County teams positioning for football playoffs
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Mapletown’s Dylan Rush (9) finds a hole through several California defenders on his way to an 80-yard touchdown run during their Tri-County South Conference game on Sept. 23 at Mapletown High School. Rush was the runaway winner of the 2016 Herald-Standard Touchdown Club contest with 144 points, 50 more than his closest competitor.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Mapletown’s Dylan Rush (9) avoids the reach of California’s Tyler Rothfuss (24) and makes a first and goal for the Maples, setting up their first touchdown early in the first quarter in Friday’s Tri-County South game at Mapletown High School.
California quarterback Collin Phillips is sacked for a 5-yard loss by Mapletown's Richard Cacurak (8) during the first quarter of Friday's Tri-County South Conference contest at at Mapletown High School.
As the halfway point of the 2016 high school football season in Greene County nears, all five county squads are trying to position themselves with hopes of advancing to the playoffs at the end of the regular season.
West Greene picked up a critical win last Friday, as the Pioneers snapped their 18-game losing streak with a 41-6 over victory over Jefferson-Morgan.
The Pioneers (1-4, 1-3) collected their first conference win since 2013 (a 41-6 win over Bentworth) and its first triumph over a Greene County foe since 2012 (a 42-8 win over Mapletown). The victory against J-M was West Greene’s first since 1993.
Signal caller Zach Pettit and tailback Benjamin Jackson were key catalysts for the offense, as Pettit accounted for 191 rushing yards and Jackson ended his night with 149 yards on the ground.
The Rockets (0-5, 0-2) took an early 6-0 lead in the opening quarter after a 5-yard touchdown run by Joe Headlee, but the Pioneers responded minutes later with a 9-yard scoring run by Pettit.
Pettit compiled touchdown runs of 34 and 68 in the second quarter, as West Greene carried a 21-6 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, Pettit scored on a 37-yard run and that was quickly followed by an 8-yard touchdown dash by Jackson. Jackson ended the scoring in the fourth with a 30-yard touchdown run.
Both teams will be back in Tri-County South Conference action tonight at 7 p.m.
The Pioneers host Fort Cherry, while greenesports.net will broadcast the Rockets entertaining Avella at Parker Field.
Carmichaels continued its winning ways last week, as the Mikes (3-1, 3-0) took care of business against Avella with a 40-14 victory.
Quarterback Jonathan Christopher was on target against the Eagles with 244 yards through the air on 13-of-14 passing with three touchdowns.
Carmichaels built a 14-0 lead at the end of one on the strength of a 31-yard scoring toss to Hunter Davis from Christopher and a 2-yard plunge into the end zone by Cody Brown.
Christopher added two more passing touchdowns in the second stanza, a 30-yard toss to Brown and a 65-yard scoring completion to Phillips. Sandwiched between the two scores was an 11-yard interception return for a score by Nate Broadwater.
The Mikes stretched their lead to 40-0 in the third quarter after a 5-yard touchdown run by Brennen Pelzer, while Avella garnered the final 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Carmichaels hosts Mapletown tonight in a pivotal conference showdown at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on greenesports.net.
Speaking of Mapletown, for the second straight week the Maples were in a back-and-forth TCS contest, but this time they fell to California, 44-28.
The Maples (3-2, 2-1) carried an 8-0 lead into the second quarter after a 4-yard touchdown and two-point conversion run by Dylan Rush.
After California countered with a touchdown, Rush made another trip to the end zone after an 80-yard rumble through the Trojan defense. Mapletown held a 16-14 lead at intermission.
Trailing 22-16 in the third period, Rush knotted things up with a 59-yard touchdown run.
It was all Trojans in the final 12 minutes, however, as Cal racked up 22 points in the quarter and took home the conference victory. Rush tallied an 11-yard touchdown run in the final quarter.
Rush finished with 258 yards on 26 carries and four touchdowns. The junior running back also padded his lead in the Herald-Standard Touchdown Club race with 104 points.
Tanner Griffin passed for 74 yards, while RJ Durr added 24 rushing yards and recorded a key interception for the Maples in the third quarter.
Waynesburg Central honored their undefeated 1966 team at halftime, but the Raiders suffered a 40-20 setback to Yough in Interstate Conference action last Friday.
Trailing 14-0 in the second quarter, the Raiders (0-4, 0-4) broke through with a 3-yard touchdown run by Colin McCracken.
The Cougars rebounded with the next four touchdowns to put the game out of reach.
Waynesburg added two more scores in the final 12 minutes, as tailback Zach Eisiminger had touchdown runs of 13 and 20 yards.
Eisiminger ended the contest with a team-high 80 rushing yards, as McCracken chipped in with 43 yards on the ground.
The Raiders will look to pick up their first win of the season tonight when they travel to Southmoreland. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.