Bulldogs ride ground game to key win at Carmichaels
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Beth-Center’s Varesko breaks free for a 43-yard touchdown run against Carmichaels during the third quarter of Friday night’s game at Coaches Field. Varesko rushed for 165 yards and three touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 34-20 win.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Beth-Center’s Cyncere Cruse (1) catches a 22-yard pass between Carmichaels’ Brandon Yekel (3) and Dayton Reynolds on a fourth-and-13 halfback option pass by Ethan Varesko during Friday night’s game at Coaches Field.
Carmichaels’ Ambrose Adamson (32) intercepts a Beth-Center pass during the first quarter of Friday night’s game at Coaches Field. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Beth-Center's Jayce Hundertmark recovers a Carmichaels fumble during the second quarter of Friday night's game at Coaches Field. Hundertmark recovered two fumbles in the Bulldogs' 34-20 victory.
Beth-Center's Teagan Veatch (23) breaks tackles during a 23-yard run against Carmichaels in the first quarter of Friday night's game at Coaches Field.
Carmichaels coach Ryan Krull reacts to a play during Friday night's game against Beth-Center at Coaches Field.
Beth-Center quarterback Jonah Sussan talks with coach Tony Ruscitto during Friday night's game at Carmichaels.
Beth-Center's Ethan Varesko twists into the end zone to score a two-point conversion against Carmichaels during the second quarter of Friday night's game at Coaches Field.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Carmichaels’ Billy White (5) bursts through an opening during an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter of Friday night’s game against Beth-Center at Coaches Field.
Beth-Center quarterback Jonah Sussan runs for a first down before Carmichaels' Aydan Adamson (30) and Billy White (5) combine to bring him down during the second quarter of Friday night's game at Coaches Field.
Carmichaels’ A.J. Donaldson (12) takes advantage of a running lane provided by the blocking of Aydan Adamson (30) and Ambrose Adamson (32) during Friday night’s game against Beth-Center at Coaches Field. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Beth-Center running back Ethan Varesko is pursued by Carmichaels' Dillan Fisher during Friday night's game at Coaches Field.
Carmichaels' A.J. Donaldson (12) pitches the ball to Will Murray (20) during Friday night's game against Beth-Center at Coaches Field.
Beth-Center quarterback Jonah Sussan (22) fights his way into the end zone on a seven-yard touchdown run during the second quarter of Friday night's game against Carmichaels at Coaches Field.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Carmichaels coach Ryan Krull (wearing headset) talks to his players during a timeout in Friday night’s game against Beth-Center at Coaches Field.
Beth-Center coach Tony Ruscitto watches a Bulldogs scoring drive during the third quarter of Friday night's game at Carmichaels.
Team captains Gavin Husenits (9), Landen Mitchell (55) and Chance Lemley (80) of Carmichaels and Chris Erickson (51), Jayce Hundertmark (57), Ethan Varesko (5), Jayce Hundertmark (79) and Jonah Sussan (22) of Beth-Center meet at midfield for the coin toss before Friday night's game at Coaches Field.
COAL CENTER — Beth-Center coach Tony Ruscitto knew what his team was capable off when he had a full squad available.
The Bulldogs have been banged up during much of the first half of the football season but were close to full strength Friday night when they took on host Carmichaels at Coaches Field.
The result was 305 rushing yards, including 165 with three touchdowns by Ethan Varesko, and a 34-20 victory in the key Tri-County South Conference clash.
The win kept the Bulldogs (2-1, 2-4) in a tie for third place with Jefferson-Morgan while the Mikes (1-2, 2-4) dropped into a tie for fifth place with Bentworth. The top four teams in the conference qualify for the WPIAL playoffs.
“We knew coming in this was an important game because we were both 1-1,” Ruscitto said. “We had a pretty bad game last week (42-8 home loss to Jefferson-Morgan). We had a lot of adversity we couldn’t overcome so this game became even more important for us.
“We had more adversity to overcome this week because some kids had to miss practice because of family health matters. They worked very hard this week and overcame all of that. I can’t say how proud I am for what they did. I thought the kids put a real good game together tonight.”
Beth-Center controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, most notably on offense. After an early turnover, the Bulldogs rode their ground game to five consecutive touchdown drives, not including a kneel down at the end of the first half.
“It all comes down to having people healthy,” Ruscitto said. “We’ve been having players missing all year. Tonight we had almost everybody here except for one starter that couldn’t play. It’s great to have kids who will not give up.”
Carmichaels grabbed the lead twice in the first quarter thanks to big plays on defense and special teams.
The Mikes moved from their own 35 to the B-C 26 on their opening drive but the Bulldogs front line held firm on a fourth-and-one play, stopping A.J. Donaldson for no gain on a quarterback sneak.
Carmichaels got the ball back three plays later when Ambrose Adamson intercepted a Jonah Sussan pass and returned it nine yards to the B-C 20. That set up a five-yard touchdown run by Donaldson for a 6-0 lead.
Beth-Center roared right back with a 45-yard touchdown drive sparked by Teagan Veatch’s 23-yard run and capped by a 13-yard burst by Varesko to make it 6-6.
The Mikes grabbed the lead right back when Billy White returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first quarter.
Undaunted, the Bulldogs answered with a swift 59-yard touchdown drive highlighted by a 29-yard run by Varesko who also rammed in for the score from two yards out to tie it at 12-12.
The tide turned Beth-Center’s way to stay thanks to two key plays later in the second quarter.
Carmichaels converted on fourth and three with a seven-yard run by Donaldson but the Mikes fumbled on the next play with Jayce Hundertmark pouncing on the loose ball for the Bulldogs at the B-C 40.
After picking up a pair of first downs, Beth-Center faced a fourth and 13. The Bulldogs converted it when Varesko took a pitch from Sussan and threw a 22-yard pass to Cyncere Cruse who hung on to the ball despite hitting the ground hard between two Mikes defenders at the Carmichaels 15.
“One my coaches, Tim Trump, suggested that and it was a good call,” Ruscitto said. “It was a good play for the situation and they executed it.”
Sussan scored on a seven-yard run two plays later and Varesko’s two-point run made it 20-12 with 1:51 left in the half.
“That was a big play for them,” Krull said of Cruse’s fourth-down catch. “Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of it. I should’ve done a better of yelling out to our guys to watch that kind of trick play at that time. That was a tough one to swallow.”
Another fumble recovery by Hundertmark ended Carmichaels’ final drive of the first half.
Beth-Center increased its lead to 28-12 with an 11-play, 69-yard touchdown drive that took 6:46 off the clock to open the second half. Veatch capped it with a four-yard run and Sussan ran in the two-point conversion.
Needing a score to stay in the game, the Mikes came up with an eight-play, 60-yard drive that ended with Donaldson’s six-yard touchdown run followed by his two-point conversion pass to Adamson to make it 28-20.
Whatever momentum Carmichaels built was quickly snatched away by the Bulldogs.
Santino Revi returned the kickoff 21 yards to the Mikes 45 and Varesko covered that in two plays, the second one being a 43-yard touchdown run for a 34-20 advantage with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.
Carmichaels’ next two drives ended on a fourth-down sack of Donaldson by Varesko and a interception by Cruse with three minutes remaining that all but put the game away.
Veatch ended up with 77 rushing yards mostly on counter plays and Sussan added 46 for Beth-Center which had 16 first downs.
“You’ve got to credit them,” Krull said. “They fired off the ball and their backs ran unbelievably hard. We’ve got to do a better job as coaches getting them into position where they can be successful. We’ll evaluate the tape and try to make the corrections to get better.”
Beth-Center limited the Mikes to 139 totals yards. Will Murray had 12 carries for 31 yards and Donaldson had 41 yards in 17 attempts. Donaldson completed nine of 12 passes for 53 yards with five going to Cannon Bupka and three to Brandon Yekel.
Billy White and Robbie Wilson-Jones made 11 tackles apiece for Carmichaels.
The Bulldogs forced three turnovers and stopped the Mikes on downs twice.
“When you lose the turnover battle you usually come out on the short side in the win column,” Krull said. “We’re learning but unfortunately we’re learning some of these things during the game, how important it is to take care of the football.
“These are all learning opportunities for our team, players and coaches. Hopefully we’ll learn a lot of lessons that’ll make us better in the future.”