Nov 4, 2017 By Jim Wexell for The 5 min read

McKEESPORT — In the land of missed opportunity, the other team advances in the playoffs.

And Beth-Center missed several opportunities in losing to Serra Catholic, 27-20, in a first-round WPIAL Class AA playoff game Friday at Serra.

Beth-Center had two touchdowns called back because of questionable penalties, fumbled the play after recovering a blocked punt in Serra territory, and couldn’t hold on to a 20-19 lead in the middle of the fourth quarter.

Missed opportunities.

“Without a doubt. Without a doubt,” said Beth-Center coach Joe Kuhns. “Pretty even teams, but you make a mistake at the wrong time and you pay. Still, we had the lead but we didn’t hold them.”

Beth-Center took a 20-19 lead with 8:29 left on a spectacular 12-yard touchdown catch by Trevor Anderson. Quarterback Bailey Lincoski threw the pass behind Anderson, who reached back with one hand and pulled it in for the go-ahead score.

But Serra scored six plays later on a screen pass to wide receiver JaQuae Jackson, who weaved his way 30 yards for the touchdown, his second on consecutive possessions. Jackson had caught a 65-yard touchdown pass on a simple fly pattern on Serra’s previous possession, and his conversion catch after the second touchdown catch boosted the Serra lead to 27-20 with 5:34 remaining.

Beth-Center’s Lincoski drove the Bulldogs from their 30 to the Serra 38, but threw incomplete on fourth-and-5 with 42 seconds remaining to end the game.

Jackson was the difference maker. The 6-foot-3 senior was held without a catch in the first half, but after a couple of short catches in the third quarter, Serra quarterback Evan Honick found him for the big plays with the game in the balance. Jackson finished with five catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

“I think these field conditions got us on that little tunnel screen there, but yeah on that fade, boy, he was flying,” Kuhns said of the Serra playmaker. “The guy threw the ball 55 yards in the air and the free safety couldn’t get over the top.”

Beth-Center went into the game hoping to shut down Jackson and Serra’s other receiver, Malik Edmundson, who caught four passes for 59 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to in the second quarter.

“We thought (Edmundson) was good on the screens,” Kuhns said. “And we thought (Jackson) was going to stretch the field. We knew they were going to hit that at least once. I mean, that’s what they do. That’s what they are.”

Beth-Center opened with an 8-0 lead on Dominic Fundy’s 25-yard touchdown run, and Fundy, who finished with 87 yards on 23 carries, added the two-point conversion.

Serra cut the lead to 8-6 and then took a 12-8 lead with a touchdown pass to Khalil Smith late in the first half.

Beth-Center didn’t have the speed outside to beat Serra, so the Bulldogs decided to pound the middle with fullbacks Dylan Dingle, who scored on a two-yard run, and Anderson, who gave the Bulldogs the late lead with his touchdown catch, a series before Jackson’s game-winning touchdown for Serra.

“I was a little disappointed. I thought we would block a little better up front than we did,” Kuhns said. “We let some blitzes through that we usually don’t.”

And there was plenty of slipping on a patchy, uneven field with high grass.

“This is terrible for a playoff game,” Kuhns said. “But, they played on the same thing we did, so we can’t use that as an excuse.”

Could he use the two called-back touchdowns as an excuse?

Beth-Center thought it had scored on a 45-yard interception return by Anderson in the second quarter, but it was called back for holding. Fundy also had a 32-yard touchdown run called back for holding in the third quarter.

“It was the same guy who threw the flag on both,” said an upset Kuhns. “That’s all I’ll say about that one.”

The loss ended Beth-Center’s season at 7-4, a big improvement over last season.

“We’re losing four great seniors,” Kuhns said of Anderson and linemen Tim Trump, Anthony Herman and Ronald White. “We were 3-7 last year and they did a helluva job of bringing this team around 180 degrees and pointing it in the right direction. We’re going to miss them bad.”

WPIAL Playoff Sum

Quarterfinals

Class AA

Beth-Center     8-0-6-6 — 20

Serra Catholic 0-12-7-8 — 27

First Quarter

BC: Dom Fundy 25 run (Fundy pass from Bailey Lincoski), 4:10

Second Quarter

SC: Malik Edmundson 20 pass from Evan Honick (kick fail), 9:17

SC: Khalil Smith 11 pass from Honick (pass failed), 3:13

Third Quarter

BC: Dylan Dingle 2 run (run failed), 5:11

SC: JaQuae Jackson 65 pass from Honick (Brandon Borek kick), :56

Fourth Quarter

BC: Trevor Anderson 12 pass from Lincoski (pass failed), 8:29

SC: Jackson 30 pass from Honick (Jackson pass from Honick), 5:34