Friday Night Lights: Montour edges WA; Bishop Canevin rolls past Carlynton
A goal-line stand on a two-point conversion attempt proved to be the difference as Montour held on for a 21-20 victory over West Allegheny Friday night in a WPIAL nonconference football game played at Thomas J. Birko Memorial Stadium.
The Spartans came up big when it counted the most, rising up to keep West Allegheny quarterback Mason Bryan from reaching the end zone moments after Brodie Cornell took an inside handoff and ran 9 yards for a touchdown.
Cornell’s scoring run trimmed Montour’s lead to 21-20 with 3 minutes, 42 seconds remaining in the game. Rather than attempt the PAT, which would have tied the game, West Allegheny coach Bob Palko opted to go for two, but Montour’s defensive front was not buying it.
"We finally made a stop when we needed it," Montour coach Lou Cerro said of his defense, which surrendered 334 total yards on the night.
The final 3:42 devolved into a series of penalties and officials’ huddles to sort things out, but the Spartans managed to hold on for the win. Brandon Bennett’s interception inside the Montour 5-yard line on the final play of the game sealed the outcome and left the Spartans with a 3-1 record.
Cerro appreciated how hard both teams played.
“It was a great game,” he said. “That’s the way a rivalry game should be played.”
But Cerro said the Spartans “won’t go far” unless it can cut down on the penalties, as his team was flagged 13 times for 107 yards. Six of those flags came in the game’s final seven minutes.
“That will be a main focus this week and beyond,” he said.
Cornell’s 1-yard run in the opening quarter gave West Allegheny (2-2) a 7-0 lead, but Bennett, who rushed for 183 yards on 20 carries, ripped off a 69-yard scoring run to tie the game at 7-7.
Archie Collins, who finished with 103 yards in 20 carries, opened the second-half scoring for Montour with a 30-yard run with 8:09 left in the third quarter, but Bryan answered for the Indians with a 10-yard touchdown run with 1:45 to play in the quarter, leaving the score at 14-14.
Bennett scored his second touchdown of the night, which came when he bulled his way into the end zone from 2 yards out to cap a nine-play, 54-yard drive with just under 10 minutes to play in the game. The game remained 21-14 until Cornell’s 9-yard touchdown with 3:42 to play.
Montour managed to keep the ball on the next possession until just 19 seconds remained, when Zander Stern punted it away to the West Allegheny 15-yard line with 8 seconds left.
The Indians picked up 24 yards on a hook and lateral and that gave them one last gasp. But Bennett picked off Donovan O’Connor’s long heave downfield to wrap up the win for Montour.
The Spartans leaned heavily on the run, rushing for 286 yards on 40 attempts. Bennett attempted just six passes, completing four for 40 yards. West Allegheny had a slight edge in total yards (334-326) and first downs (17-14), but Montour’s defense came up with several big plays.
One of the biggest came with Montour clinging to a 21-14 lead and West Allegheny driving inside Spartans territory midway through the final quarter. On a third-and-7 play, Montour’s Jacob Halbedl stormed in to sack Bryan for a 6-yard loss, forcing a punt.
Thomas Jefferson 70, Moon Area 35
Tyler Eber rushed for 336 yards and three touchdowns and hauled in a scoring pass for good measure as the unbeaten Jaguars downed the visiting Tigers (0-3) in a nonconference game.
Eber scored on runs of 61, 53 and 28 yards and also caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Harrison Kolling, who completed 7 of 12 passes for 165 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for a score. Elijah Fant caught a pair of touchdown passes, and the Jaguars returned two interceptions for touchdowns.
Moon had its share of highlights, as junior quarterback Cristiano Kinol completed 22 of 32 attempts for 327 yards and five touchdowns, including two to Savario Vandetti, who caught six passes in all for 150 yards. Tyrone Claytor caught seven passes for 75 yards and a touchdown and Terrence Anderson hauled in two of Kinol’s touchdown passes.
Moon rolled up 406 yards of offense but surrendered 503 to Thomas Jefferson, which led 42-28 at halftime.
Eber did plenty of damage during the first two quarters, reeling off touchdown runs of 61 and 53 yards, and hauling in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Kolling on a perfectly executed screen.
Kolling also ran for a score from a yard out and connected with Lucas Patterson on a 20-yard touchdown pass.
Moon also showed plenty of life early, jumping to a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game on the first of Kinol’s three first-half touchdowns.
The 5-foot-10 150-pound junior connected with Anderson on a 21-yard scoring pass and after Thomas Jefferson scored on consecutive possessions, Kinol uncorked a bomb to Vandetti, who caught it at the TJ 15 and raced into the end zone to complete a 55-yard scoring play, tying the game at 14-14 with 14 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
Kinol put Moon on top 21-14 when he found Anderson wide open in the end zone from 19 yards out, but the Jaguars needed just two plays to tie the score on Kolling’s TD pass to Patterson.
Thomas Jefferson moved in front 28-21 when Kinol’s pass to Vandetti was picked off by Kane Eggerton, and he returned it 50 yards for a touchdown with 7:09 left in the half.
But Moon would not go away, driving 65 yards in six plays, with Kinol hitting Vandetti on a crossing pattern from 15 yards out to tie the score at 28-28.
The Jaguars answered quickly, as Eber took the handoff on the first play of the ensuing drive 53 yards for the score, vaulting TJ back in front, 35-28, with 2:44 remaining.
Thomas Jefferson then took advantage of a Moon miscue, as a Tiger player was unable to corral a short bouncing kickoff and the Jaguars recovered at the Moon 30. Kolling then hit Eber on a 32-yard screen pass for a touchdown to close out the first-half scoring at 42-28.
Bishop Canevin 49, Carlynton 0
Alex Kirk scored on runs of 19, 2 and 10 yards and the unbeaten (4-0) Crusaders jumped out to big lead early on the way to defeating the Cougars (2-2) in a Class 2A Century Conference opener for both teams.
Brady Wagner threw for a pair of touchdowns, teaming with Lamier Wade from 59 yards out and hitting Timothy Harris on a 55-yard TD pass that gave Bishop Canevin a 14-0 first-quarter lead after Kirk’s 19-yard run opened the scoring.
Kirk’s 2-yard run made it 21-0 to end the opening quarter, and Javiere Perry recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for the Crusaders’ next score. Wagner and Wade teamed to boost the lead to 28-0 and Kirk’s 10-yard run closed the first-half scoring at 42-0.
Wagner threw just five times, completing three for 95 yards. Jackson Divirgilio led the Crusaders rushing attack with 54 yards on five carries. Justin Berger rushed for 40 yards on nine carries to lead Carlynton. Bishop Canevin held Cougars quarterback Maddox Horrell in check, limiting him to 4-of-16 passing for 28 yards.
Burgettstown 28, Sto-Rox 0
The host Blue Devils improved to 4-0 in the Class 1A Black Hills Conference opener for both teams.
Burgettstown held in check a Sto-Rox attack that scored 74 points the previous week.
“It was a rough night,” Sto-Rox coach Shomari Phelps said after watching his team fall to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
“We couldn’t get going.”
Karic Wills led the Vikings with 46 yards rushing and Zaakhir Cox added 31 yards on the ground.
Berlin-Brothersvalley 16, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 0
Mason Hoyman and Carter Durst each ran for a touchdown to lift the unbeaten (4-0) Mountaineers past the visiting Chargers (0-4) in a nonconference game.
Hoyman’s 44-yard first-quarter touchdown and Josh Brinton’s PAT gave the host team a 7-0 lead.
Durst then ran 11 yards for a score in the second quarter, and Brinton tacked on the PAT to make it 14-0.
Berlin-Brothersvalley added a safety in the final quarter to close out the scoring.
The Mountaineers rushed for 178 yards while holding OLSH to 69 yards on the ground in 27 attempts. Chargers quarterback J.J. Hayden completed 6 of 15 passes for 38 yards, with Kassius Gildon grabbing two of them for 26 yards.
Laurel 48, Cornell 6
Brody Geiwitz ran for three touchdowns and Jack Jones added two more scoring runs as the Spartans topped the visiting Raiders in a Class 1A Big 7 Conference opener for both teams.
Cornell trailed just 12-6 in the second quarter after Daveon Collier’s 2-yard touchdown run, but Jones scored on a 5-yard run before the half, leaving Laurel with a 20-6 lead.
The Spartans then tacked on 28 second-half points while holding Cornell (2-2) scoreless.
Laurel held the Cornell ground game in check, as Chris Ford was the Raiders’ leading ground gainer with 21 yards on seven carries. Collier completed 8 of 16 passes for 134 yards but was intercepted three times.
Laurel outgained the Raiders 297-175.
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