Commodores rebound with 36-17 win over Scotties
PERRYOPOLIS — Frazier played its home opener Friday night after suffering a stinging loss on the road at South Allegheny last week, and the Commodores defeated the Southmoreland Scotties, 36-17, with a much improved effort.
The Commodores (1-1) got a stellar performance from quarterback Julian Muccioli with the senior signal caller accounted for 226 yards of offense, rushing 11 times for 134 yards and two touchdowns and completing 3-of-6 passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns, both going to Kenny Fine. The scoring tosses covered 13 and 70 yards, respectively. Fine also pulled in a 52-yard touchdown pass from Bobby Boggs to total 135 yards on his three scoring catches.
“I’m very pleased with our effort tonight,” Frazier’s Mike Steeber said. “We still have a long way to go. We’re a young football team. I told these guys resiliency and playing together as a team got this victory.”
The Scotties (1-1) were coming off an emotional win over archrival Mount Pleasant the week before, and got a strong offensive game from running back Ronnie Robinson, who rushed for 104 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown.
“We made a lot of mistakes tonight,” Southmoreland’s Dave Keefer said. “Too many dropped passes and penalties really hurt us. We’ve got a lot to fix. Give Frazier credit, they played a great game against us tonight.”
The Commodores picked up the game’s first points in the first quarter. Starting on the Scotties’ 25 on their second possession following a short punt, Muccioli connected with Fine on a 13-yard scoring toss to take a 6-0 lead.
The Scotties responded quickly, returning the ensuing kickoff to their 49. Colt Harper ran for 6 yards to the Frazier 45. On the next play, Robinson found a seam running to his left and raced in for the score. Andrew Rodriguez converted the extra point giving the Scotties their only lead of the night, 7-6.
The Commodores had the ball at the start of the second quarter. Facing a second-and-11 from their 30, Muccioli hit Fine for the 70-yard touchdown pass to give the Commodores a 12-7 lead.
Southmoreland drove to Frazier’s 20 on its next possession, but fumbled with the Commodores recovering. Muccioli ended the six-play drive with a 48-yard scoring run, giving Frazier an 18-7 lead.
Rodriguez’s 20-yard field goal for the Scotties made the score 18-10.
Frazier added one more score before the half when Boggs found Fine for a 52-yard scoring toss giving the Commodores a 24-10 lead at the half.
“The game wasn’t pretty at times, but the kids stayed together and that’s what it took to win the game tonight,” Steeber said. ” I think the kids learned a lot tonight. We want to continue to build from here.”
Frazier scored the only points of the second half of the third quarter on Muccioli’s 61-yard run.
The Scotties picked up a score at the start of the fourth quarter with Zach Cernuto scoring on a one-yard run. Rodriguez converted the extra point, making the score 30-17.
Frazier got those points back with a little less than four minutes to play on a two-yard run from Trevor Moon to earn their first win.
Interstate Conference
Southmoreland 7-3-0-7 — 17
Frazier 6-18-6-6 — 36
First Quarter
F: Fine 13 from Muccioli (kick failed), 5:28
S: Robinson 45 run (Rodriguez kick), 4:32
Second Quarter
F: Fine 70 from Muccioli (pass failed), 11:47
F: Muccioli 48 run (pass failed), 6:64
S-Rodriguez 20 field goal , 2:07
F: Fine 52 from Boggs (kick failed), 1:33
Third Quarter
F: Muccioli 61 run (kick failed), 5:59
Fourth Quarter
S: Cernuto 1 run (Rodriguez kick), 9:37
F: Moon 2 run (pass failed), 3:51
Records: Southmoreland (1-1), Frazier (1-1).