Spalding clinches berth in title game

BEL AIR - Archbishop Spalding finally figured out how to stop Stephen St. Clair: Keep him off the field.

St. Clair, John Carroll's most dangerous weapon, had only three second-half drives with which to work. Meanwhile, Wade Korvin and Shelly White put the Cavaliers ahead and the defense locked up a 30-19 victory last night to clinch a berth in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference title game.

"We expected it," said Terrell Johnson, the captain of the Cavaliers' defense, which had two interceptions and two sacks in the last 14 minutes. "Our goal at the beginning of the year was to get to a championship, and that's what we're going to do."

Archbishop Spalding (8-1), which didn't scored against Boys' Latin last week to snap its eight-game win streak, got two rushing touchdowns from White, and Korvin kicked three field goals, including a 32-yarder for a 20-19 lead with 3:12 left in the third.

White pushed the lead to eight on a 4-yard run up the middle to start the fourth, and Korvin booted another 32-yarder with 2:36 to play.

"It was sloppy, and I was slipping in warm-ups," said Korvin, who bounced a 39-yard field goal off the crossbar late in the second quarter. "But I just got out there and did my thing."

John Carroll (6-3) needed a victory to extend its season and won't have a shot at redemption against Boys' Latin.

The Cavaliers will.

"Our defense has played a lot better than they played today," Patriots coach Keith Rawlings said. "A couple more defensive stops and it could have been us with 30."

John Carroll could have used a stop on the Cavaliers' 17-play, 79-yard drive that took 8:48 off the clock to start the third.

St. Clair, who ran for 24 yards and two short touchdowns, threw an interception to Zach Waller on the fourth play after Korvin's second field goal to set up another Archbishop Spalding score.

"We just came out here and got punched in the mouth a little bit," St. Clair said. "We didn't have the ball for much; they came out with a long drive and we could never get a rhythm going."

St. Clair was 3-for-7 with 109 yards passing - all in the first half. He hit Brian Butler for a 78-yard touchdown pass between two rushing touchdowns to give John Carroll a 19-14 lead late in the second quarter.

That was it, though.

Archbishop Spalding controlled the ball for 19 minutes, 14 seconds during the second half.

"We just told them at halftime that we have to play Spalding football," Cavaliers coach Mike Whittles said. "We had 24 minutes to show them Spalding football and that's what we did."

J.D. Izon ran for 107 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown to give the Cavaliers a 7-6 lead in the first, and K.K. Smith gained 69 yards on 22 carries.

Izon countered St. Clair's 1-yard scoring run by taking his second carry 40 yards down the right sideline, turning inside at the 5 to dodge Jamal Love, with 1:55 left in the first.

St. Clair answered by lofting a pass over Smith's head and into Butler's hands. Butler ran 58 yards down the middle of the field for a 12-7 lead.

White, whose 10-yard touchdown in the second quarter gave the Cavaliers a 14-12 lead, picked up where Izon left off in the fourth.

Izon took a ball 27 yards to set up the Cavaliers at the 4, but he left the game with an injury on the next play. White took his place and cashed in with a 4-yard score.

"J.D. went down and he's a good player," said White, who scored on two of his four carries. "I had to make up for him."

Archbishop Spalding's defense made sure St. Clair didn't start another comeback.

The Cavaliers forced a three-and-out on the Patriots' next drive, and Alec Snyder and Johnson sacked St. Clair on consecutive plays before Smith grabbed an interception with 1:31 to play.

"We just needed to step it up," Snyder said. "We had some things we needed to work on and we fixed them at the half and came up with a big zero in the second half. The defense just cleaned up right at the end."

Archbishop Spalding (8-1) 7 10 3 10 - 30

John Carroll (6-3) 12 7 0 0 - 19

First Quarter

JC - St. Clair 2 run (kick failed)

AS - Izon 40 run (Korvin kick)

JC - Butler 78 pass from St. Clair (run failed)

Second Quarter

AS - White 10 run (Korvin kick)

JC - St. Clair 1 run (Gunn kick)

AS - Korvin 39-yard field goal

Third Quarter

AS - Korvin 32-yard field goal

Fourth Quarter

AS - White 4 run (Korvin kick)

AS - Korvin 32-yard field goal

PASSING: AS - Abey 3-10-0-1=57; JC - St. Clair 3-7-1-2=109, Ryan Kirby 1-1-0-0=31. RUSHING: AS - Smith 22-69, Izon 8-107-1, White 4-20-2; JC - St. Clair 16-24-2, Love 6-24, Ray 8-21. RECEIVING: AS - Schulden 1-33, Edwards 1-13, Sharik 1-11; JC - Butler 2-89, Owens 1-31, Love 1-20.