Waynesburg wallops Blue Devils in opener, 33-6
WAYNESBURG — Waynesburg Central’s rushing tandem of seniors John Glen Davis and Hunter Cenname combined for 318 yards of total offense and five touchdowns to lead the Raiders over Burgettstown, 33-6, in their season opener Friday night.
Cenname rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns over 16 carries, and Davis ran for 128 yards and one touchdown over 15 carries while adding a 40 yard touchdown pass.
Waynesburg Central passed the ball only twice, one of which was a running back pass as Davis hit senior wide receiver Dom Sarra in stride for a 40-yard touchdown, versus 50 rushing attempts.
“I think most of our offense is about the running game,” Cenname said. “We try to drive it rather than have big, explosive plays.”
Waynesburg Central head coach Russ Moore said he prefers to have a ground attack rather than an air assault.
“I don’t like to throw,” Moore said. “I think we can throw when we throw, but my theory is if we can stay there and eat up the clock that’s how we’ll win.”
Davis said the game was crucial for the duo because it let both backs build momentum for the rest of the season.
“This game was really important for us,” Davis said, noting Brownsville and Washington are the Raiders’ next two opponents. “This will give us momentum for them.”
The blocking and offensive line play created gaping holes for the pair to have a big game. For an offensive line with only two seniors on it, Cenname said the group played very well in what was the first varsity game for many of them.
“The line did a great job,” Moore said. “Three people who didn’t get noticed were (junior) Jacob Tretnik, our fullback who never carries the ball, was kicking out on those powers all the time, (sophomore tight end) Colin McCracken and (senior offensive lineman) Sam Augustine. What also impressed me was our receivers’ blocking downfield. This was truly a full team effort.”
Waynesburg Central’s defense held Burgettstown scoreless until 1:18 left in the game when the backup defense allowed the backup offense of the Blue Devils to score. The Raiders held the Blue Devils to 137 total yards, 61 of which were by backup quarterback Robert Dupain on two long runs at the end of the game.
Cenname plays strong safety and Davis plays free safety for the Raiders’ defensive unit.
“Defense is what we think is our strong suit,” Moore said. “Offense is where we eat the clock and let our defense win the game. We’re going to ride on the defense. If you’re a good team that’s what you ride on.”
Neither team scored until 6:37 left in the second quarter when Davis ran for a nine-yard touchdown.
“We started off a little slow, but then we got back into it,” Davis said. “I think if we start every game like the way we ended (this one) then we’ll be good.”
Moore thinks the bad start on offense could have been attributed to nerves.
“I’m sure coming out for the first home game there were a lot of jitters, but then we found out where we could run and we started to run better,” Moore said. “They were taking away a lot of outside stuff and did a nice job, so we had to adjust to that.”
Burgettstown had a great opportunity in the first quarter when Davis fumbled on the Raiders’ 20. The Blue Devils did not take advantage of the mishap as they turned the ball over on downs.
“Our kids are struggling for an identity. They know we haven’t won a game in two years,” said Burgettstown head coach Terry Havelka. “We got moved over here to the Century Conference and we really think we can play and compete in this game and give us a shot to win the game in the fourth quarter. That great position and stalling there and coming up empty I know that had an affect on our kids. They’re fragile when it comes to believing in themselves with the history we’ve had here the past few years. We have some good kids, but they just need to start believing in themselves.”
Waynesburg Central took a 14-0 lead into halftime and came out firing in the second half. Hunter Cenname had three straight scores on rushes of 5, 12 and 7 yards, respectively.
Burgettstown found itself on the scoreboard when both teams started playing their backups. Backup quarterback Robert Dupain ran for 26 yards on his first rush and then on the next play ran for a 35-yard touchdown.
Burgettstown will take on Washington next Friday, while Waynesburg Central will battle Brownsville. Both games are set to start at 7 p.m.
Interstate Conference
Burgettstown 0-0-0-6 — 6
Waynesburg Central 0-14-12-7 — 33
Second Quarter
WC: John Glen Davis 9 run (Davis kick)
WC: Dominick Sarra 40 pass from Davis (Davis kick)
Third Quarter
WC: Hunter Cenname 5 run (kick fail)
WC: Cenname 12 run (kick fail)
Fourth Quarter
WC: Cenname 7 run (Davis kick)
B: Robert Dupain 35 run (kick fail)