Pioneers dominant in 41-6 win over Bearcats
ELLSWORTH — The West Greene Pioneers dominated both sides of the ball in Friday’s Tri-State Conference game at Bentworth, returning home with a 41-6 win over the Bearcats.
West Greene running back Benjamin Jackson had a monster game, rushing 20 times for 208 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught a pass for 32 yards.
Jackson’s performance brought a smile to West Greene head coach Rodney Huffman’s face.
“Ben was Ben tonight,” said Huffman. “He finally got it going tonight, and he’ll only get better as the season goes on.”
The West Greene defense also had an exceptional night, holding Bentworth to six points and forcing three turnovers thanks to interceptions by Nathan Brudnock and Austin Geho and a fumble recovery by Jeremiah Miller.
Even though the Pioneers had a dominating performance, Huffman said his team needed to improve on special teams.
“My hat is off to our coaching staff because they scouted well, and the plays that we thought would work did work,” said Huffman. “Our special teams didn’t perform the way we expected. We missed some extra points, but I was happy to see our little girl (Anna Durbin) make the one extra point.”
West Greene (1-0, 1-1) pounced on Bentworth (0-1, 1-1) early, utilizing Jackson to take an early 14-point lead in the first quarter.
Jackson’s first touchdown was a 52-yard run only 2:35 into the game, and his second touchdown was a 4-yard rush with 5:08 left in the first quarter.
Bentworth managed to put points on board when quarterback Shawn Dziak connected with Dylan Farkas for a 23-yard touchdown. The point-after was blocked.
Dziak completed 17-of-31 passes for 135 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Farkas was his top receiver with four passes for 40 yards.
Jackson’s 23-yard touchdown with 7:39 to go in the first half gave the Pioneers a 22-6 lead at the half.
The Pioneers added three more touchdowns in the third quarter.
West Greene’s Kolin Walker marched into the end zone for a 11-yard touchdown, making it 28-6 with 9:29 left in the third. Walker carried the ball three times for 30 yards.
Jackson continued to haunt the Bearcats on a beautiful 30-yard run to make it a 35-6 game.
With 3:48 left in the third quarter, the mercy rule went into effect when Corey Wise found the end zone on a 23-yard touchdown run, making it 41-6.
All of West Greene’s six touchdowns were on the ground with the Pioneers throwing for 106 yards.
Bentworth head coach Ron Skiles said, “West Greene played very good football tonight, and we didn’t.”
“Our organized defense was not there, which allowed Jackson to run free,” continued Skiles. “West Greene is a very good football team, and very big up front.”
Both teams are on the road next Friday with Bentworth at Cornell for an non-conference game and West Greene in conference action at Chartiers-Houston.
Tri-County South Conference
West Greene 14-8-19-0 — 41
Bentworth 6-0-0-0 — 6
First Quarter
WG: Benjamin Jackson 52 run (kick failed)
WG: Benjamin Jackson 4 run (Nathan Brudnock pass from Gavin Scott)
B: Dylan Farkas 23 pass from Shawn Dziak (kick failed)
Second Quarter
WG: Benjamin Jackson 23 run (Andrew Litton pass from Austin Geho)
Third Quarter
WG: Kolin Walker 11 run (kick failed)
WG: Benjamin Jackson 30 run (Anna Durbin kick)
WG: Corey Wise 23 run (kick failed)