Warriors break open close game, defeat Laurel Highlands, 47-12
Elizabeth Forward scored on four consecutive possessions to break open a close game and turn an 18-12 lead into a 47-12 Big Nine Conference win over Laurel Highlands on Friday night.
The host Mustangs turned the ball over five times, with E-F scoring touchdowns off four of the turnovers.
Laurel Highlands (0-3, 0-3) open the scoring when Raphael Cannon passed 31 yards to Jordan Vecchiolla for the touchdown to cap the six-play drive just 2:47 into the game.
Jaquan Davidson scored on runs of 5, 23 and one yards and threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Matt Diehl, Jaylan French returned an interception for an 18-yard score, Rex Pearse sprinted into the end zone from 15 yards, and Jake Meyers capped the scoring with a 32-yard touchdown run for the Warriors (1-2, 1-2).
Dontay Jacobs scored on a 26-yard run late in the first half for the Mustangs.
West Mifflin 41, Uniontown 7
WEST MIFFLIN — A slight rain and threatening skies might have shortened the lines at Kennywood Park’s Phantom’s Revenge, only a stone’s throw from West Mifflin Stadium, but the weather was unable to ground the local jet.
Jimmy “The Jet” Wheeler, that is. That’s what they call the Titans’ speedy junior running back, who rushed for 201 yards on 15 carries — all in the first half — as West Mifflin overpowered the Uniontown Red Raiders in a Big 9 Conference game. West Mifflin scored on all six first-half possessions and led 41-0 at intermission.
Trinity 54, Albert Gallatin 0
WASHINGTON — Albert Gallatin fell to 0-3 after losing a Big Nine Conference game at Trinity.
Trinity’s Pat Frey led the Hillers to victory with three touchdowns. Frey scored early in the second quarter, and scored twice within three minutes during the third quarter.
Albert Gallatin’s Chris Hlatky had eight carries for 25 yards, and teammate Branden Dice had three carries for 17 yards.
Beth-Center 35, Carmichaels 6
FREDERICKTOWN — Carmichaels scored an early touchdown in the first quarter, but Beth-Center rallied for the next five touchdowns and came away with a victory in Tri-County South Conference action.
The Bulldogs (3-0, 3-0), who had an unexpected bye last week after Geibel Catholic’s forfeit, didn’t show any signs of rust early on and scored on their first three possessions of the game.
The scoring drives were 12-plays, 54-yard effort, 3-play, 53-yard drive, and 13-play, 69-yard march into the end zone. B-C led 21-6 at halftime.
Cody Durant ran for a team-high 98 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown for the Bulldogs, and Matt Riggle rushed for 31 yards and three scores.
Jefferson-Morgan 52, West Greene 12
JEFFERSON — Highlighting Jefferson-Morgan’s win was Travis Taylor, who returned a kickoff 85 yards to give the Rockets their first lead late in the first quarter. Jesso Jento (50-yard run), Nic Santoyo (76-yard pass from Tyler Bowman; 12-yard run), Dustin Conti (two 1-yard runs), and Aaron Weaver (32-yard run) also scored for the Rockets. Matt Zeglen hit a 37-yard field goal.
Damon Green hit 38- and 25-yard field goals, and Dalton Wildman scored on a 5-yard run for the Pioneers.
Waynesburg Central 21, Brownsville 0
REPUBLIC — Waynesburg Central’s defense pitched a shutout in defeating Brownsville in Interstate Conference play at Redstone Field.
Mistakes cost the Falcons (0-2, 0-3) and with 22 seconds remaining in the first half, and the Raiders (1-1, 1-2) leading, 14-0, Brandon DeCarlo found Tre Durkin for a 14-yard touchdown pass, although a penalty for 12 men on the field negated the score.
Waynesburg took a 21-0 lead after Will Ziefel scored on an eight-yard run at 3:08 of the third. Ian Patterson connected on his third PAT in as many tries.
Frazier 27, Bentworth 9
PERRYOPOLIS — Frazier built a seemingly safe 6-2 lead through three quarters, until Bentworth scored on a tipped pass to take a 9-6 lead in on the second play of the fourth quarter. The Commodores responded with the final 21 points for the victory.
Connellsville 14, Hempfield 10
CONNELLSVILLE — The Connellsville Falcons earned their first win of the season, holding off Hempfield late in the fourth quarter to take a thrilling win.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Falcons put together their game-winning drive in the fourth. Starting at their 20 they drove to their 42 and then took a loss back to their 37. Facing a third-and-14, pass interference was called against Hempfield giving the Falcons the ball at the Spartans’ 47. Zach Cree, who rushed for 83 yards, ran to the Hempfield 44. Maher then found DeMarco for a 44-yard touchdown pass, the eventual game-winner.
The Spartans made one last push, driving to the Connellsville 2-yard line. On a fourth-and-2, a pass into the end zone fell incomplete allowing the Falcons to run out the clock to get their first win of the year.
Clairton 54, California 6
CLAIRTON — Corey Adams scored California’s only touchdown and rushed for 83 yards at Clairton as the Trojans lost the Black Hills Conference contest to the Bears.
Clairton’s Tyler Boyd had nine carries for 111 yards, and also scored three touchdowns, one of which was a 55-yard punt return.
California (0-3) hosts Bishop Canevin Friday.
Avella 40, Mapletown 14
AVELLA — Mapletown’s Kevin Ridgley complete 12-of-27 passes for 149 yards, but it wasn’t enough to earn the Maples a win as Avella won the Tri-County South Conference game. Adam Hein scored the Maples’ first touchdown on a 5-yard run. Dereck Riggleman also scored for Mapletown (1-1, 1-2) on a 6-yard pass in the third quarter from Ridgley.
Ringgold 34, Belle Vernon 2
CARROLL TWP. — Demetrius Louis scored on runs of 53 and 62 yards to lead the Rams to a Big 9 Conference victory over the Leopards.
Mount Pleasant 41, Southmoreland 20
MOUNT PLEASANT — The Vikings’ Taylor Allison, Tyler Mellors and Ryan Ballew all scored two touchdowns apiece for an Interstate Conference win over the rival Scotties. Allison scored on runs of 69 and 14 yards, Mellors ran in from 4 and 12 yards, and Ballew had 8- and one-yard scoring runs.
Dakota Datz had scoring runs of 11 and one yard for the Scotties. Teammate Tyler Ramsey added a one-yard run.