St. Clair Pushes Past Sullivan With Fourth Quarter Rally

Sullivan had St. Clair backed up in their own territory and facing a third-and-21 early in the fourth quarter Friday.

Just minutes away from winning their first game against St. Clair since 2014, Sullivan instead watched it slip away.

Dalton Thompson completed a 37-yard pass to Cole Venable that was snatched out of the air, which converted the long third down.

Later, Sullivan would commit two costly personal foul penalties that gave the Bulldogs an extra 30 yards.

Landon Roberts’ 8-yard touchdown run capped off the winning drive and put St. Clair on their way to a 17-6 victory.

The Bulldogs (4-0) have mastered winning tight games. They squeaked out a Week 1 win at Park Hills, won 21-14 against Pacific in Week 3 and after the Eagles (1-3) limited them to three points through three quarters Friday, still found a path to victory.

Sullivan’s defense recovered three fumbles, but the offense was held to a single touchdown.

Lucas Glaser had a 3-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles a 6-3 lead with 8:20 to play in the second half.

Sullivan missed the extra point on the kick and also had a 23-yard field goal blocked at the end of the first half.

In between, they struggled to find consistency in the run game and were unable to exploit the passing game the same way they did a week earlier against Union.

The Eagles did switch it up and find more success by hurrying to the line and forcing a St. Clair roster with less than 30 players try to keep up. Sullivan converted a fourth-and-2 near midfield late in the half on a run by Levi Hurt.

Glaser would keep the chains moving with a third down conversion, but the drive stalled when St. Clair stuffed Devyn Harmon by just inches on fourth down.

St. Clair squandered it when Thompson fumbled the ball and Jacob Hatcher recovered at the Bulldogs 26. 

The Eagles brought Harmon out for a 23-yard attempt with 1:14 remaining in the half, but St. Clair blocked it and preserved what was a 3-0 lead. Roberts had given St. Clair the lead with a 24-yard field goal with 2:50 to play in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs fumbled the ball on the opening drive of the third quarter. Trey Blankenship recovered and Sullivan took over at the St. Clair 40. 

A defensive pass interference helped push the ball deeper into St. Clair territory. Hurt converted a fourth-and-6 with a screen pass to Carter Dace that was taken down to the Bulldogs 12. Glaser took over from there and punched the ball in from three yards out to give Sullivan the 6-3 lead.

Sullivan recovered their third fumble on the next drive. They were unable to take advantage after the Bulldogs stood Dace up on a fourth-and-2.

That would be key as St. Clair scored the go-ahead touchdown on the next drive, bolstered by the two personal foul penalties.

The Eagles went three-and-out on their next possession and St. Clair iced the game on a 29-yard touchdown run by Lance McCoy with just over three minutes left.