LH focusing on Uniontown
There was no doubt who the No. 1 team in the Keystone Conference was Friday night as Greensburg Salem remained perfect at 5-0 to clinch the section title with a dominating 42-6 win over Laurel Highlands. “We expected it to be a dogfight, but our guys came up big early,” Golden Lions’ coach Casey Cavanaugh said. “We came out and executed well and (Nate) Sphon and (Matt) Adams did very well for us tonight. We now want to make sure we win our last game at home against Derry before we head into the playoffs.”
In the first half the Golden Lions (7-1) racked up 317 yards, 16 first downs and 42 points, while their defense held the Mustangs (3-2,3-5) to five possessions that ended in four three-and-outs and one turnover.
Until Mustang tailback Divonte Walton picked up a first down on a 10-yard scamper with 7:11 left in the game, the home team failed to move the sticks or put positive yardage in the stat book.
However, Mustang coach Jack Buehner said his team, which has already secured a playoff berth must quickly move past the loss as they now set their sights on cross-town rival Uniontown.
“We’re going to need to really use the 24 hour rule now,” Buehner said. “We’ll need to get up in the morning and look at both the defensive and offensive plays and see what we did wrong and learn from it. They are going to be a game ahead of us in the conference going in and it’ll be at their place too. So that said we don’t have much time to worry about this game now.”
The Golden Lions leapt on the Mustangs from the get go, marching 68-yards on 14 plays with quarterback Nate Sphon’s touchdown run icing the drive to give them a 7-0 lead.
After a three-and-out for the Mustangs, Golden Lions running back Matt Adams scored on a six-yard run to cap a 10-play drive and give the visiting team a 14-0 lead with 13 second remaining in the quarter.
From that point the Golden Lions were well in control, scoring four touchdowns in the second quarter.
Sphon, who finished the game 7-9 for 139 passing yards plus 44 rushing yards connected with Raevaan Mottley for a 28-yard touchdown.
The Golden Lions recovered a Mustang fumble two plays after the ensuing kickoff, and Sphon scored on a five-yard run.
Michael Nowicki caught a 43-yard bomb from Sphon to increase the score to 35-0, while Brian Riffle tacked on the final score with a 1-yard plunge and 2:19 left in the first half.
The Mustangs were able to move the ball after Walton’s run, finishing the night with 69 offensive yards and a touchdown, compliments of Jake Riddell’s 35-yard pass to Jordan Crews with 1:52 left on the clock.