By Brian Ptashinski @BPtashinski on Twitter.
JIM THORPE- The Olympians, behind the stellar play of Justin St Hill, at both running back and as a QB from Wildcat formation, dominated the visitors from North Schuylkill Friday night. At Jim Thorpe Memorial Stadium, the Olympians dominated to a 42-18 win in a Schuylkill League I matchup, before a near capacity homecoming crowd in the borough.
St. Hill rushed for 180 yards and also was featured in the passing game for another 92 yards. He threw for two scores, while reaching the end zone himself on two occasions in the contest. For good measure he picked off a pass in the final quarter.
Jim Thorpe scored the first 21 points of the game as St. Hill scored from two yards out. Then while playing QB, St. Hill connected with CJ Selby on a swing pass for a 50 yard score. He then hooked up with Shawn O’Toole in the corner of the end zone for a nine-yard score.
North Schuylkill managed to get on the board with about 2 minutes left before halftime as Tyler Elsdon scored from nine yards out but the PAT was missed leaving the score at 21-6 at intermission.
The Spartans used an onside kick to open up the second half and recovered the ball. They were unable to sustain a drive and was forced to punt the ball back to the Olympians.
A few plays later O’Toole scored from nine yards out for the home team making the score 28-6.
North Schuylkill scored later in the third quarter on Mason Geary’s 12-yard scoring pass from Doug Weist. Weist also had a ten-yard pass to Brandon Rockwell to cut the lead to 28-18 with about ten minutes left in the game.
With just under five minutes left to play, St. Hill stepped in front of a Weist pass and returned it to the Spartan one. From there St. Hill took it in to make the score 35-18. O’Toole then scored his third touchdown of the night, ripping off a 31-yard jaunt to close out the scoring.
“He’s such a great athlete (St. Hill). He’s a dual threat, who has transformed into a quarterback as well,” Jim Thorpe coach Mark Rosenberger stated about his all-around player.
“North Schuylkill is a good football team, and well-coached. We knew we were going to have a hard time stopping them all night,” Rosenberger concluded.
The Olympians now (7-0) will travel to Tamaqua (5-2). Tamaqua lost 41-35 to unbeaten Lehighton Friday night. The Spartans will host 2-5 Blue Mountain, who upset Pottsville Friday night 20-6.
