Meier stars as Trojans trounce Mohawk, 40-6
Local football roundup
Brandon Meier completed 11 of 15 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns in a surprisingly effective aerial attack for usually ground-based California to lead the Trojans to a 40-6 non-conference football victory over visiting Mohawk on Friday night.
Meier also ran for two scores of 50 and 2 yards.
Weston Monticelli had four receptions for 108 yards and an 18-yard touchdown, Alan Dennis made three catches for 106 yards and one score, and Chase Shemansky hauled in TD passes of 16 and 10 yards for California.
The Trojans scored 20 points in the second quarter and a scoreless first, then added 12 in the third to go up 32-0.
Mohawk’s only touchdown came on a 20-yard pass from Kamren O’Lare to Cameron Quear in the fourth quarter.
WAYNESBURG CENTRAL 43, WEST GREENE 0 — Teagan Crouse accounted for five touchdowns as the host Raiders rolled past the Pioneers in a non-conference clash of Greene County teams.
Crouse threw for 196 yards, including TD tosses of 44 and 9 yards to Jack Ricciuti, and added scoring runs of 6, 48 and 9 yards.
Ricciuti rang up 104 receiving yards and Cole Phillips added 63 yards.
Ross Tennant ran for 50 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown, and added 10 receiving yards.
The Raiders led 12-0 after the first quarter then exploded for 31 points in the second.
Neither team scored in the second half.
CARMICHAELS 20, LEECHBURG 13 — Carmichaels first-year coach Ken Perkins had a successful debut as KC Shook rushed for 193 yards, including touchdown runs of 80 and 10 yards, in the Mikes’ non-conference victory at Leechburg.
Job Smith also topped the century mark with 118 yards rushing and added a team-high seven tackles.
Shook’s 80-yard score and Peyton Morecraft’s two-point conversion pass to Ryder Krieg in the second quarter gave Carmichaels a 7-6 halftime lead.
Jaxson Vargo, who had a 3-yard TD run in the first quarter, threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Louie Harshman to put Leechburg in front, 13-8, in the third quarter, but Shook’s 10-yard score later in the quarter gave the Mikes the lead for good, 14-13.
Stephen Lewis capped the scoring with a 28-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
BURRELL 32, ALBERT GALLATIN 7 — Antonio Perkins had touchdown runs of 37, 71 and 28 yards to spark the Bucs to a non-conference victory at Albert Gallatin, snapping the Colonials’ 13-game winning streak and spoiling their return to the WPIAL.
Burrell also got 2-yard TD runs from Trey Coury and Nisaun Jones.
The Bucs jumped out to a 13-0 before the Colonials put up their only score in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by quarterback Bronx Jamison.
Clayton Bollinger led AG with 16 carries for 107 yards, including a 47-yard run, and Gio Guerriere added six carries for 60 yards.
BETH-CENTER 34, BRENTWOOD 6 — Chase Bebout completed 6 of 7 passes for 145 yards three touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ non-conference win over the visiting Spartans.
Bebout threw a 44-yard TD to Daniel Duncan with Hunter Bobbs adding the extra point to give Beth-Center a 7-0 halftime lead.
B-C scored twice in the third quarter to go up 21-0 on DeSean Whipkey’s 46-yard reception and Enzo Brown’s 40-yard interception return.
Gavin Lewis’ 7-yard touchdown run got Brentwood within 21-6 later in the quarter.
The Bulldogs put the game away in the fourth quarter on a 35-yard TD run by Whipkey and Bebout’s 15-yard pass to Brown.
THOMAS JEFFERSON 34, BELLE VERNON 6 — Ty Eber rushed for 141 yards, including touchdowns of 49 and 12 yards, as the visiting Jaguars knocked off the host Leopards in a non-conference game at the Beach.
Harrison Kolling added 160 yards passing for TJ. He tossed TD passes of 40 and 4 yards to Kane Eggerton and of 46 yards to Elijah Fant
The Jaguars built a 28-0 lead before Belle Vernon scored its lone points on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Jace Gedekoh to Cameron Jenko in the third quarter.
LIGONIER VALLEY 42, FRAZIER 0 — Six different players scored touchdowns for the Rams in a non-conference shutout of the host Commodores.
Patrick Latin’s 35 yard run put Ligonier Valley up 7-0 after the first quarter.
The Rams scored three times in the second on Levi Foust’s 66 yard pass to Gregory Sleasman and 1-yard runs by Foust and Blake hitt.
Ligonier Valley got a 20-yard touchdown run from Isaiah Fogel in the third quarter and a 20-yard run by Connor Riddell in the fourth.
BURGETTSTOWN 42, JEFFERSON-MORGAN 7 — Brady Rightweiser ran for 116 yards, including touchdowns of 2, 5 and 60 yards, as the host Blue Devils triumphed over the Rockets in a non-conference game.
Burgettstown quarterback Blake Neal connected on 13 of 18 passes for 192 yards and had scoring tosses of 11 yards to Dominick Stevenson and 11 yards to Caleb Matalik.
The Blue Devils led 21-0 before Jefferson-Morgan notched its lone touchdown on a 35-yard pass by Triton Farabee to Liam Rogers.
AVELLA 48, MAPLETOWN 0 — Chas Rush accounted for four touchdowns and Gage Samol ran for 65 yards, including a 52-yard score, in the visiting Eagles’ non-conference win over the Maples.
Rush pulled in a 67-yard touchdown pass from Johnny Urbana to open the scoring and added a 6-yard TD run for a 13-0 lead after one quarter.
Avella got touchdown runs of 8 yards from Darren Ruschel and 30 yard from Rush and a 68-yard TD pass by Rush to Caleb Amaismeier in the second quarter to take a commanding 34-0 halftime lead.
Gavin Gatewood added an 11-yard touchdown run for the Eagles.
Carson Vanata had nine carries for 16 yards to pace the Maples, and Jaxson Donley had two catches for 11 yards.