Brownsville gives Braddock opening win
The Falcons had first crack in overtime with the ball at the Gladiators’ 10-yard line. Tre Hall gained one yard on first down and Levon Mickens gained four on second to set up Decarlo’s score on third-and-goal. Donald Thomas added his third PAT for a seven-point lead. Hall had 75 yards on nine carries.
The Gladiators’ Nick Camponizzi was stuffed for a two-yard loss on first down and quarterback Dylan Fox could not find the end zone with three straight incomplete passes.
Uniontown 7, Connellsville 6
The Uniontown Red Raiders will retain the “Coal Bucket” for another year as they came from behind to beat the Connellsville Falcons 7-6 Friday night at Connellsville Stadium.
The Falcons took a 6-0 lead in the second quarter when Matt White threw a 32-year scoring pass to Matt Williams. The extra point was blocked.
Uniontown picked up the winning points in the fourth quarter on a three-yard run by Brian Skinner. Lucas Mosco’s extra-point turned out to be the game winner.
Arnold Walker rushed for 68 yards on 20 carries for Uniontown.
Belle Vernon 45, Laurel Highlands 17
Belle Vernon opened the Aaron Krepps era in impressive fashion Friday night with a 45-17 non-conference win over visiting Laurel Highlands at Belle Vernon’s James Weir Stadium.
Krepps, who earned all-state honors for the Leps as a punt- and kickoff-return specialist, saw his special teams come up with a pair of big second-half touchdowns to pull away from the Mustangs.
Ahead 21-3 at intermission, BV’s Cory Williams returned the second-half kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, and 2009 PIAA long jump champion Matt Green returned an interception 97 yards for another score six minutes later to put the game out of reach.
LH coach Jack Buehner saw momentum swing in Belle Vernon’s favor when the Mustangs fumbled the opening kickoff. Taking over at the LH 11-yard line, BV quarterback Brandon Dilmore scored on a one-yard run less than three minutes into the season.
“When it rains, it pours,” Buehner said, “but what it boils down to is that we have to block, tackle, hold onto the ball and coach better. We’ll go from here and find out what kind of team we have.”
Clutching the game ball, Krepps admitted his Leps “were nervous, including the staff, in this first game. That turnover to start the game was a big play for us and helped to settle us down.”
For Belle Vernon (1-0), Williams took game rushing honors with 92 yards on 13 carries, while Green added 78 yards on nine attempts. Dylan Clifford rushed for 54 yards on 20 carries for the (0-1) Mustangs and, in his first varsity carry, sophomore Rasheed Dotson raced 68 yards for the Mustangs’ final score with 1:33 remaining in the game.
Beth-Center 24, Carlynton 6
Beth-Center wasn’t going to let Carlynton forget last season’s opener, dealing the Cougars a measure of revenge with a 24-6 victory Friday night.
The Bulldogs controlled the clock and in turn the game through the first quarter with their offense on the field for some nine minutes while tacking on three touchdowns in the process.
Only the extra point aspect of the Bulldogs game seemed to struggle in those first 12 minutes.
The Bulldogs jumped on Carlynton early with Andrew Nickler recovering a blocked punt that Sean Veatch would turn into a 6-0 lead seven plays later with a 2-yard run with 6:19 left in the first quarter.
The Cougars fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Bulldogs took advantage with an eight play drive culminating with quarterback Sal Faieta connecting with Chuck Bowser for a five-yard touchdown to increase the score to 12-0.
On their first snap in the next possession the Cougars fumbled the ball and Bulldogs running back Deshan Brown delivered another touchdown for the home team with a 33-yard for an 18-0 lead after the first quarter.
Zach Shashura recovered another fumble for the BC, with Brown slashing through the Cougars defense for a 19-yard touchdown sprint to increase the score to 24-0 with 10:16 in the second quarter.
Kris Williams scored Carlynton’s only points on a 3-yard run with 6:21 remaining in the first half.
Washington 24, Waynesburg Central 0
First impressions are everything in life, including high school football.
And when week one of the WPIAL high school football season opened up, a lot of first impressions were made in the Washington and Waynesburg Central game.
The first section game, the first play, the first yard, the first touchdown and for two coaches the first game at their new schools.
Red Raiders’ coach Joe Kuhns, former coach of California, and Prexies’ coach Mike Bosnic, former coach of Carmichaels, both wanted to make a good first impression with a win to start the season, but only Bosnic and the Little Prexies came out on top thanks to a 24-0 victory Friday night.
With no non-section games to open the ’09 campaign, the game marked the first contest for both teams in the heavily stacked Interstate Conference of Class AA.
“I was definitely nervous, and I think the kids were nervous as well for our first game,” Bosnic said. “We talked to the kids before the game about adversity and how as a team you handle it, and I was really proud of how the team responded and fought back. We did some really good things and it was a total team effort, but we have along way to go.”
The winning effort was caused by a devastating rushing attack, two long touchdown passes and a ferocious defense that forced three turnovers in the second half.
California 20, Frazier 16
The California Trojans overcame 60 yards in penalties and three turnovers to rally for a thrilling 20-16 win over host Frazier on Friday night.
Frazier dominated the first half, taking the opening kickoff and driving 68 yards in 11 plays and a California penalty to score on Chase Kirmeyer’s 2-yard run. Kirmeyer carried seven times for 42 yards on the drive, which consumed 5:17 on the clock.
Trailing 7-0, California’s first drive was stalled by a holding call and ended at the Commodore 21 when a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
An illegal motion penalty interrupted California’s next drive, which ended at the Frazier 42-yard line.
A third promising drive by the Trojans was interrupted by a holding penalty, and ended with 22 seconds left in the half when a pass by D.J. Martinak was tipped by Frazier’s Jarrad Bronson and intercepted by teammate Tim Holt.
The pace picked up considerably in the second half, with California outscoring Frazier 20-9, and rallied twice from deficits of 10-7 and 16-13.
The momentum swung several times, beginning when California’s Wade Stinnett intercepted a screen pass by Commodore quarterback Jim Kline, and returned the ball 10 yards to the end zone to tie the game with Nick Wohar’s kick.
Frazier answered with a 66-yard drive to the Trojan 1-yard line. But a false start penalty on fourth and goal backed the Commodores to the six and resulted in a 22-yard field goal by Kyle Rodriguez for a 10-7 lead.
The Trojans answered with a seven-play drive covering 65 yards and carrying over into the fourth quarter. Martinak capped the drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Stinnett for a 13-10 lead after Wohar missed the conversion.
Frazier took the lead with 7:27 left after recovering a fumbled punt at the California 47. After Kline ran for 46 yards to the 1-yard line, Kirmeyer scored on the next play, but the kick was wide.
California winning touchdown was set up on a 66-yard punt return by Divante Brooks to the Frazier 21 yard line. Two plays later, Martinak passed to Stinnett once again for the winning touchdown with 1:19 left.
The Trojans recovered a Frazier fumble on the next series and ran out the clock to give first year coach Brady Barbero his first varsity victory.
Avella 44, Geibel Catholic 29
Avella gave its home crowd something to cheer about for the first time in over a season by defeating Geibel Catholic 44-29 in non-conference play Friday.
Jared Magon rushed for 97 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Eagles (1-0, 0-0).
Geibel Catholic (0-1, 0-0) opened the scoring halfway through the first quarter on a 16-yard run by Christian Henckel for its only lead of the game.
Avella scored on the ensuing kickoff and never trailed the rest of the game.
Fort Cherry 28, Carmichaels 12
Carmichaels grabbed an early lead, but Fort Cherry responded with 21 unanswered points en route to a 28-12 win over the Mikes that spoiled coach John Menhart’s return to the Carmichaels sideline.
Seth Krall opened the scoring when he caught a 9-yard pass from his brother Jon Krall with 7:12 remaining in the first quarter. But Fort Cherry got the next three touchdowns, the last two coming on Tanner Garry scoring passes. He hit Gary Kiefer from 14 yards out to put Fort Cherry ahead, 21-6 6:03 before halftime.
Anthonie Farrar made it 21-12 when he scored on a 5-yard run with 10:34 remaining in the game, but Nick Hurley returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for the clinching score.
Farrar paced Carmichaels with 29 rushing yards on 16 carries and Jon Krall added 25 yards on seven carries. Krall also completed 6 of 14 passes for 72 yards.
Fort Cherry had 229 yards rushing and 123 yards passing.
Chartiers-Houston 42, West Greene 20
Chartiers-Houston stormed to a 35-6 halftime lead and never looked back in this exhibition win over West Greene.
No details about Chartiers-Houston’s scoring were available.
West Greene got a touchdown in the first quarter when Adam Crawford took a kickoff 92 yards for a score. Dillon Main scored in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard run and Donnie White capped the Pioneers scoring with a 1-yard scoring run. Main also caught a Clay mason pass for 40 yards and Crawford picked up 21 yards on his only carry from scrimmage. Brent Sink paced the Pioneers offense with 54 rushing yards on seven carries.