Mustangs lose heartbreaker, 32-31
Friday’s Keystone Conference homecoming shootout between Laurel Highlands and Greensburg Salem was fun to watch, a relief to win and a heartbreaker to lose. The visiting Golden Lions (2-1, 4-1) enjoyed the relief of knowing they held off the Mustangs (1-2, 1-4) for a 32-31 win.
Greensburg Salem quarterback Joshua Falatovich passed for 201 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for two more scores. He had scoring tosses of 15 and 31 yards to Raevann Mottley and a five-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Nacey. Michael Kizzie led all rushers with 167 yards.
The Mustangs kept the Golden Lions off balance most of the night with the spread offense. LH junior quarterback Jake Riddell passed for 266 yards and three touchdowns. He had touchdown passes of seven and three yards to Matt Shull, and another one for 25 yards to Jordan Crews, who pulled in seven passes for 135 yards. Marcus Mains rumbled for 70 yards, and had a 36-yard touchdown run for the Mustangs.
“The kids worked their tails off and deserved a better fate tonight,” Mustangs coach Jack Beuhner said. “We have a lot of young guys out there. They’re continuing to grow and are starting to make plays. Nobody’s happy with a loss, but we respect the fact they kept working.”
The Mustangs first score was set up by a Greensburg fumble. Justin Savage recovered the ball for the Mustangs at the Greensburg 31. Eight plays later, Riddell connected with Shull for his first touchdown pass.
Greensburg stormed back in the second quarter when Falatovich plunged in from two yards out to complete a 10-play, 78-yard drive. The kick failed, and the Mustangs held on to a 7-6 lead.
Starting on their own 28, the Mustangs marched 72 yards for the score when Riddell found Crews, who took it in from 25 yards out.
The Golden Lions came back again covering 62 yards in 10 plays with Falatovich finding a wide open Nacey for the five-yard score. The failed two-point conversion run allowed the Mustangs to hold onto a 14-12 lead.
Laurel Highlands increased its lead to 17-12 when Kevin Provance converted a 22-yard field goal with 1:25 left in the half.
The Golden Lions started at their 36, and quickly moved down the field on a 30-yard pass from Falatovich to Tyler Robbins, and a 31-yard run by Kizzie that set up a first and goal at the LH three.
Two plays later, Falatovich scored from one yard out, He ran in a two-point conversion to give Greensburg Salem a 20-17 lead at the half.
“Our kids showed a lot of heart tonight,” Greensburg coach Casey Cavanaugh said. “They were down and we found a way to keep coming back. It was a gut check for us.”
LH regained the lead at the start of the third quarter by driving 58 yards with Mains covering the last 36 yards to make the score 24-20.
Greensburg answered again when Falatovich found Mottley for a 15-yard touchdown pass. The extra-point attempted failed again, and the Golden Lions had a 26-24 advantage.
The Mustangs fought back for another score that was set up by a 53-yard fingertip catch by Crews, which gave the Mustangs a first-and-goal at Greensburg’s six. Riddell gave the Mustangs the lead again on a three-yard toss to Shull for a 31-26 advantage.
Greensburg Salem had one more answer for the Mustangs when Mottley got free again to pull in a 31-yard scoring toss from Falatovich.
The Mustangs had one more chance to score late in the fourth quarter. After stopping a Greensburg drive at its 17, the Mustangs took over and drove to their 41. Riddell attempted to go deep, but was intercepted with 51 seconds left.
“I can’t fault the kid for that,” Beuhner said. “The route was open early, but the Greensburg kid made a good play. I’m proud of these kids. They’re catching on to what we’re trying to do and you can see their confidence building and it showed here tonight.”