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Vikings down Red Raiders, 35-8, clinch playoff berth

By Jonathan Guth jguth@heraldstandard.Com 5 min read
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Uniontown’s Christian Perkins (70) breaks through the line and chases Mount Pleasant’s Jacob Johnson during a game at Bill Power Stadium last year. Perkins would've been a junior for the Red Raiders this fall.

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Uniontown’s Torry Robinson picks up some of his 95 yards as Mount Pleasant’s Colton Zelmore attempts to make a tackle in a Big East Conference game at Bill Power Stadium on Oct. 25, 2019.

Mount Pleasant had to take care of business first … then it could check the out-of-town scoreboard.

The Vikings used a strong rushing attack and stellar defense in a 35-8 over Uniontown on Friday night at Bill Power Stadium, then found out it had qualified for the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs.

Mount Pleasant (4-4, 5-5) finished in a tie with Burrell (4-4, 6-4) for fourth place in the Big East Conference, and clinched its postseason berth due to a 34-18 victory over the Buccaneers on Oct. 4. The WPIAL pairings meeting will be held Monday.

“Our message all year has been to not worry about what we can’t control,” Mount Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas said. “I was worried about this team. They are not far from being a really competitive team. They are just missing a little bit. We did not take them lightly at all.”

The Vikings opened the scoring on Aaron Alakson’s one-yard run at 2:19 of the first quarter and Luke Hauger added the the first of five PATs for a 7-0 lead.

The Red Raiders (0-8, 0-10) responded by driving to the Mount Pleasant 10 on the ensuing drive, but missed a 27-yard field goal at 9:17 of the second quarter.

“To me, it always comes down to execution,” Uniontown coach Cedric Lloyd said. “We can’t do one thing, and then turn around and do five things backwards.”

The Vikings took over at their own 20, and after Jacob Johnson’s 78-yard touchdown run was brought back on a holding call, the senior scampered 29 yards into the end zone for a 14-0 advantage at 4:33 of the second quarter. Johnson had a game-high 125 yards on 16 carries.

Uniontown was hindered on the drive by several penalties.

“We had some costly penalties tonight,” Lloyd said. “People want to say, it is this, that or the other, but we did some bonehead things that I feel cost us. When you hurt yourself, it is kind of difficult to move forward, and that is kind of what we talked about at the half.”

Torry Robinson set up the Red Raiders with good field position when he returned the kickoff 41 yards to the Uniontown 48.

Mount Pleasant forced a three-and-out, got the ball back, but the Red Raiders forced and recovered a fumble at their own 20 with 1:55 remaining in the first half.

The Vikings forced a punt, as Fazekas used his timeouts to set up one last possession, and Mount Pleasant took over at its own 48 with 16 seconds left.

“I got good guys on staff,” Fazekas said. “They help me manage it and look at the clock. We tried to save a little bit, and we got lucky with one.”

A seven-yard pass from Asher O’Connor to Johnson set up a 45-yard touchdown by the duo with three seconds remaining and a 21-0 halftime lead. Johnson’s two receptions and 52 yards were good enough for game-high honors in receiving.

“He (Johnson) is a special kid,” Fazekas said. “He was a wide out for us last year, and he moved inside because I needed him, and I still think he almost caught 20 passes this year. He had over 1,000 yards rushing.”

“They are really not a throwing team, so you don’t expect them to throw the ball, but they executed on their pass plays,” Lloyd said. “And that was huge for them, and it hurt us because it caught us out of position.”

The Vikings extended their lead to 28-0 at 9:53 of the third quarter when Jonas King pulled in a 23-yard reception from O’Connor. The junior quarterback, who is in his first year starting, was 3 of 8 for 75 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

“Our quarterback threw some nice passes tonight,” Fazekas said. “We ask a lot of our guy at quarterback with the reads and stuff, so he’s a nice little quarterback. He is going to be good next year.”

Zac Sellinger’s four-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown increased Mount Pleasant’s advantage to 35-0 at 8:07 of the third quarter.

Robinson, who was honored prior to kickoff as part of Senior Night festivities, got Uniontown on the scoreboard with a 38-yard run at 8:38 of the fourth quarter. He threw the two-point conversion pass to Braxton Swaney to cut the deficit to 35-8. Robinson rushed for 95 yards on 13 carries.

In addition to Robinson, the Red Raiders honored Clay Berkebile, Jake Shiley, Walker Witt, Javon Davis, Josh Hodge, Kevin Zahron, Cameron Walton, Nolan Ranker, Pablo Boyd, Raymond Jackson, Josh Braxton, John Harim, Ken Toaisi and Jeffery King as part of Senior Night.

“It was disappointing to me the way that things transpired on the field at the end,” Lloyd said. “A lot of it was emotion, but as I constantly tell them: ‘You have to control the things you can control.’ And you’re emotion is one of those things you can control, and when you lose that, what people in the stands see is disorganization, but what they don’t know is that it is just a loss of composure.

“That is what I talked to those young men about. You are doing stuff that’s out of character, and you are hurting yourself and your teammates. We want to set the young men up to be successful people in life. They have a greater purpose in life.”

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