Nov 2, 2002 14 min read

Uniontown scored first, but it was all Knoch the rest of the way as the Knights earned a 34-7 victory in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs on Friday night. The Red Raiders marched 64 yards on 10 plays on their opening drive with Ryan Guthrie capping things off with a one-yard touchdown run. Kellen Lieb’s extra point gave Uniontown a 7-0 at 6:22 of the first quarter.

The two big plays in the drive were Todd Jackson’s 11-yard run and Guthrie’s 35-yard pass to Junior Mayes on third-and-7 from the Knoch 38-yard line. Guthrie’s scoring run came three plays later.

Bryan Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards to the Uniontown 41 and Kit Durrett broke free for a 22-yard run on the Knights’ first play from scrimmage. That began a 7-play touchdown drive capped by Dusty Ziacik’s one-yard touchdown run. Mark Klabnik’s extra point tied the game at 7-7 with 2:30 left in the first quarter.

Perhaps the biggest play of the game came on Uniontown’s next possession. Facing a fourth-and-10, coach John Fortugna called for a fake punt but Guthrie overthrew a wide open Matt Ciampanelli in a play that easily might have resulted in a touchdown.

Uniontown’s defense held Knoch to a 31-yard field goal by Klabnik on the third play of the second quarter.

Knoch went up 17-7 with 6:36 left in the first half when Mark Rupert threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Matt Koren, and Ziacik added a 2-yard touchdown run with 27 seconds left in the half to put Knoch up 24-7.

Klabnik kicked a 26-yard field goal in the third quarter and Ziacik capped the game’s scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Ziacik rushed for 121 yards on 21 carries and Durrett added 83 yards on nine carries as fifth-seeded Knoch rang up 22 first downs. Ruppert was 8-of-15 for 121 yards.

Bill McLee led No. 12-seeded Uniontown (6-4) with 14 carries for 62 yards.

Fortugna commended his seniors after the game.

“They were the ones who started it all,” said Fortugna, referring to Uniontown’s three straight playoff appearances. “Whatever I asked of them was done. They should good leadership. I feel sorry for them because I couldn’t get them a playoff win or a WPIAL championship, because they deserved it.”

Knoch (9-1) will play Hopewell in the Class AAA quarterfinals.

Thomas Jefferson 70, Laurel Highlands 6

Thomas Jefferson scored about every which way they could offensively, defensively and special teams as it handed Laurel Highlands a loss in the first round of the WPIAL AAA playoffs.

Jaguar running back Jon Drager added to his WPIAL-leading 31 touchdowns by scoring six on the evening to give him 37 for the year. He scored on runs of 45, 3, 2, 6 and 61. His final score came on an 81-yard punt return. Drager ended the evening with 241 yards on 20 carries.

The Mustangs only score came on the opening drive of the game when Matt Humbert hit Tony Patitucci with a 41-yard touchdown pass to give the Mustangs a 6-0 lead.

From there the Jaguars scored 70 unanswered points.

Thomas Jefferson will play Keystone Oaks this week.

Carmichaels 42, Canevin 7

Trailing 7-6 at halftime, the Mikes simply did what they do best.

After carrying the ball four times for minus-one yards in the first half, Colby Giles erupted for 203 yards on 11 second-half attempts as Carmichaels defeated the Crusaders in Class A first-round action.

The postseason victory was the Mikes’ first since 1980, and sends them to the quarterfinals, where they will face Fort Cherry at a site to be determined.

Giles scored on runs of six, two and 59 yards as Carmichaels improved to 10-0 and broke the school’s single-season scoring record.

Bobby Hathaway added 140 yards on 21 carries, scoring twice. His 15-yard touchdown run with 54 seconds remaining in the first half pulled the Mikes to within 7-6 and started a run of 42 unanswered points. Hathaway’s 13-yard touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion gave Carmichaels a 30-7 lead late in the third quarter.

“We weren’t coming off the ball (in the first half) and we came out tentative,” said Carmichaels coach John Menhart. “The aggressiveness came back after the half. We honestly felt if we could stop them on their first possession, we would win the football game.”

Which, on both counts, Carmichaels did. Jono Menhart picked off Canevin quarterback Lucas Parker to give the Mikes the ball at the Crusaders’ 38 just 1:34 into the third quarter. A 28-yard run by Giles gave Carmichaels a first-and-goal at the 10, and after Hathaway picked up four yards, Giles took a handoff, and after running to the line of scrimmage, bounced the play to the outside and into the end zone. His two-point run gave the Mikes the lead for good at 14-7.

After allowing Canevin to march 66 yards in 15 plays and take a 7-0 lead, Carmichaels allowed only one first down the rest of the game.

Moon 30, Belle Vernon 14

The Moon offense played keep away in the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns while holding Belle Vernon to five offensive plays in the final 12 minutes to secure a WPIAL Class AAA first round playoff victory.

Belle Vernon shocked the Tigers on the first offense play of the game when, after a Moon defensive offside call, Derek Brletich found Jim Fretz open around the Moon 45-yard line and Fretz did the rest for a 73-yard touchdown reception just 18 seconds into the game.

Moon responded four minutes later on Rick Derenda’s 15-yard run, and the swinging gate produced a two-point play for an 8-7 lead. Derenda added to the Tigers’ lead on a similar run at 9:44 of the second quarter. The senior running back added the two-point conversion for a 16-7 lead.

Brletich and the Belle Vernon offense showed great clock management in the waning moments of the first half to score a touchdown after getting the ball on its own 41 with 1:47 left in the half.

Brletich hit Mike Davis for 29 yards and Fretz for 15 to move the ball to the Moon 15. The senior quarterback found Matt Cyktor open for a completion to the 4-yard line and an illegal substitution penalty on Moon move the ball to the 2.

Brletich snuck in the final two yards to cut the lead to 16-14 with only 18 seconds left in the half.

Outside of Jon Fowler’s 56-yard field goal attempt, neither team was able to do much on offense in the third quarter.

Moon started the drive of the game at 3:13 of the fourth quarter after Fowler’s missed field goal. Austin Sykes capped the 13-play, 80-yard drive on a 3-yard run. The drive ate up seven-and-a-half minutes of the second half.

Belle Vernon’s attempt to rally was cut short on the first play of the drive when Mike Yakima stepped in front of a Brletich pass at the Belle Vernon 45. Nine plays and nearly five minutes later Moon put the game out of reach on Sykes’ second touchdown of the game.

Belle Vernon coach Jesse Cramer was proud of his squad, the 2002 Keystone Conference champions.

“We had a great season. We did well to overcome a lot of adversity. We had some nagging injuries and some injuries where guys were out for the season,” Cramer said.

Derenda finished with a game-high 119 yards on 20 carries. Sykes added 85 on 21 carries while Mitch Morsillo added 42 yards rushing.

Brletich completed seven passes for 173 yards. Fretz was his favorite receiver with two receptions for 88 yards. Moon held Belle Vernon to 27 yards rushing.

Moon (5-5) advances to play fellow Parkway Conference foe New Castle (8-1) while Belle Vernon finishes the season with a 7-3 record.

Connellsville 21, Shaler 14

It might have been a cold night to watch a game, but the Connellsville faithful left the stadium with a warm feeling.

The sparse crowd of real Falcon fans who showed up were treated to an interesting game that had to go two overtimes before being settled with Connellsville scoring a touchdown in each of the extra sessions to trip visiting Shaler and close the season with a two-game winning run.

Regulation time ended in a 7-7 draw, Shaler scored in the first period, Connellsville in the second, and then the defenses took over with the issue finally being settled four quarters later.

In the fourth quarter of regulation, Connellsville (3-7) drove to the Titan 29 and was held on downs, while Shaler (1-9) reached the Falcon 14, where a fourth-down field goal was partially tipped by Frank Kolarik and came up short.

In overtime, the ball is put on the 10 and each team has four downs to try and score.

Shaler won the toss to start the first extra session and chose offense. Brandon McNearney went left for two yards, and QB Lou Massimiani, who did everything but sell tickets, went wide left on a keeper to score. Dave Sibenac kicked the PAT for a 14-7 lead.

On Connellsville’s first down, B.J. Straughters lost a yard, then went ahead for six. A third-down pass was incomplete, but on fourth down, QB Chris Marsinko fired a pass to Dave Show in the left corner of the end zone for the score, and Ben Popson kicked the tying point.

Connellsville won the second OT flip and took offense. Marsinko carried twice for four yards each time, and on third down, Straughters rammed ahead to score and Popson made it 21-14.

On Shaler’s first down, the defense sacked Massamiani for a 15-yard loss back to the 25, a pass to Tony Spagnolo got nine, but on third down, Falcon senior Brent Wilson made the last play of his CAHS career a memorable one, picking off Massamiani’s pass to end the game and the season.

Coach Dan Spanish said, “Give our seniors credit for a great effort. We (coaches) told them all along that we weren’t going to give up on them, and when it came down to the end it was our seniors scoring behind some senior blockers, another senior partially deflecting a kick and a senior making a very big interception.”

The Falcon coach called the win “a good effort overall. We made a couple mistakes early, but we made up for them at the end. Our defense was great. Shaler took it to us on their first series, but then our defense got better, as a lot of our players pitched in to set a good motivational factor for our younger players next year. We had a couple players out with injuries, but the others stepped in for them. It was a great night for our fans.”

Rochester 41, Frazier 8

Frazier’s Craig Neely attempted an onside kick to open the game, and the football barely went one yard let alone the 10 needed before the kicking team is allowed to successfully recover it.

Host Rochester took over on the Commodores 43 and drove for a touchdown seven running plays later, and it was all downhill after that for Frazier.

The top-seeded Rams dominated with a powerful running game and stifling defense to secure a win Friday night at Rochester Stadium and advance to the quarterfinals against Sto Rox in the WPIAL Class A playoffs.

“We tried to make a big play right away,” second-year Frazier coach Larry Wilson said. “It didn’t work against a tough opponent. They’re always there year in and year out. … Any coach would love to build a program with the players on that team, but I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of with our team.

“We were a horrible team last year. We scored 42 total points, so we came a long way to get into the playoffs this year. There’s not a lot of talent in our locker room, but if our young players work hard in the offseason maybe we can eventually compete against teams like Rochester.”

Frazier (4-6), the fourth-place team in the Tri-County South Conference, certainly didn’t have much to be proud of in the first half. Rochester (8-2), the Big Seven Conference and two-time defending WPIAL and PIAA Class A champ, held the Commodores to just two total yards with minus-16 rushing.

The Rams scored on all six of their first-half possessions, including four touchdown runs by senior tailback Nate Waldron, to take a 41-0 lead into the locker room. They finished with 272 rushing yards with Waldron picking up 96 on 11 carries in less than two quarters and 341 total yards to 98.

Monaca 41, California 8

The Indians scored seven points in the first quarter, added 21 in the second and finished with 13 in the third quarter to secure a WPIAL Class A playoff victory over the visiting Trojans.

Rick Schultz scored three touchdowns and led Monaca with 106 yards rushing. Dan Egan rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown.

California gained 145 yards on the ground but was held off the scoreboard until the fourth quarter when Ryan Robinson ran for a touchdown. Robinson led the Trojans with 74 yards rushing. Calvin Kent added 62 yards on the ground.

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

WESTERN REGION

PIAA District 8 (Pittsburgh City League) Playoffs

Semifinal

Perry 54, Schenley 0

PIAA District 7 (WPIAL) Playoffs

CLASS AAAA

Bethel Park 24, McKeesport 15

Franklin Regional 28, Upper St. Clair 21

Gateway 28, Baldwin 20

Penn Hills 42, Latrobe 7

North Allegheny 41, Canon-McMillan 6

North Hills 27, Fox Chapel 12

Seneca Valley 31, Kiski Area 14

Bye: Woodland Hills

CLASS AAA

Hopewell 20, Kittanning 14 OT

Keystone Oaks 27, Highlands 7

Knoch 34, Uniontown 7

Moon 30, Belle Vernon 14

New Castle 42, West Mifflin 14

Pine-Richland 56, Peters Township 20

Thomas Jefferson 70, Laurel Highlands 6

West Allegheny 42, Greensburg Salem 3

CLASS AA

Aliquippa 36, Laurel 23

Beaver 35, East Allegheny 17

Burrell 26, Northgate 12

Freeport 30, Washington 21

Jeannette 53, Apollo-Ridge 0

Mars 41, Riverside 7

Seton-LaSalle 54, Center 0

CLASS A

Brentwood 27, Western Beaver 8

Carmichaels 42, Canevin 7

Fort Cherry 19, Clairton 14

Monaca 41, California 8

Monessen 7, Farrell 6

Rochester 41, Frazier 8

Sto-Rox 35, Springdale 10

PIAA District 10

Class AA

Northwestern 6 Slippery Rock 20

Sharon 39, Girard 6

Class A

Eisenhower 8, Saegertown 0

West Middlesex 7, Cambridge Springs 6

PIAA District 9

Class AAA Semifinal

Punxsutawney 21, Bradford 14

Class AA Semifinal

Karns City 69, Moniteau 23

Class A Semifinal

Clarion-Limestone 21, Ridgeway 19

PIAA District 6

Class AAA Semifinals

Penn Cambria 6, Huntingdon 3

PIAA District 5-6

Class AA Quarterfinal

Forest Hill 12, Central Cambria 6 OT

Bishop McCort 23, Penns Valley 9

Class A Quarterfinal

Blairsville 34, Moshannon Valley 19

n n n

REGULAR SEASON

Altoona 67, DuBois 12

Avonworth 47, Burgettstown 19

Blackhawk 38, Elizabeth Forward 0

Butler 10, Hempfield 3

Claysburg-Kimmel 34, Tussey Mountain 7

Curwensville 15, Homer-Center 14

Fairview 31, Conneaut Valley 6

Freedom 38, Chartiers Valley 7

Hollidaysburg 28, Central Mountain 10

Lewistown 48, Mount Union 7

Mercer 19, Lakeview 0

Meyersdale at Southern Huntingdon, ccd.

Montour 27, South Fayette 19

Northern Cambria 26, Cambria Heights 8

Penn-Trafford 31, Albert Gallatin 7

Phillipsburg-Osceola 35, Central Martinsburg 0

Plum 34, Ringgold 20

State College 35, Williamsport 19

Trinity 19, Indiana 6

Union City 28, Northeast 20

West Branch 35, Purchase Line 0

West Shamokin 19, Penns Manor 13

Seneca 40, Mercyhurst Prep 18

EASTERN REGION

Abington Heights 20, West Scranton 14

Allentown Dieruff 21, Allentown Allen 14

Bald Eagle Area 14, Chestnut Ridge 6

Berwick 33, Tunkhannock 13

Bishop Hoban 10, Bishop O’Reilly 0

Bloomsburg 24, South Williamsport 7

Bok 20, Mastbaum 10

Boyertown 33, Muhlenberg 7

Camp Hill 50, James Buchanan 14

Carlisle 28, Chambersburg 13

Cedar Crest 27, Penn Manor 6

Central 28, Germantown 26

Central Bucks West 21, North Penn 27

Central York 48, William Penn of York 7

Chester 46, Haverford High 17

Delone Catholic 42, Hanover 7

Downingtown 49, West Chester Henderson 20

Dunmore 41, Western Wayne 6

East Stroudsburg North 13, North Schuylkill 6

East Stroudsburg South 41, Stroudsburg 13

Egg Harbor Township, N.J., 22, Academy Park 18

Exeter 30, Daniel Boone 14

Frankford 32, Roxborough 8

Garnet Valley 38, Great Valley 0

Glendale 51, Bucktail 22

Gratz 6, Dobbins 0

Halifax 34, Newport 8

Hanover Area 20, Nanticoke 16

Hazleton Area 34, Wyoming Valley West 10

Hempfield 53, Manheim Township 10

Holidaysburg 28, Central Mountain 10

Hughesville 30, Muncy 22

Interboro 10, Chichester 7

Jim Thorpe 18, Lehighton 7

Juniata 28, Upper Dauphin 6

Kutztown 40, Fleetwood 0

La Salle 14, Archbishop Ryan 0

Lackawanna Trail 35, Bishop O’Hara 6

Lakeland 36, Montrose 16

Lampeter-Strasburg 37, ELCO 10

Lansdale Catholic 28, Pottsgrove 6

Loyalsock 27, Lewisburg 7

Manheim Central 24, Solanco 0

Martin Luther King 26, Edison 14

Mechanicsburg 18, Middletown 7

Mid Valley 28, Riverside 0

Mifflinburg 14, Jersey Shore 7

Minersville 29, Panther Valley 14

Mount Carmel 18, Selinsgrove 0

Nazareth 47, Pocono Mountain West 12

Neshaminy 28, Pennsbury 7

North Penn-Blossburg 20, Wellsboro 0

Northern 33, Big Spring 14

Northern Lehigh 61, Palmerton 16

Northwest 45, Bishop Hafey 19

Northwestern 17, Catasauqua 6

Old Forge 56, Susquehanna 14

Palmyra 31, Hershey 14

Penn Charter 21, Episcopal 6

Perkiomen School 41, Morrisville 6

Pine Grove 7, Millersburg 6

Pottstown 41, Phoenixville 0

Pottsville 13, Emmaus 6

Roman Catholic 35, North Catholic 15

Salisbury 33, Southern Lehigh 14

Schuylkill Valley 14, Hamburg 7, OT

Scranton 22, Delaware Valley 15

Scranton Prep 13, Carbondale 6

Shamokin 34, Shikellamy 14

Shenandoah Valley 25, Mahanoy Area 13

Southern Columbia 42, Danville 13

Spring Grove 37, Susquehannock 0

St. Pius X 49, Spring-Ford 0

State College 35, Williamsport 19

Strath Haven 35, Penncrest 0

Susquehanna Township 21, Gettysburg 20

Tamaqua 9, Marian Catholic 6

Towanda 41, Wyalusing 14

Tower Hill 20, Calvary Christian 3

Trinity 35, Biglerville 6

Upper Dauphin 28, Juniata 6

Upper Merion 57, Wissahickon 12

Upper Perkiomen 41, Upper Moreland 0

Valley View 40, Honesdale 9

Warrior Run 14, Central Columbia 7

Warwick 36, Ephrata 0

Washington 39, Lincoln 6

West Chester East 28, Coatesville 12

West Philadelphia 3, Southern 0, OT

Whitehall 27, Northampton 7

Wilkes-Barre Meyers 42, Wilkes-Barre GAR 14

Williams Valley 48, Lourdes Regional 0

Wilson 43, Governor Mifflin 0

York Suburban 21, York Catholic 0