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Memorable fall season ends in county

By Adam Brewer, For The Greene County Messenger 5 min read
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Waynesburg Central’s Hunter Cenname (4) finds a hole and runs the ball in for the Raiders’ first touchdown of the game during the first quarter of a Class AA Interstate Conference game against Brownsville at Redstone Field. The Raiders blanked the Falcons, 42-0.

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Waynesburg Central’s Madison Clayton (6) moves the ball past a Southmoreland defender during a non-section match.

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West Greene’s Emily Tedrow (6) and Lexie Mooney go up for a block on a hit by Carmichaels’ Emma Lewis.

I know it’s hard to believe, but the fall season is already over and it seems like cold weather is already upon us.

With the official start date of winter sports practice beginning on Nov. 17, it seems like the off-season gets shorter and shorter every year.

So before we bundle up and get the hand warmers ready, let’s recap and highlight some of the key moments of the fall sports scene in Greene County in 2014.

I know Waynesburg Central and Mapletown grabbed all of the headlines on the gridiron this year for breaking their playoff droughts, but for me, 2014 was the Season of the Tailback, as all five county squads boasted stud running backs.

Hunter Cenname was the WPIAL’s fourth leading rusher with 1,473 yards heading into the playoffs and was the catalyst for the Raiders’ ground attack.

The senior tailback also scored 20 touchdowns on the year for Waynesburg, which gave him a second-place finish in the Herald-Standard Touchdown Club race with 120 points.

At the beginning of the season, Cenname shared the running load with fellow senior John Glen Davis. Both backs were a dynamic duo, but unfortunately Davis’ season came to an end in Week 5 against Charleroi with a leg injury.

Despite only playing in five games, Davis rushed for 565 yards and scored 11 touchdowns.

The Maples had their own rotation of solid tailbacks this year, headlined by senior Adam Hein and freshman Dylan Rush.

For the season, Rush had 196 carries for 1,016 yards and 14 touchdowns, while Hein finished off his senior campaign with 115 rushes for 811 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Both Jefferson-Morgan and Carmichaels had a pair of tailbacks that made opposing defenses cringe with the likes of junior Trevor Kniha and sophomore Joe Headlee for the Rockets and senior Michael Blasinsky and junior Shawn Dulaney for the Mikes.

Despite its offensive struggles this year, West Greene was led by a steady rushing attack from seniors Cale Miller and Bray Jackson.

Switching to soccer now, both Waynesburg Central teams missed the playoffs in 2014, but both had young rosters that gained valuable experience this year.

For the Lady Raiders (5-9-2, 5-6-1), freshman sensation Madison Clayton made some noise with 15 goals on the year. She made her Section 4-AA debut against Elizabeth-Forward to start the year and collected a hat trick in the 4-3 double overtime defeat.

Besides Clayton, Waynesburg gained support from senior Casey Swartz, senior Gabby Rose, senior Shelby Rosinsky, junior Nicole Venick, junior Josey Evans, junior Lilly Behm, junior Sophie Benco and freshman Claire Garber this season.

The boys’ soccer team finished with a 6-11-1 overall record and a 4-7-1 mark in the highly competitive Section 6-AA.

Despite the loss of seniors Christian Wilson, Drew Grandos and Dustin Cowell, the Raiders will have a plethora of younger talent to build around in junior Bo Ricci, junior Nick Fox, sophomore John Walters, sophomore Nate Blair and sophomore Mitch Warman.

Onto the action on the volleyball court, as Carmichaels was the lone county representative in the volleyball postseason in the fall.

The Lady Mikes collected its second ever playoff berth with a 10-5 overall record and a school record nine section wins in Section 5-A.

Carmichaels, whose season ended with a 3-0 sweep in the first round of the playoffs to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, was led by the senior trio of Lindsay Scott, Katie Mays and Emma Lewis.

As it was the season of the running back for football, you can say it was the season of the outside hitter in volleyball as each county team was led by a strong net presence.

J-M’s junior Morgan Simkovic, Mapletown’s senior Rachel Buchtan, Waynesburg’s junior Taylor Staley and West Greene’s Emily Tedrow recorded their fair share of kills and blocks around the net in 2014.

Now back outside to the golf course, Carmichaels posted a tremendous season on the tees with an undefeated team record of 13-0 and a Section 8 championship.

Leading the Mikes was sophomore Liam Shea, who finished first in the Section 8 WPIAL Qualifier, seventh in the WPIAL Championships and advanced to the PIAAs.

Carmichaels’ senior Jordan Bogucki and Waynesburg’ senior Joel Rohanna also compiled top finishes in the Section 8 WPIAL Qualifier.

Sean Hilverding is a name you might all be familiar with this season, as the Waynesburg Central cross country standout was a dominant figure in the fall.

Hilverding finished third in the WPIALs, sixth in the PIAAs and won the Red, White & Blue Invitational this season.

As a team, the Raiders collected a 9-2 overall record and scored a 15th place finish in the Class AA Championships.

Other notable runners for Waynesburg this year were Ben Bumgarner, Ryan Brownfield, Cade Rush, Wyatt Harvey and Jeremiah Snyder.

The Lady Raiders’ squad was led by Lindsee Zimmer, while Sarah Courtwright finished with top honors for the West Greene’s XC unit.

With a busy and exciting fall season in the books for Greene County, we all look forward to winter.

Don’t worry about the winter season though, I assume there’s going to be no snow and decent weather this year. See you around during basketball and wrestling season.

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