Cougars fend off Scotties for 28-7 win
ALVERTON — Charleroi and Southmoreland faced off Friday night in an Interstate Conference showdown and while Charleroi won 28-7, both teams ended the night by clinching playoff spots with Scotties earning their first postseason berth since 1979.
“I am very happy as this is a big conference win,” said Charleroi coach Lance Getsy. “Southmoreland has been putting up points and they did not score on our defense.
“I am pleased knowing that our young players are getting better every week.”
Southmoreland coach Dave Keefer spoke about the play on the line of scrimmage.
“The line didn’t block, they beat us up front and pounded us,” he said. “Tonight, they are the better team, they took it to us and my hat’s off to them as they are a good team.”
The Cougars took over at the Southmoreland 38 after forcing a turnover on downs on the first drive of the game.
However, Alex Conrad was intercepted by Mason Basinger on Charleroi’s first play and junior returned it 38 yards to open the scoring with 8 minutes to play in the first quarter.
Southmoreland’s 7-0 lead held into the second quarter, but lasted two plays into the quarter when Conrad hit Legend Davis with a 24-yard scoring strike with 10:45 to go in the half.
Charleroi gained 120 yards on 25 plays, while Southmoreland tallied 81 yards on 27 plays.
The Cougars received the second half kick and marched 83 yards on 10 plays to take a 14-7 lead when Brayden Mihalcin scored from 10 yards out. The drive took 5:42 off the clock.
“We went back to what we do,” said Getsy. “Things went well for us. We adjusted some things at the half and the kids executed.”
“We thought at 7-7, we start the game over and get a stop,” Keefer said. “They ate the clock and pounded us.”
If Charleroi didn’t take control of the game on that drive, it did three plays later when Conrad intercepted Cernuto at the Southmoreland 36.
Charleroi needed seven plays to eat up another 3:30 off the clock, capped when Conrad scored on a one-yard keeper with just over a minute to go in the third quarter to give the Cougars a 21-7 lead.
Charleroi gained 119 yards on 17 plays and ate up over nine minutes off of the clock in the decisive third quarter, while Southmoreland was limited to 27 yards on five plays.
Charleroi went on another long scoring drive to put the game away after holding Southmoreland on downs.
The Cougars went 45 yards on 11 plays, but more importantly for Charleroi, ate up almost seven more minutes off the clock. Mihalcin scored his second one-yard touchdown of the second half. The score gave the Cougars a 28-7 lead with 4:13 to play.
Mihalcin rushed for 118 yards on 26 carries.
Charleroi finished with 283 yards of total offense on 57 plays, while Southmoreland’s high-powered offense did not score and was held to 104 yards on 45 plays.
Southmoreland clinched its first firs playoff berth in 40 years with McGuffey’s win at Brownsville.
However, when Keefer was asked after the game if he was happy knowing that his team would be in the playoffs tomorrow when he woke up despite losing, he gave a one-word answer” “No.”
The Cougars play first-place McGuffey for Friday, while Southmoreland heads to Shenango in a non-conference game.