Oct 23, 2011 By Heraldstandard.Com 10 min read

COAL CENTER — The Frazier Commodores went on the road Friday night for a big Tri-County South Conference showdown at California.

The Trojans rushed for 320 yards and shut down the Commodores’ passing attack for a 35-0 win to take over third place in the conference.

Skylar Dickinson led the California rushing attack with 170 yards on 13 carries, scoring three touchdowns. The Trojans also got touchdowns from Lester McGriff and Dylan Hunter.

Frazier (5-2, 5-3) took the opening kickoff at their 34. With help from three California penalties they were able to drive to the Trojans 13 where their drive stalled.

California (5-2, 6-2) took over and put the ball in the hands of Dickinson who ran for 39 yards on four carries to help the Trojans set up a first and goal at the Frazier 8. Dickinson went ahead four yards to end the first quarter. On the first play of the second quarter Dickinson pulled in a four-yard pass from Tyler Conway for the score. The kick failed giving the Trojans a 6-0 lead.

California got their second score after the Commodores punted to the California 19. Dickinson broke off a 35-yard run to the Frazier 46. McGriff sprinted up the sideline into the end zone on the next play. Sean Cotton pulled in the two-point pass from Conway to give the Trojans a 14-0 lead.

California added another touchdown just before the half. Frazier drove to the Cal 40 and punted to the Trojans’ 15. From there, California needed only six plays to cover 85 yards, getting runs of 31 yards from Dickinson and 30 yards from Hunter. Dickinson ended the drive with a 7-yard run with 52 seconds left. Nazareth Victoria’s extra point gave the Trojans a 21-0 lead at the half.

The Trojans added another score in the third quarter taking the second half kickoff at their 23 and put together a 10-play drive that ended with a nine-yard touchdown run from Hunter. The extra-point was no good leaving the score at 27-0.

Frazier put themselves in a hole late in the third quarter. Starting at their 20, a Trojan penalty moved the ball to the 35. That was followed by two Commodore penalties that moved the ball back to the 20, leaving a first-and-25. The Commodores were unable to move the ball and a poor punt gave the Trojans the ball at the Frazier 36.

Dickinson ran for eight yards to end the third. Early in the fourth quarter, Dickinson ran for 15 yards to set up a first-and-10 at the Frazier 13. Dickinson took the next handoff around the left end for the score and McGriff added the two-point run for the final points on the night.

Carmichaels 27

Geibel Catholic 12

CARMICHAELS — With last week’s loss to Frazier, Carmichaels’ 13-year playoff run officially came to an end, so the only thing that the Mighty Mikes had to play for in the final two weeks of the season was pride.

After a poor first-half performance that had the Mikes trailing Geibel Catholic 12-0 at half, Carmichaels scored two touchdowns in a span of 2:38, en route to a come-from-behind Tri-County South Conference victory.

The Senior Night win marked the ninth time in the past nine seasons that the Mikes (2-5, 3-5) defeated the Gators, outscoring them by a 332-81 margin.

The Carmichaels’ rally started on their first drive of the second half when quarterback Brandon Lawless found tailback Brennan McMinn in the flat for a 75-yard score.

After stopping the Gators (1-6, 1-7) on a fourth-and-one play from the 46-yard line, Mikes running back Josh Mundell rumbled for a 56-yard score two plays later to make it 13-12.

After a Geibel punt, Carmichaels had the ball deep in their end and went three-and-out.

In what proved to be play of the night for the Mikes, punter Nick Clarke was able to corral the ball after a high snap in the end zone, and with guys hanging off of him, he managed to punt the ball to the 14-yard line to avoid the safety.

Three plays later, Mundell recorded a huge interception in the end zone that put a damper on the Gators’ great field position and gave all of the momentum right back to the Mikes.

On the next possession for Carmichaels, Lawless hit wideout Colton Yoders for a 79-yard touchdown pass to make it 19-12 with 7:31 left in the game.

Lawless only had five completions in the game, but threw for a season-high 220 yards.

Uniontown 33

Derry Area 0

Uniontown scored 30 of its 33 points off of six Derry turnovers in a Red Raiders win over the Trojans that keeps both teams alive in the playoff picture.

“We capitalized and that’s how you win games,” said Uniontown coach John Fortugna.

The Red Raiders won their second game in a row after opening the season 0-6, something not even Fortugna could have seen coming.

“This is a tremendous credit to our kids and their work ethic,” Fortugna said. “They have worked hard, regardless of what our record was. They never quit and that’s a big thing. We were down, 0-6, and things weren’t looking good, but we kept telling them to keep working and not to quit and they stuck with us. They finally brought it all together and I’m proud of them.”

This game, plus Laurel Highlands’ win at Hollidaysburg, leaves all four of these teams at 2-4 in conference games with only next Friday’s games left to determine the fourth and final playoff spot out of the Keystone Conference, behind Franklin Regional, Ringgold and Greensburg Salem. Uniontown travels to Ringgold, Derry hosts Hollidaysburg and LH hosts Albert Gallatin.

It was the turnovers that the Trojans couldn’t overcome. It started early, when Derry fumbled Uniontown’s first punt and Rakeen Saunders recovered for Uniontown. Flyzell Williams converted that turnover into a 32-yard field goal and a 3-0 Uniontown lead. Williams booted a 33-yard field goal in the second quarter to give Uniontown a 6-0 lead at halftime.

Chase Manches returned an interception 27 yards for a Uniontown touchdown with 2:38 remaining in the third quarter to make it 13-0. Chris Hall recovered a Derry fumble three plays later and quarterback Xavier Ellis passed to Deion Ricks for a 29-yard touchdown on the next play to boost Uniontown’s lead to 19-0 with 1:50 remaining in the third.

Tristan Sandrosky recovered another Derry fumble and, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Ellis tossed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ishmail DeShields for a 26-0 Red Raiders lead. Dontae Gibson had two interceptions in the fourth quarter and Hall scored on a 4-yard run after the second one to end the scoring.

Laurel Highlands 46,

Hollidaysburg 42

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Jake Riddell scored on a 7-yard run with 27 seconds remaining in the game, rallying Laurel Highlands to a road victory at Hollidaysburg in Keystone Conference action.

The victory keeps playoff hopes alive for the Mustangs with a 2-4 conference mark and and overall record of 3-5. Laurel Highlands closes the regular season against Albert Gallatin.

Hollidaysburg is also 2-4 in the conference, sliding to 2-5 overall.

The see-saw affair had the home team leading 21-14 after the first quarter and 28-20 at the half. Hollidaysburg held a slim 25-34 lead after three quarters.

The Mustangs’ Danzel Beasley gained 242 yards on 20 carries, scoring on 64-yard run. He also returned a kick 97 yards for a touchdown.

Jake Kearns scored on a pair of one-yard runs, plus a 6-yard effort late in the third quarter. Riddell pulled the Mustangs to within a touchdown with a one-yard dive at the 3:53 mark of the fourth quarter.

Gateway 40

Connellsville 0

MONROEVILLE — Having already clinched a WPIAL Class AAAA playoff berth, its first since 2005, Connellsville’s approach to its final conference game of the season Friday night at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium was simple, first-year Falcons coach Dave McDonald said.

Unfortunately, the fifth-ranked Gators were less than cooperative hosts. Gateway parlayed a ball-control offense and stingy defense into a 40-0 win, scoring three touchdowns before and after intermission. In the opening 24 minutes, Gateway limited the Falcons to 34 total yards, all on the ground, while piling up 141 yards rushing and 65 through the air. For the night, the dominate Gators rushed for 203 yards and passed for 188, while Connellsville managed 138 yards rushing and none passing.

Connellsville (4-4, 3-3) appeared to heed McDonald’s halftime address, focusing on execution. However, the Falcons’ initial third-quarter drive, 12 plays in length, came up a yard short as the Gators’ defense stiffened. Connellsville’s deepest penetration of the night, to the Gators’ 31, came on that drive.

Gateway countered with a five-play scoring drive and, after the Falcons turned the ball over on downs at the Gators’ 41, Gateway needed only two plays to score. Gateway’s final touchdown came at the 8:34 mark of the final period.

Zach Cooper led the Falcons with an even 100 yards rushing on 18 carries.

Greensburg Salem 67

Albert Gallatin 0

YORK RUN — Michael Kizzie scored on touchdown runs of 48 and 40 yards, and returned the opening kickoff of the second half 85 yards for a touchdown to lead Greensburg Salem to a 67-0 Keystone Conference win over Albert Gallatin.

Kizzie gained 158 yards on nine first-half carries, and was finished for the night after his second half kickoff return.

Greensburg Salem (5-1, 7-1) took the lead on the game’s second play when Tanner Hahn returned an Albert Gallatin fumble 20 yards to the end zone just 79 seconds into the first quarter.

Kizzie scored his first touchdown minutes later from 48 yards on the Golden Lions’ first play from scrimmage.

Thomas Jefferson 40

Belle Vernon 7

JEFFERSON HILLS — Thomas Jefferson’s Ryan Ruffing rushed for 175 yards and quarterback Dom Presto threw for 213, leading the Jaguars to a Big Eight Conference victory over visiting Belle Vernon.

The Leopards remain in the chase for the fourth playoff spot in the conference despite the loss. Belle Vernon (3-5) is tied with Trinity at 3-3 in fourth place. Belle Vernon, who earlier defeated Trinity, plays Elizabeth-Forward in the season finale, while Trinity plays McGuffey.

Adam Cole scored on a 6-yard run for the Leopards.

Monessen 36

Jefferson-Morgan 0

MONESSEN — Monessen built a 15-0 lead after the first quarter, and never looked back, defeating visiting Jefferson-Morgan in Tri-County South Conference action.

The Greyhounds’ Chavas Rawlins had touchdown passes of 85 yards to Jawon Brown and 25 yards to Tyler Young, and scored on a 1-yard run. Keith Davis powered into the end zone from one yard out, and Jalen Madison sprinted 45 yards for a score.

Rawlins completed 8-of-11 passes for 223 yards.

Southmoreland 35

Yough 14

HERMINIE — Tyler Ramsey, Adam Bundridge, Asa Costelnock, Dakota Datz and Connor McKlveen all scored touchdowns for Southmoreland, leading the Scotties to an Interstate Conference victory at Yough.

Datz had touchdown passes of 30 yards to Costelnock and 71 to Ramsey. Datz also scored on a 10-yard run. McKlveen scored on a 30-yard interception return.

Datz completed 6-of-13 passes for 179 yards.

Mount Pleasant 31

Waynesburg Central 6

MOUNT PLEASANT — Mount Pleasant is in and Waynesburg Central is out after the Vikings defeated Raiders in Interstate Conference action.

Mount Pleasant improves to 5-2 in the conference and 5-3 overall, while Waynesburg is now 3-4 in the conference and 3-5 overall.

Nick Zupper scored the Raiders’ lone touchdown on a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Zupper gained 103 yards on 26 carries.