Blue Jays dominate Cardinals

DELPHOS - When you win the offensive, defensive and special teams battles; good things will usually happen.

Delphos St. Johns dominated all three phases and showed New Bremen they are deserving of its No. 4 state ranking with a 47-16 victory Friday night at Stadium Park.

The Blue Jays improve to 4-0 and 2-0 in Midwest Athletic Conference play while New Bremen falls to 1-3 and 0-2 in the MAC.

The Blue Jays had three plays longer than 20 yards in their first three plays from scrimmage and the Cardinals were unable to recover.

"They came out of the blocks and we just didn't respond," New Bremen coach Rob Messick said. "We just couldn't make a play."

St. John's took the opening kick-off and went 55 yards in just five plays to grab a quick 7-0 lead. The drive was capped by a 26-yard pass from Wes Ulm to Jay Leininger.

The Blue Jays partially blocked a New Bremen punt attempt late in the first quarter and went 20 yards in just four plays to grab a 14-0 lead when Evan Burgei went 2 yards for the touchdown.

"We dominated both up front on both sides of the ball," Blue Jays coach Todd Schulte said. "We had a great defensive effort tonight."

The Blue Jays then exploded for three second quarter touchdowns to put the game totally out of reach.

Ulm hit Leininger again with a 38-yard scoring strike, Jordan Leininger (Jay's younger brother) scored from 4 yards out, and Matt Brinkman dashed 4 yards to give the Blue Jays a 33-0 lead at halftime.

The Cardinals managed just 14 yards rushing on 11 attempts and 21 yards passing with no first downs in the first half.

Jordan Leininger scored midway through the third period on an 18-yard run to stretch the St. John's lead to 40-0.

The Cardinals got their initial first down of the game with 6:16 left in the third quarter on a drive that culminated in quarterback Caleb Williams scoring on a 2-yard roll-out.

Burgei scored the Blue Jays final touchdown on a 41-yard run late in the third quarter and New Bremen scored the final points of the game when Dillon Otting scored from 5 yards out midway through the fourth quarter.

The Blue Jays totaled 383 yards of offense - 249 yards rushing and 134 passing - while allowing the Cardinals 187 yards of total offense.

Ulm had a strong game for Delphos with 55 yards rushing and was 6 of 10 passing, good for 134 yards.

"We've been getting on people quick," Schulte said. "Field position was a key and our offense gained momentum and confidence from the second quarter on."