Frazier ends season on high note, beats Mikes, 34-27
CARMICHAELS – Just about under any circumstance, fireworks rock, right? This must be the feeling in Carmichaels.
Even though Frazier held off a furious Mikes’ rally Friday night, a pyrotechnic display was set off over the football field following the game.
But make no mistake. Carmichaels will enter the WPIAL playoffs on a whimper, not a bang.
Frazier’s Paul Sabo rushed for 224 yards and scored four touchdowns, including 77- and 70-yarders on consecutive third-quarter possessions, as the Commodores won their first Tri-County South game of the season, 34-27, over Carmichaels.
Despite the loss, the Mikes advance to the postseason for the eighth consecutive year. Needing a victory or a Monessen loss, Carmichaels snuck into the playoffs when Mapletown defeated the Greyhounds, 37-6, Friday night.
Carmichaels and Monessen tied for fourth place, but the Mikes own the tiebreaker by virtue of an 18-0 win over the Greyhounds two weeks ago.
Frazier won’t be headed to the playoffs, but ended its season on a high note nonetheless. The victory snapped a seven-game losing streak and was the first over Carmichaels in several years.
“I thought we had a really good week of practice,” said Commodores coach Lew Sweitzer. “We prepared very well for this team (Carmichaels) and our coaches had a good game plan. We were running motion all over the field and Paul had a heck of a game.”
Sabo’s first touchdown came on a 25-yard screen pass and capped an 11-play drive and came with Frazier facing a fourth-and-19 after Commodores quarterback Tony Battaglini was sacked on back-to-back plays.
Frazier (2-7, 1-6) made it 13-0 when Sabo scored from two yards out early in the second quarter. The Commodores scored three touchdowns in the first half, with each score coming after a Carmichaels’ fumble.
“We weren’t ready to play,” said Mikes coach Mike Bosnic. “We came out flat and it cost us. I always worry more about games when you’re playing a team that’s winless, but is one that has fought hard and scrapped in all of its games.”
Down 13-0, Carmichaels dented the scoreboard when Cody Andrews scored from seven yards out. Frazier restored its lead to two touchdowns, however, when Vince Conti got loose for a 47-yard touchdown run with 1:35 left in the half.
After forcing a Frazier punt to open the third quarter, Carmichaels took just three plays to pull to within 20-13 after Matt Barnhart caught a Bobby Virgili pass in stride between the hash marks and outran his defender for a 77-yard touchdown.
Not to be outdone, Sabo scored two plays later when he broke loose on a dive play and raced 77 yards for a touchdown. After a long Carmichaels’ drive ended on downs, Sabo needed just three plays, this time galloping 70 yards for his fourth touchdown of the game.
Carmichaels then began the fourth quarter by recovering a Frazier fumble, and scored on back-to-back possessions, first on a Logan Phillips’ five-yard run, then on a Phillips’ nine-yarder. The Mikes’ defense then held on downs, forced a punt and Carmichaels took over on its own 33-yard line with 2:42 remaining.
After a first down, Phillips ran twice and Andrews once to set up a fourth-and-three call from the Frazier 47-yard line. But Phillips was stopped about a half-yard shy of the first down marker and the Commodores ran out the clock.
Carmichaels ran the ball 20 consecutive times to end the game, with nine of the final 10 plays beings tosses either left or right.
“They run the ball pretty well and we thought they would run,” Sweitzer said. “Before that last drive, they were running the ball down our throats. But we came prepared and ready to go. (The win) makes it easier to go into the offseason and gives our younger kids something positive to look at.”