Mistakes costly in Falcons’ 56-7 loss to Central Catholic
Joel Brewton | Herald-Standard
Connellsville’s Steven White (24) is pursued into the end zone by Central Catholic’s Bryan Glover (30) to score the Falcons’ touchdown in Friday’s game at Connellsville Stadium.
Central Catholic's Grant Foster (29) breaks through the tackles of Connellsville's Anthony DeMarco (45) and Neil Butler (68) to score Central Catholic's fifth touchdown of the game Friday's at Connellsville Stadium.
Joel Brewton | Herald-Standard
Connellsville’s Corey Fogle (20) punts during Friday’s non-conference game against Central Catholic at Connellsville Stadium.
CONNELLSVILLE — The Connellsville Falcons got a lesson on what mistakes can cost them against good teams. Unbeaten Pittsburgh Central Catholic took advantage of three first-quarter fumbles by the Falcons, turning them into points on their way to a 56-7 win.
The Vikings (3-0, 5-0) got a big night from wide receiver John Petrishen who pulled in four balls for 85 yards and three touchdowns, one of those covering 50-yards. Running back Grant Foster rushed for 111 yards and a pair of scores.
The Falcons (2-2, 2-3) avoided the shutout on strong 13-yard run from Steven White in the third quarter. “Four turnovers in the first half you can’t help yourself against a really good football team,” Connellsville coach Dave McDonald said. “When you play a team that could possibly win a state title you’ve got to be perfect and we were not.”
The problems started early for the Falcons. They took the opening kickoff at their 19 and drove to the 40 where they fumbled. The Vikings recovered. Vinny Emanuele ended the short 5-play drive with a 7-yard run. Mitchell Maczura connected on the first of his eight extra points on the night.
The Falcons took the ensuing kickoff back to their 21. A penalty on a 7-yard run from White moved the ball to the Falcons 43. Following a short gain and an incomplete pass the Falcons fumbled and the Vikings again recovered the Connellsville 40. Three plays later, Foster scored from 21 yards out.
The Falcons were forced to punt on their next possession and the Vikings took over at their 27. Ronnie Jones ripped off a 23-yard run to the 50. Navarro then found Petrishen alone behind the Falcons secondary for the score increasing the Vikings lead to 21-0.
The Falcons fumbled again on their next possession with Central Catholic taking over at the Connellsville 19-yard line. Navarro ended the three-play drive with a 6-yard scoring toss to Petrishen increasing CC’s lead to 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
“We were able to take advantage if their mistakes and put them behind the eight ball early tonight,” Central coach Terry Totten said. “I give Connellsville credit, they kept coming after us. I give coach McDonald a lot of credit. They played a full 48-minutes. I think they’re heading in the right direction.”
The Vikings added two more scores in the second period on a 4-yard run from Foster and a 6-yard scoring pass from Navarro to Petrishen to take a 42-0 lead at the half and put the mercy rule into effect for the second half.
“We’re going to use this game as a learning experience,” McDonald said. “What happened tonight is going to make us better for next Friday against Plum.”
Non-Conference
Central Catholic 28 14 7 7 — 56
Connellsville 0 0 7 0 — 7
First Quarter
CC: Vinny Emanuele 7 run (Mitchell Maczura kick) 7-0, 8:06
CC: Grant Foster 21 run (Maczura kick) 14-0, 5:49
CC: John Petrishen 50 from Michael Navarro (Maczura kick) 21-0, 2:22
CC: Petrishen 6 from Navarro (Maczura kick) 28-0, :07
Second Quarter
CC: Foster 4 run (Maczura kick) 35-0, 8:34
CC: Petrishen 14 from Navarro (Maczura kick) 42-0, 3:58
Third Quarter
C: Steven White 13 run (Fogle kick) 42-7, 7:51
CC: Foster 18 run (Maczura kick) 48-7
Fourth Quarter
CC: Jacob McKee 4 run (Maczura kick) 56-7, 6:09
Records: Central Catholic (3-0,5-0), Connellsville (2-2, 2-3).