Trojans’ Stafford takes lead; B-C duo sparks Bulldogs
There’s a new face at the top of the Herald-Standard Touchdown Club standings.
California’s Jelani Stafford scored three touchdowns in the Trojans’ impressive 38-6 win over Rochester to push him above injured Dylan Rush of Mapletown with a total 134 points. Rush still sits in second with 124.
Rounding out the top five are two West Greene players in quarterback Zach Pettit (103) and running back Ben Jackson (80), who are third and fifth, respectively after the Pioneers’ 48-16 playoff-clinching victory over Monessen, and Elizabeth Forward’s Gavin Martik (102), who is fourth after the Warriors’ 47-3 win over Southmoreland.
Stafford was one of six area players who rang up three-TD games last Friday. Three of those players helped shake up the lower part of the top 10 with most of their damage coming through the air.
Charleroi’s Dakota Romantino’s three touchdown receptions jumped him from eighth into a tie for fifth with 80 points.
Beth-Center’s Trevor Anderson scored three long touchdowns, two on receptions and one rushing, in the Bulldogs’ 47-0 win over Brownsville to move from a tie for 10th into a tie for seventh with Bentworth’s Ben Peternel with 78 points.
Peternel had a trio of TD receptions, including two in overtime in the Bearcats’ 28-27 win over Waynesburg Central, as he followed Anderson a few spots up the charts.
Completing the top 10 are Beth-Center’s Dominic Fundy with 76 points and Laurel Highlands’ Conner Basinger and Charleroi’s Hunter Perry both with 66 points.
The potent one-two punch Fundy and Anderson is one of the main reasons the Bulldogs are 7-1.
“They are not similar,” B-C coach Joe Kuhns pointed out. “Actually, if you looked at the two of them you would think that Dom was the slasher and Trevor was the ram just by their builds. Trevor is stockier but he’s kind of the slasher. He’s the one who makes people miss and does neat stuff in the open field. Dom just tries to run you over.
“They’ve been a pretty good complement to each other. Most of Trevor’s points are coming in the pass game. He’s a pretty good receiver for us coming out of the backfield.”
The other two players who put up three touchdowns last week are Mount Pleasant’s Michael Govern in the Vikings’ 45-7 win over Yough, and, a newcomer to the standings, EF’s Garrett Stanley, who rushed for two scores and returned an interception for a third.
Govern was the biggest mover among the leaders, soaring from 23rd to a tie for 14th with B-C quarterback Bailey Lincoski and Carmichaels’ NIck Mundell with 60 points.
Just ahead of that trio in a tie for 12th are Charleroi’s Travis Lytle and California’s Cochise Ryan, each with 62 points.
Rounding out the top 20 are Trojans kicker Dustin Mock with 59 points, followed by Elizabeth Forward’s Brian Malloy and Yough’s Dustin Shoaf with 56 points apiece, and Jefferson-Morgan’s D.L. Garrett with 54 points.