Uniontown comeback sinks Titans
Bill McLee scored two touchdowns, the second coming on the first play in the fourth quarter to put Uniontown in front for the first time, as the Red Raiders defeated visiting West Mifflin in a non-conference battle of Class AAA powers on Friday night. The Titans led 14-7 midway through the second quarter after touchdown runs of 35 yards by Kevin Garner and 55 yards by Matt Peterson, but a fake punt turned the tide Uniontown’s way. Quarterback Ryan Guthrie connected with Matt Ciampanelli for a 30-yard gain to West Mifflin’s 35-yard line on the play, which led to McLee’s first TD run of five yards.
Corey Rodgers hit a 36-yard field goal to put the Titans back on top in the third quarter before Guthrie and wide receiver Junior Mayes teamed up for a 65-yard pass play that set up McLee’s deciding score.
McLee led the Red Raiders with 57 yards rushing and Guthrie threw for 101 yards. Todd Jackson and Greg Leonard added 37 and 36 yards on the ground, respectively.
Peterson ran for 101 yards to pace the Titans and Garner added 80 yards.
Uniontown’s defense recorded three sacks and recovered two fumbles.
Huntingdon 35, Laurel Highlands 7
Scott Knee’s debut as head coach at Laurel Highlands saw the Mustangs play two very different halves of football Friday night.
A promising first half in which quarterback Matt Humbert picked up where he left off last season saw Laurel Highlands battle Huntingdon to a 7-7 draw.
It’s the second half, however, that left Knee near speechless after he watched the Bearcats take advantage of three turnovers and numerous penalties to pull away for a 35-7 non-section victory at the Mustang Corral.
Huntingdon quarterback Geoff Kozak scored on runs of 13 and 25 yards, and also tossed a 15-yard scoring pass. The Bearcats turned two Humbert interceptions and a fumble by the senior quarterback into 21 second-half points.
Laurel Highlands was flagged 13 times on offense as well, totaling losses of 75 yards. On the Mustangs only scoring drive, a 15-play, 78-yard series which ate up 7:28, Laurel Highlands was able to overcome a holding, a delay of game, an illegal use of hands and an illegal procedure penalty.
“You can’t do anything offensively when you’re consistently in second-and-long and third-and-long situations,” Knee said. “They (Huntingdon) knew what we were going to do and it took away the chance to have big plays. We’re going to have to work really hard to take care of this.”
Brownsville 34, Clairton 14
Brownsville opened up their 2002 campaign with an impressive win over Clairton in front of its home crowd in Redstone , 34-14, Friday night.
The Falcons were led by the running of Dougie Patterson who led the Falcon attack with 187 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns. Carson Thomas also had a sensational all-around night amassing over 100 yards total offense with two touchdowns. He also played stellar defense by breaking up a pass at the end of the first half in the end zone that would have put the Bears on the board at half.
“Dougie, Carson and Will (Murray) all ran well tonight,” noted Falcon coach Don Bartolomucci. “If they stay in the holes, we’re in business.”
Indeed the Falcons hit the holes well gaining 290 yards on 44 carries and five touchdowns.
South Allegheny 26, Geibel Catholic 24
Football games have had winning edges likened to various parts of the anatomy, a nose, a foot, a hand, but how about a game being decided by a fingertip.
That was all the edge that stood between Geibel Catholic and at least a tie and a possible victory overall, against South Allegheny in their exhibition football battle Friday night at Connellsville Stadium.
With 2:02 left in the game, and Geibel trailing 26-18, the Gators got a big break when SA went into punt formation at their own 27. A bad snap from center got past punter Cory Wesolowski, who recovered on the 10 and ran to the 22, where it was Geibel’s ball.
Dan Chorba carried left for two and right for two more, then DB Mike Craine batted away a pass in the corner of the endzone, leaving fourth and six at the SA-18. John Bokat stepped back and calmly fired to Ardie Renze in the right corner of the endzone for the score with 44-seconds left to play.
A kick was out, for that would still leave the Gators short. They had to go for two. Again, it was Bokat to Renze down the middle, and a Gladiator back just did tip the ball, but there was Renze to make what looked like the tying grab anyway. But the official, who was right on top of the play all the way, signaled the pass incomplete, and Geibel was the ultimate loser, 26-24.
Trinity 13, Connellsville 12
The Connellsville Falcon football team opened its 2002 campaign with a heartbreaking 13-12 loss at Trinity Friday night.
The Hillers took advantage of four Falcon turnovers, returning one mistake for a touchdown. The also came up with a key goal-line stand late in the fourth quarter which would have given the Falcons the lead.
“The goal-line stand was big momentum swing for us,” Trinity coach Ed Dalton said. “We’re a very young team. It was their first real test under fire. That was a big series for us.”
It appeared Trinity would not have to rely much on it’s defense in the opening quarter. John Smith had a 44-yard run that helped set up his 4-yard scoring run at 8:42 of the first quarter. Jeremy Fein’s extra point was good to give the Hillers a 7-0 lead.
Connellsville charged back. Taking over at their own 35-yard line, quarterback Justin Marsinko had a 40-yard run wiped out by an inadvertent whistle. “The official lost sight of the ball, and blew the whistle early,” Falcon coach Dan Spanish said.
The Falcons regroup and drove deep into Hillers territory, when a crucial mistake occurred. On a pitch from Marsinko to running back Paul Micklow, the ball deflected off Micklow’s shoulder pads. During the scramble, Trinity’s Brad Kimutis got a favorable bounce and sprinted 62- yards to the endzone for the score. The kick by Fein was no good to leave the score at 13-0.
“It was a good football game. Both teams had their chances to win,” Dalton said. “We got a couple of bounces tonight. When you have a young team it’s good to open at home. Connellsville is in the same situation. If we played there the bounces could’ve gone their way.”
Cornell 33, Frazier 14
Dennis Shazer entered his first season as Cornell football coach looking for a replacement for Will Allen, a three-year starter for the Raiders.
Friday night against Frazier, Shazer found his man.
Senior Frank Teamor stepped front-and-center against the Commodores, rushing for 122 yards and two touchdowns on only 10 carries to lift Cornell past Frazier, 33-14, in the season opener for both teams.
“We were hoping he would be able to break a few to the outside,” Shazer said. “He filled in pretty nice for Will.”
The Raiders overcame 15 penalties worth 89 yards in losses by running for 221 yards and adding 81 passing yards, all coming before halftime.
Baldwin 41, Albert Gallatin 20
Albert Gallatin kicked off their 2002 football season with a 41-20 loss at home in non-section action.
The last meeting between the two clubs resulted in a 35-0 Baldwin shutout. After finishing 2-8 last season and averaging 14 points per game, AG coach Chuck Colborn is determined to turn his club around.
AG won the opening coin toss and elected to receive, however their first drive would end just four plays later with a 19-yard punt by Logan Bowers.
Baldwin capitalized on their first possession by marching down the field and scoring on a 22-yard run by Stuart Ayers. Brad Schiffauer missed the extra point and the Fighting Highlanders led 6-0.
AG took over at the 8:43 mark in the first quarter after a 18-yard kickoff return by Eddie Robinson. Penalties plagued Baldwin early and AG took full advantage when, on only his third carry, Vaughn Jones broke free for 30 yards down to the Baldwin 1-yard line. Quarterback Zack Dawson tied the game at six on a quarterback keeper.
Baldwin took the ensuing kickoff down to the AG 17-yard line and raced down the field. Running back Fred Bacco capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run and quarterback Zac Wild completed the two-point conversion to give Baldwin the 14-6 edge.
AG fumbled on their next possession and Baldwin’s Dave Gillen recovered. AG rallied back when Billy Boni picked off a Wild pass at the 5:03 mark in the first quarter.
After two incomplete passes to Greg Moore and Robinson, Jones broke a tackle and scampered 45 yards down the field to the Baldwin 15-yard line. AG pulled within two points as Jones scored his first of two touchdowns on a 4-yard run with 2:35 remaining in the first half.
Thomas Jefferson 43, Belle Vernon 0
Belle Vernon fumbled on the first play of the game, the first play of the second quarter and the last play of the first half. Thomas Jefferson recovered every one of them and accordingly handed Belle Vernon its worst loss in at least 10 years, 43-0.
After the game, Belle Vernon’s Jesse Cramer was feeling more like a blocked punt than a coach.
“You can’t print what I think,” said Cramer. “This was just the worst game I’ve coached in 10 years. It was the worst football game I’ve seen.”
Belle Vernon was held to 45 yards of total offense by Thomas Jefferson, ranked fourth in the state in Class AAA by one newspaper.
“They’re good,” Cramer said. “But we made them look better, obviously.”
Belle Vernon is also considered a Class AAA contender in the WPIAL this season. Cramer is in his second year and felt last year’s rush to finish 5-5 would carry over into this season. He didn’t see any of that momentum Friday night, however.
“No, none at all,” Cramer said. “We completely fell apart.”
Waynesburg Central 40, McGuffey 7
Derek Bochna’s head-coaching debut with McGuffey, gone awry by a smothering Waynesburg Central defense, made way for plenty of shortcomings.
The Raiders ran amok by blitzing the Highlanders every waking handoff, while intercepting four ill-advised passes, and cruising to a 40-7 win at Raider Field.
“This is a learning experience,” Bochna said, a 1990 Mapletown graduate and former player at Penn State. “Our guys are young and still learning. They blitzed the heck out of us. We just aren’t ready for that yet.”
Waynesburg stumped McGuffey for three yards rushing and four first downs in the decisive win.
Riverview 11, California 0
Fred Federici scored all the points the visitors would need in the first quarter as the homestanding Trojans could only muster 95 total yards in a non-section loss. Riverview scored on a safety in the third quarter and John Lear found the range for a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
Calvin Kent and George Sisley both rushed for 24 yards for the Trojans. Parke Bongiorno completed five passes for 38 yards and an interception.
Andre Ardestani rushed for 72 yards for Riverview. Lear caught three passes for 77 yards.
Yough 14, Southmoreland 13, OT
The Scotties tied the game in the fourth quarter on quarterback Shane Datz’s one-yard dive, then took the lead in overtime before losing on a successful two-point conversion by the Cougars.
Scott Kasics was a thorn in the side of the home team, having a hand in all 14 points for Yough. He found Josh Allen open for an 11-yard scoring pass in the first quarter, then hit Adam Burnett for a score in overtime on a 9-yard pass. He clinched the win with a successful two-point conversion pass to Jess Fronhofer.
Kasics completed seven passes for 80 yards. Allen was the top receiver with five catches for 51 yards. Datz completed four passes for 80 yards, including 51-yard completion to Brian Connors.
Beth-Center 34, Jefferson-Morgan 0
The performance of Beth-Center was the hopeful start of a successful 2002 season from a three-year journey for the current group of Bulldog seniors with the visitors getting off to a rousing start Friday with a 34-0 non-section victory at Jefferson-Morgan.
The Bulldogs made the most of three interceptions and two fumbles with three of the turnovers transformed into touchdowns. The running back duo of George Hilverding and Mike Higinbotham ran inside and outside the Rocket defense for a total of 210 yards.
Higinbotham opened the scoring midway through the first quarter on a 25-yard sprint through the middle of the Jefferson-Morgan defense. Beth-Center received the ball in Rocket territory on a mishandled punt.
Higinbotham capped a short drive in the second quarter after a Matt Stay interception with a 4-yard run.
Hilverding started to pile up his game-high 138 yards with two touchdown runs in the second half. The senior, who missed most of last year with a broken leg, scored on an 18-yard run late in the third quarter and on a 9-yard run with less than four minutes remaining in the game.
Stay complemented his defensive work with a two-yard scoring dive early in the fourth quarter.
“We stepped it up in the second half. They came out to prove to people, to me, they were a good football team,” Beth-Center coach Ed Woods said.
Scores from across the state:
WESTERN REGION
Aliquippa 35, Ambridge 8
Altoona 17, Hollidaysburg 10
Apollo-Ridge 39, Leechburg 6
Avella 34, Weirton Madonna 14
Bald Eagle 36, Milton 26
Baldwin 41, Albert Gallatin 20
Beaver 28, Laurel 7
Bedford 28, Johnstown 12
Bellfonte 22, Penns Valley 0
Bellwood-Antis 17, Tyrone 15
Bethel Park 28, Franklin Regional 0
Bishop Carroll 20, Central Cambria 7
Bishop Guilfoyle 41, West Branch 9
Bishop McCort 21, Cambria Heights 14
Bishop McDevitt 24, State College 7
Blackhawk 42, Beaver Falls 0
Blairsville 20, Homer-Center 19
Brashear 34, Allderdice 6
Brownsville 34, Clairton 14
Burrell 7, Valley 6
Carmichaels 33, Burgettstown 10
Center 14, Shenango 7
Central Catholic 31, Mt. Lebanon 0
Central Mountain 27, Dubois 7
Chartiers-Houston 21, Brentwood 14
Claysburg-Kimmel 47, Williamsburg 35
Clearfield 41, Bradford 20
Cornell 33, Frazier 14
East Allegheny 26, Wilkinsburg 0
Elizabeth Forward 50, Mount Pleasant 15
Erie Cathedral 53, Waterdown, Ont. 12
Ford City 30, Kittanning 14
Forest Hills 41, Somerset 0
Fort LeBoeuf 35, Corry 6
Fox Chapel 20, Plum 13
Freedom 24, Mohawk 8
Freeport 14, Highlands 7
General McLean 30, Fairview 7
Greensburg Salem 16, Hempfield 13
Hampton 29, Moon 23
Harbor Creek 35, North East 14
Hopewell 34, North Hills 15
Huntingdon 35, Laurel Highlands 7
Indian Valley 22, West Perry 14
Jeannette 50, Deer Lakes 6
Keystone Oaks 34, Steel Valley 6
Kiski Area 29, Butler 28
Knoch 41, Indiana 7
Latrobe 45, Derry 0
Laurel Valley 45, Ligonier Valley 18
Mapletown 16, Bentworth 14
Meyersdale 12, Ferndale 0
Monaca 33, Wilmington 0
Montour 20, Chartiers Valley 17
Moshannon Valley 7, Southern Huntingdon 0
Mount Union 23, Juniata Valley 0
New Brighton 11, Rochester 6
New Castle 28, Greenville 12
North Allegheny 34, Ringgold 0
Northern Bedford 24, Chestnut Ridge 6
Northern Cambria 44, Purchase Line 8
Northgate 32, Avonworth 7
Northwestern 16, Girard 13, OT
Penn Cambria 37, Richland 14
Penn Hills 28, Gateway 3
Penn-Trafford 19, Norwin 0
Peters Township 28, South Park 27
Phillipsburg-Osceola 7, Lewistown 0
Pine-Richland 35, Mars 7
Quaker Valley 41, Shady Side Academy 6
Redbank Valley 32, West Shamokin 14
Reynolds 7, Kennedy Catholic 0
Riverside 35, Ellwood City 6
Riverview 11, California 0
Saltsburg 21, United 0
Seneca 28, Iroquois 16
Seneca Valley 35, McKeesport 7
South Allegheny 26, Geibel 24
Springdale 7, Union 7 (called at halftime, power failure)
Sto-Rox 35, Carlynton 13
Thomas Jefferson 43, Belle Vernon 0
Trinity 13, Connellsville 12
Tussey Mountain 20, Glendale 14
Uniontown 21, West Mifflin 17
Upper St. Clair 24, Erie McDowell 0
Waynesburg 40, McGuffey 7
West Allegheny 21, Canon-McMillan 20
West Middlesex 20, Neshannock 12
Westinghouse 34, Carrick 0
Westmont-Hilltop 42, Central Martinsburg 0
Williamsport 48, Tunkhannock 14
Windber 33, Portage 14
Woodland Hills 26, Shaler 6
Yough 14, Southmoreland 13
EASTERN REGION
Allentown Central Catholic 28, Exeter 14
Bald Eagle Area 36, Milton 26
Bellefonte 22, Penn Valley 0
Bensalem 14, Pottsgrove 9
Berwick 39, H.D. Woodson, D.C., 7
Biglerville 27, Littlestown 20, 3OT
Bishop McDevitt 24, State College 7
Blue Mountain 34, Hamburg 0
Boiling Springs 46, Big Spring 21
Canton 26, Wyalusing 25
Carbondale 43, Susquehanna 6
Carlisle 31, Greencastle-Antrim 24
Central Columbia 7, South Williamsport 6
Central Dauphin 51, Manheim Central 22
Central Mountain 27, Dubois 7
Chambersburg 14, Park View, Va., 6
Columbia 64, Kennard-Dale 8
Conestoga Valley 32, Penn Manor 15
Conrad Weiser 27, ELCO 6
Cumberland Valley 48, Eastern, D.C., 6
Dover 21, Susquehanock 7
Downingtown 48, Lancaster McCaskey 25
Dunmore 61, Mid Valley 30
Gettysburg 14, South Western 13
Glen Mills 28, Cedar Cliff 21
Great Valley 43, Phoenixville 12
Halifax 46, Donegal 0
Hanover 36, Shippensburg 0
Hazleton Area 41, Abington Heights 14
Hempfield 42, Elizabethtown 10
Honesdale 35, Western Wayne 17
Hughesville 21, Towanda 6
Indian Valley 22, West Perry 14
Lackawanna Trail 23, Montrose 16
Lakeland 21, West Scranton 7
Lancaster McCaskey 48, Downingtown 25
Lehighton 37, Panther Valley 12
Lewisburg 28, Montgomery 14
Lower Dauphin 13, Susquenita 12
Marian Catholic 34, Pocono Mountain West 0
Mechanicsburg 17, East Pennsboro 7
Methacton 29, Souderton 7
Mifflinburg 26, Warrior Run 6
Montoursville 35, Shikellamy 20
Muhlenberg 46, Governor Mifflin 13
Newport 20, East Juniata 16
North Penn 55, Bucktail 13
North Pocono 42, Riverside 21
Northern 23, Bermudian Springs 14
Old Forge 31, Bishop O’Reilly 6
Owen J. Roberts 19, Coatesville 15
Oxford 13, Kutztown 12
Pine Grove 27, Pottsville Nativity BVM 20
Pittston Area 0, Valley View 0, ssp. by malfunctioning lights
Pottstown 54, Daniel Boone 0
Pottsville 45, North Schuylkill 7
Radnor 19, Upper Perkiomen 8
Reading Central Catholic 37, Northwest 6
Reading High 40, Central Bucks East 21
Reading Holy Name 35, Twin Valley 6
Red Land 33, William Penn of York 13
Schuykill Valley 44, Upper Dauphin 20
Schuylkill Haven 35, Camp Hill 21
Schuylkill Valley 44, Upper Dauphin 7
Scotland 46, Juniata 27
Scranton 20, Wyoming Valley West 18
Selinsgrove 17, Danville 16
Shamokin 29, Jersey Shore 0
Shenandoah Valley 34, Lourdes Regional 7
Solanco 14, Spring-Ford 6
Southern Columbia 27, Loyalsock 23
Spring Grove 35, Garden Spot 8
Springfield Montco 19, Unionville 14
Susquehanna Township 28, Central York 21
Tamaqua 7, Jim Thorpe 6
Tri-Valley 15, Minersville 7
Trinity 31, Lancaster Catholic 7
Upper Dublin 33, Perkiomen Valley 17
Warwick 24, Manheim Township 12
West Chester East 20, Conestoga 19
West York 13, Dallastown 0
Wilkes-Barre Meyers 43, Wallenpaupack 6
Williams Valley 49, Mahanoy Area 7
Williamsport 48, Tunkhannock 14
Wilson-West Lawn 44, Red Lion 0
Wyomissing 30, Boyertown 20
York Catholic 14, Lampeter-Strasburg 12
York Suburban 24, Northern Lebanon 7