Oct 10, 2017 By Adam Brewer for The 3 min read

WAYNESBURG — Senior Blake Brewer and sophomore Gavin Benson recorded hat tricks, as Waynesburg Central kept its Section 3-AA title hopes alive with a 9-0 victory over Yough Tuesday night.

The Raiders (10-4-0, 9-2-0) will travel to Brownsville, who lost to Charleroi, 1-0, on Tuesday, on Thursday and if Waynesburg wins it will share the section title with Charleroi.

The Cougars defeated the Raiders twice this year, but per WPIAL rules teams that tie for first place will not have the tie broken and each will be declared section champion.

“For the last two weeks we have tried to treat every game like a playoff game,” Waynesburg coach Matt Blair said. “We knew we couldn’t overlook Yough tonight and we had to bring the right focus to the game. No matter our opponent, we have to prepare the same way.

“Early in the season we lost three in a row and things were in disarray. We refocused and the kids brought into what we are doing. We can only control us. The guys have embraced that motto and we have improved our skill during the season.”

Waynesburg, who has won nine of its last 10 matches, is the defending section champion.

The Cougars (1-13-0, 1-10-0) finishes the section schedule at home versus Southmoreland on Thursday.

Benson scored the first three goals in the opening 8:33 of the game. He leads the team with 18 goals on the season.

Sandwiched around two goals by Brewer in the first half was a header by senior Will Behm off of a corner kick from junior Jack Church.

Brewer, who now has 16 goals, tallied his third of the game with 7:04 left in the first half. Church completed the scoring for the Raiders in the first half on a goal that was assisted by Behm.

“Our offense has definitely picked it up the last couple of weeks,” Blair said. “We are more aggressive with the ball and are taking more shots. It’s been nice to move Gavin around and he is such a versatile player. If we move him up top, we have the speed with Blake and Dalton (Woods) to come at you from the outside.”

Tyler Switalski scored the only goal of the second half at the 25:22 mark for the Raiders.

Waynesburg’s junior goalkeeper Scott Benco picked up his sixth shutout of the season with two stops in net.

Juniors Brandon Marsh and TJ Chopp saw playing time in between the pipes for Yough with three saves apiece in the loss.

It was Senior Night for Waynesburg, as the Raiders recognized its four seniors: Brewer, Behm, Dylan Cowell and Nico DiAlesandro.

“These kids were freshmen my first year as an assistant coach here,” Blair said. “They definitely have had an impact on me and my career. They are good kids and they are like family. They work have and they are very coachable. They will truly be missed next year.”