and the Shamrocks took over on downs. 

Offensive leaders for the Shamrocks were Derec Fedewa with 21 carries for 127 yards and 1 touchdown, Payton Russman with 11 carries for 57 yards, Connor Cross carried 17 times for 50 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Braxton Teachworth caught 2 passes for 21 yards. 

Defensive leaders for the Shamrocks were Braxton Teachworth and Brian Kwiecinski both with 9 tackles, Derec Fedewa had 8 tackles and 1 tackle for loss (TFL). Brice Cook also had 5 tackles, 1 sack and 1 TFL. Chase Fitzsimmons anchored the middle with 7 tackles at Noseguard. 

The Shamrocks get another undefeated foe next week, when they travel to Burr Oak to take on the Bobcats. Burr Oak has beaten Waldron 54-8, Tekonsha 52-12, Battle Creek St. Philip 39-0, North Adams-Jerome 49-12, and Litchfield 60-0. The game is at 7:00 pm, on Friday, October 23rd in Burr Oak.