Swinton Leads Montclair Prep to 35-13 Victory

Who needs Derek Sparks anyway?

On Saturday night, against St. Genevieve High, sophomore Eliel Swinton was up to the task of carrying Montclair Prep to a 35-13 nonleague victory at Birmingham High.

With Sparks, the Times’ Valley-area Back of the Year for Montclair Prep last season, having gone to Santa Ana Mater Dei, Swinton filled in by rushing for 217 yards and four touchdowns in 21 carries as the Mounties scored 35 unanswered points to overcome a 13-0 deficit.

Montclair Prep improved to 2-3 while St. Genevieve fell to 2-3.

“We had no loss of poise after we fell behind,” Coach George Giannini said. “It was just one of those games where we struggled for awhile before we got going.”

Swinton, the brother of Washington State running back Rich Swinton, got going in the third quarter. He finished with 156 rushing yards in the second half, including scoring runs of 67, 30 and 25 yards.

St. Genevieve took a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Bobby Kite threw a short pass to Cary Iaccino, who pitched to Mike Mirolla. Mirolla then raced 29 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown.

Kite connected with Tom Nickels on a 12-yard pass in the second quarter to cap a four-play, 64-yard drive. Nickels kicked the extra point to increase St. Genevieve’s advantage to 13-0.

Kite, who completed four of eight passes for 86 yards, left midway through the second quarter after injuring his left elbow. He did not return and neither did the St. Genevieve offense.

After Kite’s departure, St. Genevieve was able to muster just 57 additional yards of total offense.