Oct 13, 2002 By Mike Ciarochi 6 min read

GREENSBURG – All good things must come to an end, like Laurel Highlands’ three-game winning streak. But the Mustangs did not go down without a fight as they battled back from a 14-0 halftime deficit but couldn’t come all the way back in a heart-breaking 14-7 loss at Greensburg Salem Friday night at Offutt Field.

Laurel Highlands had only three second-half possessions. They scored on the first and reached the Golden Lion 8- and 17-yard lines on the last two. The Mustangs out-gained Greensburg Salem, 271-241, and had more first downs (16-13), but couldn’t forge a tie against a tough-when-it-had-to-be Golden Lion defense.

The loss drops Laurel Highlands to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in Keystone Conference games, while Greensburg Salem clinched a playoff berth in improving to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in conference games. Laurel Highlands can nail down the fourth playoff spot out of the Keystone by beating Mt. Pleasant at home next Friday.

“Next week is do or die for us,” Laurel Highlands coach Scott Knee said. “We have to get this one out of our system and come in Monday prepared to get ready for a big game next week.

“If we could have pulled this one out, we would have been in good shape for the playoffs, but losing here makes next week’s game of paramount importance.”

Against Greensburg Salem, Laurel Highlands struggled through a turnover-plagued first half in which the teams combined for seven turnovers. The Mustangs had four of them on three interceptions and a lost fumble.

Greensburg Salem’s Brandon Sticca opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second quarter. A strong kickoff return set up the Mustangs at the GS 47-yard line and they moved to the 23 before turning over the ball on downs.

Tony Patitucci’s second interception was returned to the GS 20, but Greensburg’s Jacob Zeoli intercepted on LH’s first play. The Mustangs’ defense, which was strong all game, held, but couldn’t handle the punt and Greensburg’s Cory Bush recovered. Quarterback Chris Marsh then passed to Mike Bonanno for a 46-yard touchdown 3:38 before halftime to push Greensburg Salem’s lead to 14-0.

In the second half, LH quarterback Matt Humbert came to life. He was limited to completing 7 of 12 passes for 68 yards, with three interceptions, in the first half. Yet Knee had no reservations at all about letting Humbert putting the ball back in the air.

“Not with him,” Knee said. “Matt Humbert has done too much for this program to get gun-shy in that situation. We win and we lose with that kid. There’s never any second-guessing.”

Humbert completed all four of his passes to four different receivers in a 9-play, 86-yard drive. He capped the drive with a 17-yard scoring pass to a wide open Greg Palladino to cut Greensburg Salem’s lead in half, 14-7.

LH’s defense again held the Golden Lions at bay and limited them to one first down and 34 total yards in the third quarter. Junior defensive end J.T. Stefanik made play after play for the Mustangs, which is becoming a habit, according to Knee.

“J.T. has come a long way,” Knee said. “He’s a leader, even though he’s only a junior, and the kids look up to him. He’s very good right now and he’s going to be tremendous next year.”

The Mustangs ran off 14 plays with their next possession, but faile to convert it into points when junior running back Corey Nesser was hit for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-1 from the GS 8-yard line.

“That was a bad call,” Knee said. “We should have given it to our fullback (Tim Hirsch).”

The Golden Lions then went to their ground game to try to run out the clock and chewed up 53 yards in the process. But Patitucci came up with his third interception to give the Mustangs a chance with 3:37 remaining.

Humbert passed LH down teh field, converting a fourth-and-20 with a 21-yard pass to Andre Ramsey and a first-and-20 with a 26-yard completion to Antwjuan Cox. He then passed to Patitucci for seven, but the next three passes fell incomplete and the Golden Lions had survived, something they didn’t do a week earlier, when the blew a 17-0 lead in a 20-17 loss to Belle Vernon.

“I guess we’re not doing a very good job with our halftime speeches,” Greensburg Salem coach George Kemerer said. “I might have to look something up from Vince Lombardi. But that’s the kind of team we are. Nothing comes easy for us.

“We knew Laurel Highlands was paying very well lately and we were able to put together a good first half, but we didn’t sustain it in the second half. I told our kids that we coaches are getting too old for many more of these close games.”

Knee was justifiably pleased with how his team played, yet frustrated they weren’t able to get a victory for their efforts.

“Our kids left it out on the field tonight,” he said. “That’s all we can ask of them. My hat’s off to Greensburg Salem. They are a well-coached football team. We got that interception at the end, converted a fourth-and-20 and got the ball deep in their territory. We had three shots at it. All I can say is our kids deserved better.”

Better might be described as a playoff berth. And the Mustangs still have a shot at that.

Keystone Conference

Laurel Highlands 0 0 7 0 — 7

Greensburg Salem 0 14 0 0 — 14

Second Quarter

GS-Sticco, 3 run (Bonfanti kick), 11:13

GS-Bonanno, 46 pass from Marsh (Bonfanti kick), 3:38

Third Quarter

LH-Palladino, 17 pass from Humbert (Briczinski kick), 5:47

LH GS

First downs 16 13

Yards rushing 86 151

Yards passing 185 90

Total yards 271 241

Comp-att-int 16-35-3 7-13-3

Penalties-yards 6-45 4-26

Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Laurel Highlands, Nesser 15-44, Hirsch 8-43, Patitucci 1-3, Humbert 2-(-4); Greensburg Salem, Sticca 25-115 (td), Bush, 3-14, Bonfanti 3-12, March 5-6, Gorgas 1-4.

PASSING-Laurel Highlands, Humbert 16-35-3-183 (td); Greensburg Salem, Marsh 7-13-2-90 (td).

RECEIVING-Laurel Highlands, Patitucci 5-50, Ramsey 3-47, Cox 3-43, Palladino 2-28 (td), Nesser 2-11, Hirsch 1-6; Greensburg Salem, Bonfanti 3-22, Sticca 2-14, Bonanno 1-46 (td), Matesevac 1-8.