Oct 19, 2013 By Les Harvath for The 5 min read

JEANNETTE – Trailing 14-7 at halftime to perennial power Jeannette, Waynesburg Central stunned the Jayhawks with a third quarter defensive stand and ball-control offense to upset the Hawks at Jeannette’s McKee Stadium, 26-14, in a Class AA Interstate Conference game.

“This is the one we needed,” said Waynesburg Central coach Russ Moore, moments after his Raiders celebrated with raised helmets at the 30-yard line, in front of ecstatic Waynesburg Central fans.

“We are in a rebuilding program and we needed to beat someone like a Jeannette or Washington,” Moore explained. “We needed a big win over an established team. This is the first time Waynesburg (4-4, 3-4) has ever beaten Jeannette and it came at the right time. At halftime we told the players they can’t play the Jeannette myth and expect to win. They had to put Jeannette on the same level. We (our coaches) told them we were the better team out there tonight, and they went out and proved it.”

Holding the slim seven-point lead, Jeannette (4-4, 4-3) received the second-half kickoff, taking over at their 13-yard line. Four plays later and in punt formation from their own five, momentum was quickly turning to Waynesburg’s side of the field.

When Jeannette’s punt traveled a meager 15 yards, Waynesburg was in business and needed only one play – John Glen Davis’ 20-yard touchdown run to pull within one point. Davis’ point-after-touchdown knotted the game at 14.

“That defensive stand was exactly what we needed,” Moore continued. “That was it! We scored on the first play and we began to believe in ourselves. Jeannette had put the ball on the ground (via fumbles) several times in the first half and we thought we could disrupt their offense even more in the second half.”

Jeannette’s next offensive possession saw standout defensive plays from Waynesburg’s Jacob Tretnik, who batted down a Jeannette pass, and Bo Hampson, who stopped a Jayhawk runner for a loss. Waynesburg, following a Jeannette punt, took possession at its 36 yard line.

Six plays later the Raiders were on the scoreboard again when Hunter Cenname scored from seven yards at 5:53 of the third quarter, giving Waynesburg a 20-14 lead.

On its ensuing possession, Jeannette, which lost for the fourth straight week, were pushed back 11 yards to the 21. Jeannette could only manage six yards on its next three plays and turned over the ball on downs.

Eleven plays, 85 yards, and 4:45 later Davis capped Waynesburg’s scoring with a six yard run at 6:11. Davis topped all ball carriers with 174 yards rushing on 25 carries. Davis has rushed for 940 yards on the season. Cenname added 133 yards on 21 attempts, as the Raiders rushed for 330 yards for the night.

“We were running on an obviously slick field,” Moore said, assessing his Raiders’ offensive showing, “and we went away from our motion offense. We made an adjustment at halftime and went to an I instead and just pounded the ball inside. That’s what we do. We had already worked on it, so it was nothing unusual for the players, and our offensive line and backs responded tremendously. We had to control the ball on the ground and keep Jeannette’s big-play offense off the field. They have some talented athletes and we couldn’t let them get their hands on the ball. We had to beat a quality opponent and these guys stepped up and accepted the challenge. During practice this week and at halftime we asked the players to listen to us and they realized we could play with Jeannette.”

On Waynesburg’s initial possession, the Raiders moved 70 yards in 11 plays and ran 5:56 off the clock, with Cenname scoring on a six-yard run for the early Waynesburg lead.

In losing to Yough last week, Waynesburg Central saw itself, in a span of 16 seconds at the end of first half, go from ready to take the lead to being down by 10.

“We have to learn to make those momentum swings happen in our favor,” Moore said. “We were driving to score, fumbled, and they scored with two seconds left in the second quarter. It snowballed after that. Tonight we turned the tables and took advantage of what Jeannette gave us. Jeannette had lost three in a row and we got them at the right time. Now it’s time for us to build on this win. We won one game last year and four this season and we’ve seen improvement. We needed a major win to get over the hump and we hope this is the game.”

Jeannette’s Damone Moore scored both Jayhawks’ touchdowns, on runs of 25 and 43 yards. Moore rushed for 119 yards on 8 attempts.

Waynesburg Central will host Washington next week to conclude its regular season.

Interstate Conference

Waynesburg Central 7-0-13-6 — 26

Jeannette 7-7-0-0 — 14

First Quarter

WC: Hunter Cenname 6 run (Austin Herrod kick), 6:00

J: Damone Morton 25 run (Swade Redman kick), 4:53

Second Quarter

J: Morton 43 run (Redman kick), 2:36

Third Quarter

W: John Glen Davis, 20 run (Davis kick), 9:55

W: Cenname 7 run (kick failed), 5:53

Fourth Quarter

W: Davis 6 run (run failed), 6:11

Records: Waynesburg Central (4-4, 3-4), Jeannette (4-4, 4-3).