West Greene wins shootout over Frazier
PERRYOPOLIS – The Frazier Commodores hosted the West Greene Pioneers for their Homecoming Friday night. A constant drizzle kept most spectators away, but the sparse crowd at the game was entertained by an offensive shootout, won by the Pioneers, 42-33, as they kept their playoff hopes alive in the Tri-County South Conference.
West Greene (2-3,3-4), rode the legs of running back Cody Miller who pounded the Commodores for 304 yards on 34 carries and four touchdowns and also tossed a touchdown, pass in the second quarter.
The Pioneers raced out to a quick 12-0 lead in the first quarter on touchdown runs 37 and two yards by Miller.
“We seem to be in a shootout every week,” Pioneers coach Scott Orndoff said. “Miller was running well and ready to go, so we just kept giving him the ball.”
Frazier (0-5, 1-6), started to regroup in the second quarter and cut the Pioneer lead to 12-6 on an 11-yard scoring pass from Tony Battaglini to Joe Kulikowski.
West Greene came back to increase its lead to 20-6 when Marcus Simms caught the first of his two touchdowns on an eight yard fade pattern from Aaron Wilson and a two-point run from Miller.
The Commodores charged back with another score in the quarter when Battaglini connected with Jim Traynor on a 24-yard scoring toss. The extra point by Fred Diederich cut the Pioneer lead to 20-13.
West Greene hurt Frazier with another score as time ran out in the first half, as Miller threw a halfback pass to Simms. Miller’s two-point run gave West Greene a 28-13 lead at the half.
“We dug a big hole for ourselves giving up some easy scores in the game,” Frazier head coach Lew Sweitzer said. “We gave a good effort but mistakes continue to hurt us.”
West Greene increased its lead to 36-13 in the third quarter when Miller scored on a two-yard run and added a two-point conversion.
Frazier pulled out a little trick play for its next score, when Battaglini ran to the left and handed off to Traynor on a reverse. Traynor stopped and found Kulikowski for a 20-yard scoring pass. Sabo’s two-point run made the score 36-21.
Frazier continued to close the gap in the fourth quarter when Sabo scored on a 26-yard run. The two-point pass failed as the Commodores trailed by nine, 36-27.
West Greene recovered Frazier’s on-side kick at the 50. For the Pioneers it was Miller time once again. Miller slammed ahead for six yards to the Frazier 44, and then got loose around the left end for the score to make it 42-27.
Frazier needed a big play and got one on the ensuing kickoff when Sabo had an 84-yard return to the Pioneer one.
Battaglini snuck in for the score, but he two-point run failed.
Frazier’s next on-side kick was recovered by the Pioneers, who managed to run out the clock and preserve the win.
West Greene will try to keep its playoff hopes alive next week when they face California, and the Commodores will go against conference leader Mapletown.