Charleroi shows drive, takes charge of Interstate
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Charleroi’s Geno Pellergrini (1) holds off McGuffey’s Bryton Johnson
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
McGuffey’s Christian Clutter works around Charleroi’s Dominic Pellegrini (29).
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Members of the Charleroi Area High School Band play before the start of the game against McGuffey.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
McGuffey’s Christian Clutter is congratulated by teammates after scoring a touchdown against Charleroi.
Holly Tonini
Charleroi’s Legend Davis scores a touchdown against McGuffey’s Jake Garrety.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Charleroi’s Legend Davis scores a touchdown in the 3rd quarter against McGuffey.
CHARLEROI — The key for the McGuffey High School defense was to keep everything the high-scoring Charleroi offense wanted to do Friday night in front of the Highlanders.
McGuffey reasoned that if it forced Charleroi into sustaining long drives, then the Cougars would eventually make some mistakes along the way.
McGuffey, for the most part, executed that game plan. The Highlanders made sure big-yardage plays didn’t turn into big-yardage touchdowns. The bend-but-don’t break defense kept McGuffey in the game until it made mistakes of its own.
Facing a 4th-and-19 on its first possession in the second half, Charleroi wide receiver Dakota Romantino ran a crossing route and broke the defensive mold used by McGuffey. Stopped at least 10 yards short of a first down, Romantino slipped a pair of tacklers and raced for a 24-yard score to change the momentum and give the Cougars a lead. Charleroi never looked back and handed the Highlanders their first loss of the season, 46-33, in an Interstate Conference game at Myron Pottios Stadium.
“No doubt that changed the time and score,” McGuffey coach Ed Dalton said of the play that gave Charleroi (5-1, 6-1) a 26-14 lead with 9:12 remaining in the third quarter.
“(Our defense) would have gotten off of the field. But we still had our chances. We just made mistakes.”
The result creates a two-way tie atop the conference standings between McGuffey (5-1, 7-1) and Charleroi, though the Cougars now own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Washington is a half-game behind both teams with four conference victories.
The backbreaker for McGuffey happened when it had a chance to take its first lead since the first quarter. With the Highlanders driving and in Charleroi territory midway through the fourth quarter, Cougars defensive tackle Johnathan Vargo forced a fumble on a simple dive play and the football was recovered by teammate Hunter Perry.
Six plays, 72 yards and just over three minutes later, the Charleroi offense struck again when Brayden Mihalcin, who finished with 141 rushing yards on 16 carries, went untouched for a four-yard touchdown that made it 39-27.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game and we had to battle,” Charleroi coach Lance Getsy said. “Their offense is tough to prepare for, so we knew we had to put up some points. Our defense did a good job making them go on long drives to score. We knew that could eventually lead to a mistake.”
The lone mistake Charleroi quarterback Geno Pellegrini made was throwing an interception to Jake Garrety that gave the Highlanders life prior to the devastating fumble.
Pellegrini made play after play, completing 11 of 20 passes for 193 yards, including three TD passes to Legend Davis. A four-yard connection to Davis for a score with 2:48 left in the second quarter gave Charleroi a 20-14 lead. Pellegrini also ran for a 17-yard score.
“The balance of being able to run and throw really helped us tonight,” Getsy said. “It’s a credit to our kids to be able to execute what we practiced all week.”
Davis’ three touchdowns came on six catches for 68 yards. Romantino hauled in five passes for 125 yards and a touchdown.
“I have trust in all of my guys,” Pellegrini said. “If I can get them the ball I know they will make big plays. It feels real good to knock off the top dog tonight.”
“When they hit big plays, it’s like a fast-break basketball team,” Dalton said. “They get rolling. They get scoring.”
Most of the offense generated by McGuffey was through slotback Christian Clutter. The senior had 20 carries for 145 yards and four total touchdowns – two rushing and two receiving.
“Our goals before the year was to beat (Washington). That is still there,” Dalton said. “It was to make the WPIAL playoffs. We’ve done that. It was to win the section. We can still do that. Then to win a playoff game. And we can still do that. I’m not sure we ever wrote down to be 10-0. It would have a great thing to do, but I’m not sure we ever wrote that down on our list.”
Interstate Conference
McGuffey 6-8-7-12 — 33
Charleroi 7-13-12-14 — 46
First Quarter
M: Christian Clutter 30 pass from Marshall Whipkey (kick failed)
C: Legend Davis 12 pass from Geno Pellegrini (kick good)
Second Quarter
C: Pellegrini 17 run (kick good)
M: Clutter 39 run (Mckinley Whipkey run)
C: Davis 4 pass from Pellegrini (kick failed)
Third Quarter
C: Dakota Romantino 24 pass from Pellegrini (conversion failed)
M: Marshall Whipkey 7 run (kick good)
C: Davis 20 pass from Pellegrini (conversion failed)
Fourth Quarter
M: Clutter 1 run (conversion failed)
C: Brayden Mihalcin 5 run (kick good)
C: Mihalcin 1 run (kick good)
M: Clutter 16 pass from Marshall Whipkey (conversion failed)