St. Johns Country Day (1-5, 0-2) beat Mount Dora Bible (0-6, 0-2), 30-6, Friday night in a non-district 2-1B football game for its first win of the season.

Spartan head coach Rodney DuBose was very happy afterwards about the team's initial win of the season.

"It was great to get one," DuBose said. "Our team executed and played within ourselves. The teams were pretty evenly matched. We played a game without shooting outselves in the foot." 

In the first quarter, the Spartans set the tone when tailback Hwang Marino scored from six yards out with 9:10 left. Quarterback Jake Haznedl ran the two-point conversion in to put St. Johns ahead, 8-0. Barely one minute later, Mount Dora scored its only touchdown of the game on an 80-yard run by tailback Cornelius Whitehead with 8:32 left in the quarter. The extra point attempt failed and St. Johns still lead, 8-6.

The Spartan next score came in the second quarter when Haznedl connected with receiver Philip Robbins for a 12-yard touchdown. The extra point attempt failed, but SJCD led, 14-6, with 10:22 left in the second quarter. There was no further scoring in the game until the fourth quarter.

DuBose said his team answering Mount Dora's first score was the turning point of the game.

"We got the ball back and scored, then we stopped them," DuBose said. "We didn't drop our heads when they scored on us. We stopped them on the extra point and then we just went back to running our offense."

 St. Johns scored with 9:53 left in the game when Marino ran in from six-yards out. Running back T J Weaver ran in the two-point conversion to increase the Spartan lead to, 22-6. The last score of the game came with 2:24 left when Haznedl connected with receiver Andrew Creighton for a 22-yard touchdown pass. Haznedl ran the two-point conversion in for the final margin of 30-6.

The Spartans ran for 266 yards on 46 carries. Marino ran 25 times for 116 yards and two scores. Weaver carried 10 times for 90 yards. Haznedl added 66 yards on 11 carries.

SJCD had 15 first downs. Haznedl completed three- of- five passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns. He had no interceptions. Robbins caught two passes for 32 yards and a score. Creighton added one catch for 22 yards and a score.

DuBose prasied the play of Marino, Weaver and Haznedl on offense.

"Marino really led us today," DuBose said. "He had his first 100-yard game of the season. Weaver led us on offense and defense. Jake Haznedl really controlled the offense and managed the team well. I was proud of Jake. He has a solid grasp of what we are trying to do. i am very excited about him. He has taken ownership of that role (quarterback)." 

Not to be outdone, the Spartan defense held Mount Dora to three first downs. The Bulldogs gained 143 yards rushing (Whitehead had 126 yards rushing) and 34 yards passing. Defensive lineman Cassedy Conant  led the team with 12 tackles. Weaver, who also plays linebacker, had 10 tackles. Defensive back David Sherman had one interception and defensive back Clayton Jones broke up three passes.

DuBose further elaborated on the performance of Sherman and Jones.

"David had a big time play on the interception," DuBose said. "He almost took it back for a touchdown. He played solid coverage on probably their best receiver. He's coming into his own. He's aggressive. He knows what he's doing. He had some punt returns for us. He's turning into a good little player for us. Clayton played centerfield for us. Two of his pass breakups would have been interceptions if not for some big collisions." 

DuBose also complimented the Spartan defense.

"The defense was solid," DuBose said. "We just stayed at home and took care of our responsibilities. We didn't gamble much. We just allowed our kids to play. Our tackling was a lot better. We cleared up some questions in practice this week and our kids just went out and played without having to think too much."

St. Johns next game is 7 p.m. next Friday night at home against district foe Oak Hall.

SJ-8-6-0-16-30

MD-6-0-0-0-6

 Scoring

SJ Marino 6- yard run; Haznedl run

MD Whitehead 80- yard run; PAT failed

SJ Robbins 12- yard pass from Haznedl; PAT failed

SJ Marino 6- yard run; Weaver two-point conversion run

SJ Creighton 22-yard pass from Haznedl; Haznedl two-point conversion run