Oct 14, 2017 By Bill Hughes for The 5 min read

FALLOWFIELD TWP. — Juniors Geno Pellegrini and Dakota Romantino set school career records Friday night, but all either wanted to talk about was Charleroi’s huge 37-14 Century Conference win Friday night over Burgettstown.

“My name is in the record book, but it is about my teammates as well,” said the humble Pellegrini, who finished 15-of-23 in the air for 369 yards and five touchdowns to pace the Cougars (7-1, 4-1). “I can’t even talk right now because I am so happy that we won this game.”

Romantino had seven catches for 248 yards and three touchdowns.

“I feel blessed and it is the best feeling in the world,” Romantino said. “For us to play good and to break the record, it is amazing.”

Charleroi coach Donnie Militzer was happy with the outcome and with how his team was able to pull away.

“That’s a big one and a great team effort by everybody,” he said. “Geno runs the show, but it’s not just him without the line up front and the guys making plays downfield.

“We are putting up some yards and points, but we can still clean a few things up.”

Neither team did much on their respective first drives of the game, but Charleroi went 60 yards on eight plays with Pellegrini hitting Travis Lytle on a one-yard touchdown pass to give the Cougars the early lead.

Joey Caruso’s extra point made the score 7-0 with 4:11 to play in the first quarter.

The Blue Devils answered when Lounder raced 40 yards to score with 1:38 to play in the first quarter, and Seth Phillis tied the game with the extra point.

Charleroi countered with Pellegrini hitting Dakota Romantino on a 79-yard scoring strike, and on the play, Romantino broke the school record for career yards receiving on the play.

Caruso’s extra point went wide right, and the Cougars held a 13-7 lead going into the second quarter.

Lounder tied the game for Burgettstown on a one-yard run with 9:29 to go in the half, and the extra point by Phillis gave the guests a one-point lead.

Pellegrini and Lounder continued to put on a show the rest of the half, the former through the air and the latter on the ground, but it was a Romantino interception at the Charleroi 17 with 1:40 to go in the half that gave the Cougars the chance to grab the halftime lead.

Charleroi went 83 yards on seven plays as Pellegrini hit Lytle with a 20-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-10 with 27 seconds to go in the half. The two-point conversion failed, and the Cougars took a 19-14 lead into the halftime.

Pellegrini finished 12 of 12 for 256 yards and three scores in the first half, while Lounder had 177 yards and a touchdown run on 15 carries. The rest of the Cougars accounted for four yards in the half, while the rest of the Blue Devils had 33 yards.

The Cougars had 260 yards on 25 plays in the first half, while the Blue Devils had 213 yards on 30 plays.

Burgettstown started the second half with a time-consuming drive, but it was all for not.

Pellegrini accounted for a 22-yard touchdown run and a pair of touchdown passes to Romantino in the second half as Charleroi pulled away.

Lounder had 180 yards rushing (of the Blue Devils’ 225 yards) on 28 carries.

Charleroi senior linebacker Jake Stefanick finished with a game-high 16 tackles as well as a sack and now has 93 tackles on the season.

“We had to read our keys and follow the guards as they took us to the play,” said Stefanick. “We did what they taught us to do, and we have to get ready for Beth-Center.”

Charleroi now hosts Beth-Center Friday night in what is the biggest game ever at Myron Pottios Stadium.

“The seven wins is the most since 1998 and that was the last time to host a playoff game,” Militzer said. “The guys know that if we win next week, we will host a playoff game.”

A win would give the Cougars the inside track at second place.

Century Conference

Burgettstown   7-7-0-0 — 14

Charleroi        13-6-18-0 — 0

First Quarter

Char: Travis Lytle 1 pass from Geno Pellegrini (Joey Caruso kick)

B: Ryan Lounder 40 run (Seth Phillis kick)

Char: Dakota Romantino 79 pass from Pellegrini (kick failed)

Second Quarter

B: Lounder 1 run (Phillis kick)

Char: Lytle 20 pass from Pellegrini (pass failed)

Third Quarter

Char: Pellegrini 22 run (kick failed)

Char: Romantino 42 pass from Pellegrini (pass failed)

Char: Romantino 28 pass from Pellegrini (pass failed)

Records: Charleroi (4-1, 7-1), Burgettstown (5-1, 6-1)