By james art BIRMINGHAM – The host Birmingham Groves Falcons have scored in five of their first six games and cruised to a 35-0 win over Birmingham Seaholm Maples in the final leg of their rivalry.
It was a lopsided reverse of their meetings last season, both won by Seaholm, including a wild 56-49 win in the first round of the playoffs.
“We took a silly penalty, but other than that I was happy with the guys’ effort,” Groves head coach Brendan Flaherty said. “They (Seaholm) are a tough team. They are a great team and they are very well coached and we have so much respect for coach (Jim) Dewald at Seaholm. That’s why it’s sweet to get this one under our belt.
Groves’ offense got off to a hot start and stayed that way all night. The Falcons got a nine-yard run from Mario Campoy-Lovasco on the first play from scrimmage, and seven plays later were in the end zone for the first time as Campoy-Lovasco went around right end for a 12-yard touchdown.
Offensively, the Falcon’s ground game dominated. Campoy-Lovasco and Noah Sanders took turns dancing through Seaholm’s defense as the offensive line ripped holes for them to run through. Sanders led all rushers with 104 yards and two touchdowns, while Campoy-Lovasco added 86 yards and two more touchdowns for the Falcons.
“I thought they really ran hard. Before the game I challenged them to run hard. (I said) let’s get what we can, and the linemen kept their guys. I think that was the hardest our guys have run all year,” Flaherty said.
When quarterback Ryan Counts dropped back to pass, he had plenty of time and was very efficient as well. Broy completed 11 of 13 passes for 132 yards and one touchdown.
Seaholm’s offense was led by their ground game, where Penn Roberts was the leading rusher with 44 yards on 13 carries. But the Maples couldn’t find any consistency and whenever they had to pass, the Groves rushers feasted. Seaholm ran just one play in Groves territory all night – and that play ended disastrously for the Maples as Joshua Hammonds burst down the right side and threw the quarterback for a strip. The fumble was recovered by Ray Glory-Ejoyoka and the Falcons themselves returned the ball right through midfield. Eight plays later, Groves was in the end zone again, and Sanders found a gain.
“We got beat in the box a little bit, we got physical in the box,” DeWald said. “We have to be more physical.”
Both teams will look to Sunday night to see what happens next.
Groves finishes the regular season 9-0 and is certain to enter the Division 2 playoffs as the top seed and host its first game. The Falcons will have to wait until Sunday night to see who they play.
Photo gallery from Birmingham Groves vs Seaholm in OAA crossover football action
“I think it’s good. It’s amazing how quickly it disappeared,” Flaherty said. “These guys are on a mission, just trying to get better every week and just enjoying this group of guys and trying to talk about these guys’ memories. We’ll keep it going.”
With a 6-3 record, Seaholm, which entered the final week ranked 13th in the D2 playoff points standings, also appears to have secured a playoff berth.
“Our kids, their hearts are bigger than 300 pounds. We are fighting,” Dewald said. “We’re going to reset, focus on ourselves, see where we can get better when we watch the tape. Obviously, physicality will be the main focus next week and we’ll see who we play against. We are looking forward to it,” he added.