Trojans fend off Avella to give Woods school wins record
AVELLA – Chase Shemansky saved the best for last.
The California senior ran for 57 of his game-high 79 rushing yards in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead touchdown with 1:30 left, as the Trojans fought off a gallant effort by host Avella to pull out a 24-18 win in their Class A Tri-County South Conference battle on Friday night.
“Chase really stepped up,” California coach Ed Woods said. “He had a really good fourth quarter, played really well on both sides of the football.”
The game wasn’t decided until Avella quarterback Chas Rush’s pass from the California 41-yard line was intercepted in the end zone by the Trojans’ Eli Carpenter with two seconds left.
“It was a back-and-forth game that could’ve went either way,” Eagles coach Ryan Cecchini said. “They just made a few more plays than us at the end.”
The victory not only kept the Trojans (5-0, 6-2) tied with Beth-Center atop the conference standings but was the 62nd for Woods at California as he surpassed Pete Petroff for the program lead.
The Trojans travel to B-C (5-0, 8-0) in the regular-season finale next week that will decide the TCS championship.
The Eagles (4-2, 5-4) go to Frazier (4-2, 5-4) in Week 10 for a game that will determine which team secures third place and an automatic playoff spot.
Brandon Meier completed 8 of 13 passes for 126 yards and also ran 11 times for 60 yards and two touchdowns for the Trojans, who trailed 12-6 at halftime.
After a scoreless first quarter, Meier broke free for a 41-yard scoring run on the first play of the second quarter to give California a 6-0 lead. In what was a theme throughout the night, the Trojans were stopped on the two-point conversion run.
The two teams combined for six failed two-point tries for the game with the Eagles also missing an extra-point kick.
Avella got on the board four plays after Gage Samol recovered a fumbled punt at the California 15 with Chas Rush scoring from 3 yards out to tie it at 6-6 with 6:14 left in the second quarter.
The Eagles stunned the Trojans in the waning seconds of the first half when Rush rolled to his left and lofted a 53-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Amaisneier who got open behind the California secondary for a 12-6 advantage.
“That’s the same play that won the game at Mapletown, same route, beautiful throw by Chas,” Cecchini said, reflecting back on Avella’s 18-14 win at Mapletown. “Caleb sprung open again and made a great catch.”
Woods wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance in the first half, which included seven penalties for 56 yards and a turnover.
“We had a great week of practice. The kids worked hard all week,” Woods said. “But the first half we were flat and just didn’t play very well. We made some adjustments offensively, but it was more that they weren’t executing well enough.”
Shemansky agreed.
“We knew we were better than that and talked about what we needed to do in the second half, play harder, quit making mistakes, clean up the penalties,” Shemansky said.
“The second half we started to play better football,” Wood said.
California tied the game at 12-12 on its second possession of the third quarter with a four-play, 26-yard touchdown drive after a short Avella punt. Shemansky’s 17-yard run to the Avella 1 was followed by Weston Monticelli’s touchdown plunge with 4:30 left in the quarter.
The Trojans followed with another scoring drive, this one covering 50 yards in seven plays. Meier capped the march with a 4-yard touchdown run one play after connecting with Carter Frank on a 16-yard pass.
California looked to extend its lead midway through the fourth quarter after a 30-yard run by Shemansky and a 5-yard gain by Meier got the ball to the Avella 9 but Samol again recovered a fumble at the Eagles 7 on the next play.
Given new life, Avella drove 93-yards in seven plays for the tying touchdown on Rush’s 7-yard run set up by Samol’s 46-yard run on a reverse.
“We’ve had that in our bag a few weeks and we haven’t used it but we thought this was the right time,” Cecchini said.
The Trojans answered in emphatic fashion.
Taking over at its own 42, Shemansky ran for 18 yards and Meier completed consecutive passes to Brayden Crockett for 15 yards and Frank for 23 yards to the Avella 2. Shemansky charged into the end zone on the next play to put the visitors ahead 24-18 with 1:30 remaining.
“It felt amazing,” Shemansky said of scoring the winning TD. “I’ve got to give credit to my line. They blocked great and gave me a hole to run through.”
Avella threatened to tie it as Rush completed passes of 14 yards and 19 yards to Amaismeier, who wound up with four receptions for 91 yards, but Carpenter picked off his final heave in the end zone.
“I was relieved,” Woods said of his reaction to Carpenter’s interception. “Those last two minutes seemed like a half hour. It was a great feeling and a good win for the team and the program.
“Anytime you can come out in the second half and improve like we did on offense and defense, that’s always a plus.”
California had 368 total yards with 242 on the ground and three runners going over 40 yards. In addition to Shemansky and Meier, Monticelli had seven carries for 61 yards and Crockett added nine attempts for 42 yards.
Meier completed passes to six different receivers as the Trojans racked up 20 first downs to 12 for the Eagles.
Woods commended Avella.
“They are always well coached and those kids are scrappy,” Woods said. “They played well tonight. They had a nice scheme against us. They were 4-1 in the conference for a reason. Hat’s off to them.”
Cecchini lauded his team’s performance.
“I’m really proud of our effort today,” Cecchini said. “We came out firing. We were ready for this game. I feel like we’re a different team at home and it really showed against one of the top teams in our conference. We fell a hair short but our kids played hard the whole game. We never gave up.
“California is a very good team, very well coached. They have a lot of skill guys, an excellent sophomore quarterback who can throw the ball over the field. We knew it was going to be a challenge to contain them for four quarters.”
Rush completed 5 of 17 passes for 103 yards but was limited to 28 yards rushing on 20 attempts. Samol led the Eagles’ ground game with six carries for 63 yards.
“In the end we did what we needed to do to win the game,” Woods said. “Our kids overcame adversity and rose up when they had to, so I’m proud of them for that.”