Colonials, Red Raiders close seasons with victories
Caleb DeHaven and Tee Guesman both ran for over 200 yards and two touchdowns to help lead Albert Gallatin to a season-ending 48-20 non-conference football victory at Weir in West Virginia on Friday night.
The Colonials, who rang up 594 yards on the ground, closed their season with a 6-3 record, matching the post-consolidation program mark for wins in a season. Albert Gallatin went 6-2 in 2021, also under Dindl.
DeHaven rambled for 224 yards on just nine carries to wrap up his year with 1,042 rushing yards. Guseman ran the ball 15 times for 206 yards. Nasir Moore added 65 yards on eight attempts. The Colonials did not attempt a pass in the game.
Albert Gallatin took a 14-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run by DeHaven in the first quarter and a 2-yard TD run by Adam Pegg early in the second.
Lucas McAllister led the Red Raiders back even with a 13-yard TD run and a 25-yard touchdown pass to Amir Williams, the latter coming with 2:10 left in the first half.
Guesman scored 23 seconds later on a 78-yard run to make it 20-14 at halftime and AG never trailed again.
Guesman’s 2-yard touchdown run and Bronx Jamison’s two-point conversion run was followed by a 31-yard scoring run by DeHaven and Sam Evans’ extra-point kick to put the visitors in front 35-14 with 6:09 left in the third quarter.
McAllister’s 39-yard TD pass to Izaigha George late in the third quarter pulled Weir (1-7) within 35-21.
Albert Gallatin put the game away with fourth-quarter touchdown runs of 14 yards by Pegg and 1 yard by Moore.
Uniontown 27, Southern Garrett 8 – The Red Raiders forced four turnovers and got another long touchdown from Calvin Winfrey III in wrapping up their season with a non-conference victory over the Rams at Bill Power Stadium.
Uniontown ends the year with a 4-5 record and defeated four different teams for the first time since it went to an independent schedule under coach Keith Jeffries.
Notorious Grooms came up with two game-changing turnovers for the Red Raiders who also got touchdown runs from Jamarie Walker and David Ranitu.
After a scoreless first quarter, Southern Garrett looked as if it was about to take the lead when Reece Tasker pulled in a screen pass and ran 14 yard to the Uniontown 1-yard line only to have Grooms swipe the ball from him and return the fumble recovery out to the Red Raiders 30-yard line.
Two plays later Winfrey looped away from pressure, turned the corner and raced down the left sideline 69 yards for the only touchdown of the first half, which ended with the hosts up 7-0.
Southern Garrett seized an 8-7 lead with 6:49 left in the third quarter on Brayden Rodeheaver’s 15-yard TD run and Jacob Brown’s two-point conversion pass to Joel Campbell.
Uniontown went back on top with a 1-yard touchdown run by Walker on fourth and goal for a 14-8 lead.
Uniontown’s defense came up big in the fourth quarter, stopping the Rams on fourth down from the Red Raiders 27-yard line twice, once on a sack by Nathan Serock and once when the Uniontown front line stuffed a running play for no gain.
David Settles made it a two-score game for the Red Raiders when he took back an interception 55 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-8 with 4:18 left in the game.
Grooms sealed the victory with a 54-yard interception return to the Rams 14, setting up a touchdown run by Ranitu on the next play with 2:18 remaining. Ranitu was 3 for 4 in extra-point tries.
Elizabeth Forward 56, Mount Pleasant 26 – Elizabeth Forward clinched the Interstate Conference title with a convincing victory at Mount Pleasant.
The Warriors finished the regular season with a 5-0 conference record and overall mark of 7-3. The Vikings (3-2, 5-4) earned a playoff berth despite the loss.
The WPIAL pairings released on Saturday revealed the Warriors to be the third seed in the Class 3A field with a first-round bye. The Vikings were seeded 10th and will play at No. 7 Freeport this Friday.
Charlie Nigut sparked Elizabeth Forward with touchdown runs of 1, 5, 7 and 5 yards, and 163 yards rushing on 28 carries.
The Warriors’ Ryan Messina threw touchdown passes of 12 and 36 yards to Connor Stokes. Messina completed 13-of-21 passes for 240 yards.
Mount Pleasant’s Dane Firmstone filled in for injured Cole Chatfield and threw a 65-yard touchdown pass Jarett Garn returned a kickoff for a 94-yard touchdown. He also had a 3-yard touchdown run and scored on an 87-yard pass from Firmstone. Travis Dusi added a 28-yard scoring run.
Greensburg Salem 28, Southmoreland 21 – The Golden Lions upended visiting Southmoreland to forge a three-way tie for second place in the Class 3A Interstate Conference. Southmoreland (7-3), Greensburg Salem (7-3), and Mount Pleasant (5-4) all finished with 3-2 conference records.
After tiebreakers were administered, the Scotties claimed second place and the Vikings were third with both earning automatic playoff bids. Despite finishing fourth, the Lions were awarded one of the three Class 3A wild card spots by the WPIAL pairings committee on Saturday afternoon.
Southmoreland was seeded eighth and will host a first-round playoff game this Friday against No. 9 Highlands. The Lions were seeded 12th and play at No. 5 Avonworth.
Southmoreland quarterback Anthony Smith powered into the end zone from a yard out to spot the visitors to the early lead over GS. Smith completed 11-of-27 passes for 140 yards and three interceptions.
Greensburg Salem quarterback Brody Chismar then scored on a 1-yard run and Tanner Schmidt added the point-after for a 7-6 lead.
The Golden Lions’ Peyton Chismar returned an interception for a 50-yard touchdown with 4:43 left in the half.
Southmoreland responded 80 seconds later on Camryn Phillips’ 40-yard run. Phillips rushed for 111 yards.
Brody Chismar had a pair of 24-yard touchdown passes to Dom Rosensteel in the second half.
Chismar completed eight passes for 101 yards. Kai Brunot had a team-high 82 yards rushing.
Sincere Bowens scored on a 3-yard run for Southmoreland late in the fourth quarter.
Southmoreland’s Jackson Mickens caught six passes for 88 yards and Makel Darnell had four receptions for 73 yards.
Southmoreland’s Elliot Premus left the game in the first half with an injury.
Thomas Jefferson 49, Laurel Highlands 7 – The Jaguars pulled away with 28 points in the second quarter for a Big 6 Conference road victory.
Noah Lion connected on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Antwan Black in the second quarter for Laurel Highlands (1-4, 4-5).
Luke Kosko had touchdown passes of 20, 10 and 26 yards for Thomas Jefferson (5-0, 9-0). Kosko completed seven passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns.
Emmett Forte returned an interception 22 yards and scored on a five-yard run. Tyler Eber ran for 153 yards on nine carries.
West Greene 29, Beth-Center 22 – The Pioneers’ Lane Allison scored on a 1-yard run with 15 seconds remaining for a Tri-County South Conference home victory.
West Greene (4-3, 4-6) added the two-point conversion with Allison finding Patrick Durbin open in the end zone. Allison completed 6-of-10 passes for 119 yards.
Teagan Veatch gave the Bulldogs (1-6, 1-8) the lead with 2:54 to go in the game on a 13-yard run. Jonah Sussan added the two-point run.
Veatch finished with 68 yards rushing.
Sussan hit Enzo Brown for a 10-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs extended their lead on DeSean Whipkey’s 39-yard run with 8:30 left in the second quarter. Whipkey carried the ball eight times for 80 yards.
West Greene cut into the deficit six minutes later on Allison’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Parker Burns. Burns had eight receptions for 88 yards.
West Greene’s Colin Whyte scored back-to-back touchdowns on runs of 2 and 24 yards. Whyte finished with a team-high 81 yards rushing. Hamilton added 80 yards rushing.
Despite the win and finishing in a three-way tie for third place in the conference, the Pioneers lost out on an automatic playoff spot to Bentworth on tiebreaker points and were not given one of the four Class 1A wild card spots.
Carmichaels 52, Mapletown 6 – The Mikes scored 30 points in the first quarter for a Tri-County South Conference road victory but it wasn’t enough to get them into the postseason.
Carmichaels finished in a three-way tie for third place in the conference but lost out to Bentworth on tiebreaker points and was not given one of the four Class 1A wild card berths by the WPIAL committee.
William Murray scored five touchdowns for Carmichaels (4-3, 5-3). Murray had scoring runs of 2, 2, 54 and 77 yards, and added a 10-yard touchdown pass from Cannon Bupka.
The Mikes’ Carson Hillsman opened the scoring with a 24-yard run. Dayton Reynolds closed the scoring with a 45-yard touchdown run.
Carmichaels finished with 319 yards rushing. Murray ran for 208 yards on 13 carries.
Colton Spitznogle had a 1-yard touchdown run for the Maples (0-7, 1-9). Spitznogle finished with 45 yards rushing.
Frazier 48, Springdale 13 – Andrew Bandish scored touchdowns in three different ways as the Commodores (1-5, 2-7) ended the season on a positive note with a Eastern Conference win over the visiting Dynamos (0-7, 0-9).
Bandish found the end zone on a 45-yard fumble return, a 70-yard interception return and a 22-yard run, and also set up a 2-yard TD run by quarterback Brady Secrest with a 38-yard reception.
Derek Diamond scored a pair of touchdowns for Frazier on runs of 13 and 20 yards.
Frazier’s other score came on an 18-yard touchdown pass by Secrest to Brandon Gardner.
(Rob Burchianti contributed to this story.)