By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Marc Picciola threw two touchdown passes as St. Charles battled Franklinton to a 14-14 tie in the teams’ spring scrimmage on Saturday at St. Charles.

The Comets led 14-7 throughout the second half, before Franklinton rallied to tie the game up on its last possession.

For much of the day, the passing game was clicking for SCC. But the running game sputtered at times, something Comets Coach Frank Monica says must be cleaned up this summer.

“We have a long way to go,” said Monica. “We’re not physical at all. There was no blocking on the perimeter or along the line of scrimmage. We had to rely on way too much finesse to move the ball.”

Picciola shook off a slow start before finding the endzone. He was hurried and threw an interception in SCC territory on the Comets’ second possession, which Franklinton quarterback Terrance McGee would soon convert into points on a 10-yard draw play.

With Franklinton up 7-0, SCC would drive down the field to the Demons’ 20-yard line. There, Picciola arced a pass over the defense and into the arms of Zach Goodwin in the endzone, tying the game.

“They were in man coverage,” said Picciola. “I saw him come open, and he beat the defender and made the catch.”

After an interception by SCC linebacker Johnny Fisse, Picciola found Devin Snyder this time in the endzone on a corner fade from 15 yards away, putting St. Charles ahead 14-7.

That’s the way the scrimmage would stand through halftime and until the Demons’ final possession, when Franklinton’s Chazz Tate intercepted a pass on the SCC 24-yard line.

Devonta Flowers would cap the seven-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to tie things up.

Fisse ended the game with two interceptions for the Comets.

Monica said that a bright spot was the play of some of his younger players.

“We didn’t play them as many snaps as we would have liked, but we played as many as we could,” he said.

But he expects a bit of an attitude adjustment from many before the start of the season.

 “Some of them don’t have that football mentality right now,” he said.