Cenname leads Raiders to 26-21 victory over Southmoreland
ALVERTON — Hunter Cenname scored touchdowns on runs of 20, 64, and 45 yards and made a game clinching interception in the end zone to lead Waynesburg Central to a 26-21 Interstate Conference win at Southmoreland on Friday.
Cenname rushed 20 times for 191 yards. Waynesburg Central coach Russ Moore said Cenname has pledged to play for himself and injured teammate John-Glen Davis.
“We’re beat up and have players out of position,” Moore said. “Hunter knows he’s the man and he stepped up tonight. Once again we were outsized up front. But this was our best defensive game.”
The game couldn’t have begun in worse fashion for Southmoreland (4-2, 4-3), which fell behind 12-0 in the game’s first 2:24 when Travis Wilkinson returned the opening kickoff 77 yards to score, and Cenname scored his first touchdown one play after a bad snap left SHS punter Justin Livengood down at the 20.
The Scotties regrouped and drove 70 yards in 13 plays, but the Raiders held on downs at their own 1 yard line to stop the drive.
Three plays later, the visitors punted from their own 1, and Southmoreland took over at the WC 31. Five plays later, freshman Jaden Datz passed six yards to Tommy Pisula to cut the lead to 12-7 with the conversion kick by Kyle Rhodes.
Waynesburg Central (4-2, 5-2) answered when Cenname ran 64 yards to score, and Colby Collins passed to Dom Sarra for the two point conversion and a 20-7 lead.
Southmoreland cut the lead to 20-14 on a 52 yard drive in eight plays with Jake Pisula going the final seven yards with 4:50 left in the half.
The Scotties had a late drive to the WC 34 yard line late in the half, but ran out of time.
Southmoreland had the ball for all but 28 seconds of the third quarter and took the lead on a 69 yard drive in 10 plays with Tommy Pisula’s 7 yard run capping the drive and taking a 21-20 lead with the kick by Rhodes.
Three plays later, Doug Pisula recovered a WC fumble at the visitors’ 32 yard line.
Southmoreland drove to the 1 yard line, but a false start penalty backed them up to the 5 and a holding call wiped out a touchdown pass from Datz to Tommy Pisula, and the drive stalled at the 3.
Four plays later, Livengood intercepted Collins’s pass at the WC 29. Three plays later another touchdown was called back on a holding call and the Scotties stalled out at the 13.
Waynesburg Central then began it’s winning drive with 4:59 left. Cenname capped the seven play drive on a 45-yard run up the middle with 2:08 left and a 26-21 lead.
The Scotties drove to the WC 34 with :12.8 left, but Cenname intercepted a pass by Datz in the end zone to seal the win.
Southmoreland coach Mark Adams was visibly angry about the two touchdowns that were called back in the fourth quarter.
“These kids played their hearts out for a win. The game was more about the refs than about football. We started bad and they had two touchdowns early. We got more yards and lost on referees calls. There’s no way this should have happened.”
Moore said his team would like to “run the table with McGuffey and Derry Area next on the schedule. “Now we’ve got to get healthy.”
Southmoreland faces a daunting task to try to make the playoffs with trips to Washington and Mount Pleasant next.
Jake Pisula ran 33 times for 187 yards to lead the Scotties and increased his all-time rushing record to roughly 3,409 yards.
Interstate Conference
Waynesburg Central 12-8-0-6 — 26
Southmoreland 0-14-7-0 — 21
First Quarter
WC: Travis Wilkinson 77 kickoff return (kick failed), 11:47
WC: Hunter Cenname 20 run (run failed), 9:36
Second Quarter
S: Tommy Pisula 6 pass from Jaden Datz (Kyle Rhodes kick), 9:21
WC: Cenname 64 run (Dom Sarra, pass from Colby Collins), 9:17
S: Jake Pisula 7 run (Rhodes kick), 4:50
Third Quarter
S: Tommy Pisula 7 run (Rhodes kick), 6:13
Fourth Quarter
WC: Cenname 45 run (pass failed), 2:08
Records: Waynesburg Central (4-2, 5-2), Southmoreland (4-2, 4-3).