Warriors overwhelm Vikings, 55-13
Lori C. Padilla
Elizabeth Forward quarterback Zach Benedek (16) picks up a first down before being tackled by Mount Pleasant’s Alex Kadylak (11) and Asher O’Connor (1) during Friday night’s game at Mount Pleasant. Benedek rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown and threw for 104 yards and another score in the Warriors’ 55-13 victory.
Lori C. Padilla
Elizabeth Forward’s Nathan Sullivan brings down Mount Pleasant’s Hunter Tate (17) after a short gain during Friday night’s game at Mount Pleasant.
Lori C. Padilla
Elizabeth Forward’s Dontae Gilbert (3) temporarily wards off Mount Pleasant kicker Bradley Tait (9) on a second-quarter kickoff return during Friday night’s game at Mount Pleasant. Gilbert returned the kickoff 87 yards but Tait recovered to make the tackle from behind at the three-yard line.
MOUNT PLEASANT — Rather than drill his team extra hard after it suffered its first loss of the season last week, Elizabeth Forward coach Mike Collodi took a different approach.
He gave his Warriors a break in an attempt to have them recharged and ready to go for the stretch run.
That strategy worked wonders as the Warriors rolled past shorthanded Mount Pleasant, 55-13, in a Class AAA Big East game on Friday night.
Evan Lewis ran back the opening kickoff 88 yard for a touchdown and EF (6-1, 5-1) never looked back as it maintained a share of first place with Derry and North Catholic, which beat the Warriors 27-0 in Week Six.
Quarterback Zach Benedek led the way for Elizabeth Forward, rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown and passing for 104 yards and another score.
“I think our team really bounced back from that 27-0 loss,” Benedek said. “That’s hard on anyone. But we came back, put it in the rear view mirror.”
Collodi was pleased with the way his players responded.
“I felt the team just needed to get away for 48 hours, get away from football, just be kids for a weekend,” Collodi said. “Then we refocused on Monday, had a great week of practice and obviously tonight it paid off.”
The Warriors can clinch at least a share of their second consecutive conference crown with wins over Uniontown and Yough.
“That’s our focus, to win out,” Benedek said. “Take one game at a time, don’t take anyone lightly and hopefully we’ll end up with another conference title.”
EF’s offense was back on track one week after being shutout and showed its versatility on its first two drives.
Up 7-0, the Warriors went 83 yards in 15 plays and took 6:08 off the clock with a methodical march capped by Benedek’s one-yard touchdown plunge to go up 14-0.
The next time it touched the ball, EF showed its explosiveness with a two-play drive as Benedek broke a 27-yard run, then hit Chase Whatton with a 40-yard touchdown pass. Andrew Smith, who converted on seven of eight extra-point kicks, made it 21-0.
After going three-and-out on their first two possessions, the Vikings (1-7, 1-5) got on the board on the final play of the opening quarter when Jake Johnson followed a 45-yard run with a four-yard touchdown burst to make it 21-6.
The Warriors’ special teams came up big again on the ensuing kickoff with Dontae Gilbert returning it 87 yards to the Mount Pleasant three-yard line, with kicker Bradley Tait saving the touchdown. Lewis scored three plays later for a 28-6 advantage.
Gilbert scored on a two-yard TD run with 2:17 left in the second quarter to put EF up 35-6, then Nathan Alberts intercepted Mount Pleasant quarterback Lucas Pieszak’s pass in the end zone with 16 seconds left to keep the halftime lead at 29.
The Warriors got third-quarter touchdown runs of one yard by Christopher Makosey and four yards by Nico Mrvos to build their advantage to 48-6.
Johnson scored his second touchdown for the Vikings on a 55-yard pass from Pieszak on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 48-13.
Johnson was a bright spot for Mount Pleasant with 49 yards rushing and five receptions for 118 yards, accounting for all but 21 of his teams 188 total yards.
Pieszak completed six of 15 passes for 128 yards.
EF’s Jacob Prah finished the game’s scoring with a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:23 left.
“All three phases of the game went really well for us,” Collodi said.
Whatton also had an interception for Elizabeth Forward.
EF had 403 total yards with 299 on the ground in a balanced running attack. Mrvos ran for 64 yards, Makosey added 54 yards, Lewis had 41 yards and Gilbert rushed for 33 yards.
Alberts had two receptions for 38 yards.
The Vikings, who have been ravaged by injuries this season with more than 20 players going down, lost a couple more players on Friday night.
“We would always count on depth at our key positions,” MP coach Jason Fazekas said. “We lost all that depth with all the injuries. It’s a good team over there. So it’s hard to match-up all the time.
“We’re doing what we can and we’re not making excuses, but sometimes you’re playing kids that aren’t ready and kids that should be playing on Saturdays. We’ve got to put them out there. We’re trying to manage it the best we can and try to be as competitive as we can.”
The Warriors’ program has emerged as one of the area’s best under Collodi, who is in his fourth year as coach at EF, but he deflected praise to his players.
“I give all the credit to the kids,” Collodi said. “When you have players like Zach Benedek and Nathan Homa and A.J. Ackerman, Nate Alberts, R.J. Buchina and a host of other kids, and even last year players like Gavin Martek and Tyler Ocilka, they helped change the culture. That’s what we had to do.
“When you have kids that buy in to the offseason weight program and really become dedicated, good things happen.”