By DAVID COOK
If the St. Johns football team had a theme song for this season, Aerosmith’s “Livin’ on the Edge” would be appropriate.
The Redwings opened the season with wins in their first four games, but fans of the Redwings needed to be present to the final tick of the clock to make sure that the victories were in the bag.
“We’ve been in a lot of close games this year,” coach Dave Mariage said. “It seems every game has gone down to the wire, but we have hung in and pulled them out.”
Of those first four games, St. Johns won two by a single point and another by four points. A six-point win was the blowout of the stretch.
“Our defense has played pretty good, and that has been the biggest key for us,” Mariage said. “We’ve been getting better each game and our defense has played well in all four wins.”
St. Johns opened the season with a 21-20 win against a high-powered Charlotte squad. The Redwings followed that victory with a 19-15 win against Corunna and a 14-8 win against Fowlerville. They then improved to 4-0 with a 14-13 win against Owosso.
“Another key for us has been turnovers,” Mariage said. “In close games, you can’t afford to have many turnovers, and we’ve been doing a good job with that.”
Defense, however, is where the Redwings have been the strongest this season. “It’s been a real team effort on defense,” Mariage said. “Everyone has been doing their job and it has been a lot of team defense that is the key.”
Heading up the defense for the Redwings has been safety Brice Labar, who is one of the team leaders in tackles. Labar also quarterbacks the team on the offfensive side of the ball. The Redwings have also been getting strong play at cornerback from Austin Cleaver and TJ Havens.
VOLLEYBALL
The St. Johns volleyball team has turned in some strong efforts this season, and it has fashioned a .500 record at the season’s midpoint.
The Redwings are also at the .500 mark in the conference. They have had notable wins against Owosso, Charlotte, Everett, Corunna, Chesaning, and Alma this season.
The Redwings have a young squad, led by juniors Claire and Stephanie Whitford at outside hitter. Junior Emily Fedewa is the team’s defensive specialist, while sophomore setter Katie Maloney leads the team in assists. Senior middle hitter Liz Skaryd has been a force in the middle.