Burgettstown shuts down Pioneers, 20-0
ROGERSVILLE — New Burgettstown head football coach Greg Marshall has his team on the right path. That path started last Friday night with a 20-0 season-opening victory at West Greene.
“All the work and all the preparation comes down to this moment.” Marshall said minutes before kickoff.
Marshall, in his first ever game as a head coach, led the Blue Devils south to Greene County.
“To tell you the truth it’s a surreal feeling right now,” Marshall said. “The nice thing is that we have 30 guys who have bought into everything that we’ve done from the very beginning back in March. These guys have done everything we’ve asked them for, whether it’s different weight room training stuff to different on the field stuff.”
All that hard work paid off for the Blue Devils Friday night as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter behind a one-yard touchdown rush by quarterback Jackson LaRocka.
“I felt great. I couldn’t do it without the line.” LaRocka said about his touchdown. “It’s always going to be the (offensive) line. People don’t notice them, but I couldn’t do it without them.”
While the offense did it’s job, the Blue Devils’ defense stole the show. The Blue Devils stymied the power rushing attack of the Pioneers and secured a shutout, which included an interception by sophomore defensive back Zachary Schrockman and three fumble recoveries.
“It’s really about the practice we had.” Marshall said about his defense’s performance. “It’s a collective group that made it happen and that’s why we were successful tonight.”
Burgettstown added two fourth-quarter touchdowns, which pushed the score to 20-0. Both touchdowns were scored by Junior Caleb Russell, who was featured as the wildcat quarterback in the Blue Devils’ offense.
“He’s a stud.” Marshall said about Russell. “He does everything we ask of him. He works super hard in practice. He deserves everything he gets.”
Next Friday, Burgettstown (1-0) travels to Avella in search of another win for Marshall.
West Greene (0-2) was in a difficult situation this week with its starting quarterback Wesley Whipkey out with an injury to his throwing hand. Senior Nathan Orndoff stepped up to run the Pioneers’ offense.
West Greene is a highly experienced team that returns all of its starters from 2020. One of those starters, running back Colin Brady, rushed for 107 yards on 16 carries.
“They need to live up to their potential,” West Greene head coach Brian Hanson said about his team before the game. “They need to play every game like it’s their last game of their senior season and they’ll be alright.”
Next weekend the Pioneers look to bounce back as they travel to Beth-Center for a non-conference match-up with the Bulldogs.