Mustangs defense stands tall in 21-20 OT win at Mount Pleasant
Mount Pleasant had a decision to make after matching Laurel Highlands’ touchdown in the first overtime to pull within one point in Friday night’s non-conference football clash.
The Vikings have one of the WPIAL’s top kickers in Jarett Garn but also sport a strong running game and had just scored on Stephen Predajna’s 2-yard run.
Mount Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas opted to go for the win and Mount Pleasant went with the same play again.
The Mustangs defense was ready this time.
Laurel Highlands’ Jason Gardner shot through the line and got a hand on Predajna to slow him up just enough for Jacob Johnson and Antwan Black to bring him to the ground short of the goal line and secure a 21-20 victory for the Mustangs.
“They’d been running the ball pretty good all night but our kids stepped up, they trusted their reads and stopped him a few inches short,” LH coach Rich Kolesar said.
It was the second consecutive week Laurel Highlands hung on to win a close game after fending off Indiana at Mustang Field last week, 10-7.
“We’re a young team but we have good leadership and I think all these games are helping us build character,” Kolesar said. “They’re seeing benefits from all their hard work.
“This was our first real road game. We played at Ambridge but only for about 53 seconds before it got canceled.”
The Mustangs improved to 3-1 while Mount Pleasant fell to 2-3.
Laurel Highlands got the ball first in overtime and Noah Lion scored on a third-down, 6-yard run. Tanner Bruzda booted the extra point which proved to be the difference, putting LH up 21-14.
“Noah did a really good job on a zone-read play, ran the ball tough and made sure he got in,” Kolesar said.
Mount Pleasant responded on its overtime possession with Stephen Predajna’s 2-yard touchdown run off the left side.
Lion completed 12 of 24 passes for 98 yards with 10 of those going to Black for 76 yards.
“Antwan had a really good night for us,” Kolesar said.
Laurel Highlands had 191 total yards with 93 rushing and 98 passing.
“We kind of distributed the ball, had a lot of different runners touch it tonight,” Kolesar said. “Parker Hoff had a great game defensively for us with around 14 tackles.”
Brody Hutter led Mount Pleasant with 11 carries for 65 yards. The Vikings had 215 total yards with 111 on the ground and 44 through the air.
Laurel Highlands took a 7-0 lead when Mason Smith returned a fumble 39 yards for a touchdown and Bruzda hit the point-after with 25 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Mustangs made it 14-0 on Lion’s 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tristan Baker in the second quarter.
The Vikings cut the deficit in half on Cole Chatfield’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Jonah Townshend later in the quarter then tied the game on Predajna’s fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter, with Garn converting both extra points.
Laurel Highlands forced four turnovers while the Vikings came up with two.
“It was a fun bus ride back,” Kolesar said. “We’ll get back to work in the morning and head into conference play.”
Laurel Highlands begins its Big Six Conference slate at Chartiers Valley next Friday while Mount Pleasant opens Interstate Conference action at Yough.
(WMBS contributed to this story.)