Qualk tops 2,000 rushing mark as Trojans upend Laurel, 22-6

California coach Ed Woods knew what his football team needed to do following its heart-breaking 28-27 home loss to Jefferson-Morgan last week.
The Trojans had to quickly turn the page on letting the chance to claim the Tri-County South Conference title slip away and look ahead to the WPIAL playoffs.
California did just that.
Lee Qualk carried the ball 24 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns and also caught a TD pass as the 10th-seeded Trojans upended No. 7 Laurel, 22-6, in a Class A first-round playoff game in New Castle Friday night.
Qualk’s performance pushed him over the 2,000-yard rushing mark for the season and propelled the Trojans into the quarterfinals against No. 2 Clairton (12-0). That game is scheduled for 7 p.m. this Friday at Charleroi.
“That’s the second year in a row now that we’ve won a first-round playoff game coming out of the Tri-County South,” Woods said. “We’re happy with that but we don’t want to stop there. I know we’ve got Clairton next week and that’s a big task but we’ll show up ready to play.”
Woods commended his squad for not lingering on the J-M loss.
“I’m really proud on what they were able to accomplish a week after losing such a tough game,” Woods said. “They knew that they could play better than what they did against Jefferson-Morgan. We had a good week of practice. We didn’t dwell on the loss. We watched tape, moved on and tried to fix our mistakes and get ready for the next one. That’s exactly what they did.
“As far as I know there was no talk during the week about the loss. They were focused on Laurel. I thought we had a pretty good game plan on both sides of the ball and special teams as well. I think for the most part they did a good job of executing.”
California (8-3) took control of the game in the second quarter.
“We had a touchdown called back right away,” Woods said. “But they didn’t let that bother them. They just kept working.”
Qualk scored two touchdowns in the second quarter on a 2-yard run, after which he also ran in the two-point conversion, and an 11-yard pass from Adin Keyes with Christian Ross kicking the extra point for a 15-0 halftime lead.
The Trojans were taking nothing for granted though.
“Even in the locker room at halftime, they felt good about being up by 15 but they knew there was a second half to play and they had to finish it,” Woods said.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Spartans (5-6) finally cracked the scoreboard in the fourth with Kolton Carlson’s 1-yard touchdown run but California stopped the two-point conversion pass which left Laurel still down two scores, 15-6.
Qualk’s 30-yard touchdown run later in the quarter and Ross’s second extra-point kick put the game away for the Trojans.
In addition to his rushing total, Qualk had three receptions for 53 yards, giving him 198 yards from scrimmage.
Woods lauded his senior running back.
“Lee never gets too high, never gets too low. He’s very consistent,” Woods said. “He’s a grinder. No matter how many times he gets the ball he’s going to run just as hard the last time as he did the first time. He’s just a tough football player.”
Luca Santini threw for 139 yards for Laurel.
“Their quarterback had a quick release and they had some good receivers,” Woods said. “But we were able to get some pressure on him and made him move around the pocket probably a little more than he would’ve liked. We had a few sacks.”
Woods complimented his players after the game.
“I told them how proud I was of the way they practiced throughout the week and stayed focused on Laurel,” Woods said. “I like the way they came out from start to finish tonight. They played good football in all three phases of the game.”