MORNING JOURNAL/NATE PARSONS Western Reserve quarterback Shane Ewing is sacked in the end zone for a safety by St. Paul defenders Brian Griffin, left, Mitchell Gross, right, and Brian Roberts for the first points of the night.

NORWALK — With the defense setting the tone early, it didn’t take long for St. Paul’s offense to get going.

St. Paul’s defense started the scoring and the offense took it from there. The Flyers rolled up 29 first half points en route to a 45-0 win in the Division VI regional quarterfinal at Whitney Field Saturday.

St. Paul (11-0) will face Mogadore, who defeated Warren JFK , next weekend at a site to be determined.

“I am very proud of the kids,” St. Paul Coach John Livengood said. “I didn’t think we could shut them out. They run a very complicated offense, which is difficult to defend, and have good skill players. The kids did a great job of keeping pressure on them and staying aggressive.”

St. Paul didn’t score on its opening drive, but they were able to pin Western Reserve on its own 6-yard for the safety.

After the free kick, St. Paul quarterback Eric Schwieterman swept to his right and raced 41 yards for the touchdown. It was the first of two big scoring plays for St. Paul.

“I thought those two plays were big for momentum,” Livengood said. “We moved the ball on the first drive, but those two plays swung momentum our way.”

The second one came with 5:30 left in the first quarter when Brian Griffin broke into the clear after great blocking by the offensive line. He went in untouched from 44 yards out to give St. Paul a 15-0 lead.

About the only thing went wrong for St. Paul in the first quarter was Schwieterman throwing his first interception of the year. Western Reserve drove it down to St. Paul’s 16, but the defense stiffened, forcing a turnover on downs.

Going into ball-control mode, St. Paul went 86 yards in 11 plays, taking 6:18 off the clock in the process. St. Paul ran the ball 10 times during the drive with Griffin scoring his second touchdown of half from 3 yards out.

The first half scoring came to a close with Schwieterman atoning for the interception by hitting Justin Wilde from 20 yards out to give St. Paul a 29-0 lead.

Western Reserve quarterback Shane Ewing finally got going late in the half, but was constantly harassed by St. Paul’s front four. Ewing complete five passes in a row before missing his last three to turn the ball over.

“There is no way to simulate in practice the speed they have and the tenacity they play with,” Western Reserve Coach Andy Hake said. “They are a well-coached football team with great players and athletes. Someone is going to have to play a darn good football game in order to beat them. I think they are the best team in the region.”

For the half, Ewing was 8 for 26 for 85 yards. He missed on his first nine pass attempts.

As bad as the first half went for Western Reserve, things didn’t get any better at the start of the second half.

They fumbled the second half kick with Adam Smith recovering the fumble. Four plays later, Eric Bradt scored from nine yards out.

Like a well-oiled machine, St. Paul’s offense continued to dominate.

Another perfectly blocked trap play sprung Griffin again. He broke into the clear and avoided one last Western Reserve defender and into the end zone to complete the 39-yard touchdown play.

Griffin finished the game with 159 yards on 17 carries, but the offensive line of JP Pressly, Darren Hainline, Joel Boose, Kyle Bundschuh, Alex Simon and Darren Smith dominated Western Reserve’s front seven.

“The offensive line did a great job of controlling the line-of-scrimmage,” Livengood said. “I thought both lines did a good job of doing that. Brian did a good job of running hard between the tackles and picked up some good yardage with his runs.”

Defensively, Adam Smith recorded three sacks on Ewing. As a team, St. Paul sacked Ewing sacked five times for minus 33 yards. St. Paul held Western Reserve to 99 total yards of offense.

St. Paul closed out the scoring with Jim Roth hitting a field goal from 37 yards out.

While Griffin led St. Paul in rushing, Livengood was pleased with the balanced attack they used in the win.

Eight different players rushed the ball for St. Paul. Schwieterman rushed for 77 yards on nine carries. He completed six passes in nine attempts for 59 yards and the touchdown pass.