Mikes host Maples as midseason approaches
West Greene’s Donald White (33) runs through a hole created by his line against Frazier’s defense during Friday’s game at West Greene High School in Rogersville. (Photo by Joel Brewton)
Frazier's Blake Herron is stopped by West Greene's Trevin Bedilion (73) during Friday's game at West Greene High School in Rogersville.
West Greene's Donald White is tackled by Frazier's Ethan Weiser (25) at West Greene High School in Rogersville Friday night.
Mapletown’s Troy Haines goes for a large gain against Geibel Catholic in the early stages of Friday’s game at Mapletown. The Maples won, 34-6, giving the football program its 300th all-time win and head coach George Messich his 102nd victory.(Photo by Dave Rafferty)
Mapletown's Jordan Griffin takes a kickoff from Geibel Catholic during the second quarter of Friday's game at Mapletown.
Dave Rafferty
Geibel Catholic quarterback Brandon Kushnar was under pressure all evening from Mapletown’s defense Friday at Mapletown.
Dave Rafferty
Mapletown’s Dereck Riggleman goes high for a pass against Geibel Catholic’s Matt Mammarella during the first quarter of Friday’s game at Mapletown.
It’s near the halfway point of the high school football season, as Week 4 is in the books and there are only five more weeks left of the regular season.
In Week 4, only two Greene County teams won their game and they will meet each other tonight to headline Week 5 action in a pivotal match-up in the Tri-County South Conference with playoff and conference standing implications.
Carmichaels and Mapletown cruised to easy home wins a week ago, with the Maples defeating Geibel Catholic 34-6 and the Mikes capturing a 40-14 victory over non-conference foe Vincentian Academy.
With the win, the Maples (2-2, 1-2) captured their 300th in the program’s history and it was the 102nd for coach George Messich on the Mapletown sidelines.
“We were focused and didn’t take anything for granted,” Messich said. “I think the most important thing is for us to play at our level and not to play at their level. From the get-go, I thought our kids came out with intensity and we won the battle in the trenches. We put a lot of young kids on the field in the second half and it was a total team effort.”
Mapletown had a steady rushing attack in the win over the Gators, racking up more than 300 yards and scored the game’s first 34 points.
Troy Haines totaled 123 yards on the ground with a 32-yard score in the second quarter, while Adam Hein added 59 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
With most of the back-ups in for the Maples at the midway point of the second quarter, reserve running back Matt Hein tallied a team-high 131 yards in mop-up duty.
Mapletown’s quarterback Kevin Ridgley only threw the ball three times in the lopsided win, one of which was a 39-yard scoring toss to wideout Jordan Griffin.
The defense was suffocating against the undermanned Geibel squad, registering two safeties and intercepting two passes. The Gators only had three total yards on offense in the first 24 minutes of action.
Carmichaels put up 20 points in the first quarter, followed by 14 points in the second stanza over Vincentian Academy.
The Mikes’ (2-2, 1-2) rushing attack keyed the win, but the defense was stout only allowing two late scores in the fourth quarter.
Josh Mundell only had two carries in the win, but both ended up in the end zone with a seven-yard score and a 36-yard rumble. Mundell also had two interceptions defensively, while Luke Moskal recorded a pick, a sack and a team-high eight tackles.
Colton Henry rushed for 102 yards on only five carries with one touchdown on the ground and another score via a 34-yard pass from quarterback Brandon Lawless.
Lawless went 5-of-7 passing for 79 yards and also added a rushing score. Reserve back Reed Long tallied the final score for the Mikes in the lopsided win.
The Mikes and Maples will renew their county rivalry tonight, as Mapletown is at Carmichaels for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game will be broadcast on greenesports.net.
“It’s always a big rivalry and this game is important for both teams,” Messich said. “Carmichaels is a nice football team and when I watch them on film you can see they are a physical bunch. We have to match their physicality and intensity. Both teams want to run the ball and its going to be smash-mouth.”
“These communities and the kids know each other very well and it’s a game that you will remember for a long time. I remember in the ’70’s playing against Carmichaels. Rivalries just kind of stick with you. It will be a great atmosphere for Greene County football.”
Carmichaels holds the edge in the series the last decade, winning eight of nine contests and outscoring Mapletown by a 223-76 margin. Last year the Mikes won a 6-0 defensive battle against the Maples.
Jefferson-Morgan suffered its first loss of the ’12 campaign with a 26-21 conference loss to Avella last week.
The Rockets (3-1, 3-1) scored touchdowns on their first two plays of the game, a 71-yard run by tailback Dustin Conti and a 94-yard pass connection from signal collar Tyler Bowman to receiver Nic Santoya.
In the final 2:41 of the opening quarter, the Eagles rallied back with two scores, but missed an extra point to trail J-M 14-13.
After a scoreless second quarter, Avella added two more scores and led 26-14 at the start of the fourth quarter.
J-M trimmed the deficit to 26-21 after another passing score from Bowman to Santoya (a 41-yard score with 9:43 left in the game), but their late comeback effort failed short after turnovers and penalties came back to bite them and end the threat.
The Rockets will look to bounce back against Frazier (3-1, 3-1) in Week 5 in another pivotal contest in the Tri-County South that might go a long way to say who is in the playoffs at the end of the season. This game will also be broadcast on greenesports.net.
Speaking of Frazier, the Commodores traveled to Rogersville last week and took a 39-21 victory away from West Greene.
The Pioneers (1-3, 1-3) knotted things up at 7-7 in the second stanza on a 25-yard run by running back Donnie White, but Frazier countered with 26 straight points in the second to lead 33-7 at halftime.
West Greene’s quarterback Dalton Wildman totaled 116 rushing yards and added two scores in the final 24 minutes of play, a 54-yard run and a 16-yard pass to Cody Jacobs.
“I don’t want to take anything away from them,” Pioneers coach John Coss said. “Frazier played pretty well and I thought we played well at times. Dalton is one of the fastest kids we have. Our top two receivers were out and we had to run the ball more than usual.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Pioneers, as tonight their travel to Fredericktown to meet first place and unbeaten Beth-Center (4-0, 4-0).
Waynesburg Central couldn’t contain Greensburg Central Catholic last week, as the Centurions scored in all three phases of the game and won the contest 35-7.
Greensburg Central Catholic scored two touchdowns in the first and second periods and then added another score with the opening kickoff in the second half.
“They were stronger than us,” Raiders’ coach Russ Moore said. “They were bigger and more mature than us, too. There were a couple of times we had the running back for a loss and he would go and drag people with him. That was a good ball club.”
Waynesburg (1-3, 1-2) avoided the shutout, when running back Hunter Cenname broke free for an 87-yard dash into the end zone. For the game, Cenname rushed for a game-high 111 yards on eight carries.
The Raiders did outrush their opponent by a 189-138 margin, but were limited to only one completion and 13 passing yards in the loss.
Waynesburg will look to get back to its winning ways tonight, as the Raiders travel to face conference foe Southmoreland (0-4, 0-3).