Kennedy seizes Class A

Golden Eagle rushing cools Middlesex

BIG REDS CAST OUT OF MCAC CLASS A POSTSEASON HUNT

A lot of clubs across the Commonwealth could relish a 7-2 won-lost record at this juncture, but that serves as little consolation today for the West Middlesex High football team.

The Big Reds reeled off seven straight season-opening successes en route to statewide honorable mention. However on Friday night, West Middlesex suffered its second shutout setback in as many weeks to a Mercer County Athletic Conference Class A rival, 28-0 to Kennedy Christian.

Justin George jetted to a season-best 230 yards rushing on 30 carries, including 14-, 9-, 84- and 25-yard scoring sprints, as Kennedy Christian (2-0, 8-1) concluded the campaign with six straight wins and the MCAC-A crown. The Golden Eagles enter the District 10 playoffs next week against French Creek Valley Conference contender Linesville at an as yet undetermined site and date.

Conversely, in spite of one of the best Big Reds recorded grid seasons, West Middlesex (0-2, 7-2) will not advance to the playoffs, and there was no pseudo-playoff scenario according to head coach Rick Resatar.

"It's Friday night; you've gotta come out and play football,'' Resatar reasoned. "I told the kids, 'The Herald's been writing about how we're not gonna make it, we're not gonna make it,' and I said, 'Well, that's just great. Let us go out and, if we're fortunate enough to beat Kennedy, let us stay home. And then we can sit back and say, 'We beat the team that went' and we would've had an 8-1 record at that point. So let people do what they want to do.''

Kennedy commenced the contest with a 7-play, 67-yard drive, climaxed by George's 14-yard touchdown run and the first of four Steve Hough placements. But from that juncture the Big Reds battled at the line of scrimmage in spite of being outgained 171-48 at intermission. In fact, KC clung to a slender 7-0 margin until 1:43 remained in the third period when Danny Harris' interception of Jake Buzard's pass gave the Golden Eagles possession at West Middlesex's 20-yard line.

Four plays later George's second score extended the Golden Eagles' edge to 14-0. His 12-yard reception of Ryan Squatrito's screen pass on third-and-11 set up the score with only 49 seconds remaining in the quarter.

At that juncture Chad Fette -- the Big Reds' 1,119-yard rusher -- replaced Buzard at quarterback and completed passes of 19 and 34 yards to Robbie Long and John Derry, respectively. Coupled with a personal-foul penalty assessed against Kennedy, West Middlesex advanced to KC's 2-yard line entering the fourth frame.

However on four consecutive snaps, Fette -- working out of a shotgun formation -- lost three yards, ultimately attempting to pitch back to Buzard on an ill-fated fourth-and-goal play from the 2 that lost 14 yards. Kennedy's B.J. Jarrett and Angelo Hall made key stops during the goal-line stand.

"The turning point in the game was when our defense stopped them on four downs from inside our 3,'' assessed KC head coach John Turco. "With that kind of defense, our kids certainly proved that that's how you win football games.''

Emotionally spent after that failed bid, the Big Reds yielded George's season-best 84-yard scoring sprint on the ensuing play with two ticks under 10 minutes. He later added his 29th TD of the autumn when he raced 25 yards off tackle as fog enshrouded the field with 81 seconds remaining.

George increased his season totals to 1,203 yards rushing on 169 totes, and has scored 174 points thus far this season, second only to Sharon's Carmone Parchman (178),

"He's a great running back,'' Turco understated. "We made some adjustments at halftime and we started to go a little bit wider than our normal 'blasts' up the middle, and that worked for us. Then when we broke the (wish)bone and went to a little bit more of a spread formation, we got some long runs.''

Turco was impressed with West Middlesex.

"We wore 'em down, bBut don't take anything away from them. The Big Reds came to play; they left their hearts on the field out there, and I have nothing but total respect for the way their kids played this football game tonight,'' Turco praised.

"We're happy to be here, but we've gotta go out next week and, hopefully, finish out the season 8-2,'' Resatar concluded.

Notes: Phil Doyle, who sustained a Week 3 knee injury in the Golden Eagles' lone loss to playoff-bound Hubbard, returned to register a quarterback sack and rush for 23 yards. ... Nick George also pilfered a pass for KC, which coerced Buzard into a 2-for-9 passing performance while intercepting him twice. ... John Milo sacked Squatrito and Long pilfered a pass for West Middlesex. ... In spite of completing half his four passes for 53 yards, Fette was limited to a season-low 18 yards rushing on 20 totes.

Halloween scare for Tigers, nothing more

The Sharon High band was dressed in Halloween costumes, but for a while it was the Tigers football team that was engaged in "trick or treat" Friday night at Sharon stadium.

"It was like the Twilight Zone out there," said Wildman, referring to the early part of the first quarter against Slippery Rock when he saw his team fall behind 14-8 to the heavy underdog Rockets. "We were real sluggish."

The Tigers pulled a "trick" on the opening kickoff. Terrance Phillips ran the ball back about 15 yards, but while being hit he pitched back to teammate Marlin Jackson who went the distance to complete an 86-yard kickoff score. Forced to play without outstanding kicker Jim Morocco, who is out with an ankle sprain, the Tigers went for two points after touchdown and converted on a pass from quarterback Mike Schneider to Jackson for an 8-0 lead with only 16 seconds gone in the contest.

But then came a couple of "treats" for Slippery Rock. Outstanding running back Josh Kneiss stunned the Tigers defense with a 42-yard TD run and a short time later, Sharon QB Schneider was hit by Rockets Ed Milligan as he dropped to pass and fumbled. Rocket Justin Croll scooped up the bouncing pigskin and rambled 67 yards for a score. Mark Matson caught a pass from Luke McCaffrey for the PAT and a shocking 14-8 lead with 5:15 remaining in the opening period.

The Rockets were thinking upset, which obvious upset the Tigers. Sharon responded to score three more times in the first period: a 65-yard burst by Carmone Parchman, who finished the night with 203 yards on 17 carries; a 90-yard punt return by Parchman and a 33-yard interception return by Jackson.

That put Sharon up 30-14 in one of the highest scoring first quarters of the season. Of course that set up a tie for the lowest scoring second quarter of the season as neither team crossed the goal line and the score remained the same at half.

However, in the second period one high point came for the Rockets and Kneiss, who broke loose on a 75-yard run before being caught from behind by Parchman. That run eclipsed the school record for total career yards of 3,129 by Ron Duffy, who graduated in 1995. But Kneiss didn't get much more the rest of the way and finished with a total of 144 on 23 carries for a career total of 3,172.

"That was a strange first half," said Wildman. "But we knew after tonight the playoffs were starting and we were playing a team that was 4-4 and struggling a bit, so to speak. And the uncertainty early in the week of whether there was or wasn't a game (because of possible teachers' strike) didn't help. But we played a lot better in the second half. We overcame the enemy within."

They certainly did. Kneiss had 119 yards at halftime and picked up only 25 in the second half as the Sharon defense started playing their usual dominating style.

The Tigers added three more TDs in the third frame: a 31-yard run by Parchman, a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Schneider, and a beautiful 40-yard pass from Schneider to Jackson.

There was no scoring in the final frame which flew by with the "mercy rule" in effect.

"We had a great effort," said Slippery Rock coach Brendan Smith, "but we just got beat by a better team. We're banged up, but everybody's banged up this time of year, and had five starters out. The younger guys stepped up."

Smith was pleased that his star Kneiss was able to get the school record on top of setting the Herald coverage area's single game record (387 yards) a couple of weeks ago: "There are a lot of good things happening for our program. We're hoping to finish strong next week against Franklin."

Meanwhile, Wildman is hoping to finish strong for a lot longer than just next week when they open the District 10 Class AA playoffs against Mercyhurst Prep, a 17-7 loser to Hickory Friday night.

"We've got to get better every week," said Wildman, "We need to gear up and stay healthy."

SIDELINE NOTES: The win lifted MCAC Class AA champion Sharon to 6-0 in the league and 8-1 overall; Slippery Rock is 3-3 in the MCAC AAA standings and 4-5 overall. ... Kneiss has 1,754 yards on the year, while Parchman has 1,404. Parchman leads the Herald coverage area in scoring with 178 points. ... Wildman is hoping his kicker/center Morocco can play at least a little bit next week in their playoff opener, if even just to kick. Of course the Tigers did well going for two points after TDs, converting on 6 of 7 attempts against the Rockets. ... Jackson, Phillips and Parchman each had interceptions for Sharon as the Tigers defense game Rockets quarterback McCaffrey fits. James Barnett had a pair of sacks for Sharon as the Tigers limited McCaffrey to only 2 completions in 16 attempts.

Greenville finishes at 8-0

Meanwhile, Wilmington tuned up for the District 10 AAA playoffs and a possible D-10 championship meeting with Greenville by pasting Reynolds, 42-0; Grove City ripped Mercer, 54-7, in a battle of winless teams, but Mercer had one bright spot as the Mustangs scored their first offensive touchdown of the season; Hickory, Lakeview and Hubbard notched victories, while Brookfield lost.

• Greenville 54, Erie Strong Vincent 6 -- At Greenville, the Trojans stayed perfect on the season as they manhandled Strong Vincent. Erik Adams led his team to the win with 96 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.

  Gio Vendemia caught a 27-yard pass from Sammy Young to light the scoreboard for Greenville and Adams put up his first touchdown of the night on a 23-yard run. At the end of the first frame, it was Greenville 14, Strong Vincent 0.

  Greenville (7-0, 8-0) exploded on offense in the second quarter, as Adams scored from the 3 and Young hooked up with Wes Baird for a 25-yard score and Eric Spurlock for a 53-yard end zone strike. Phil Clark rounded out the scoring for the half with a 10-yard run to paydirt and Greenville was solidly in front, 41-0. Phil Mason scored once in the third and fourth quarters on 1 and 4-yard runs. Strong Vincent (4-3, 5-4) got on the board late in the game with a 48-yard bomb.

• Grove City 54, Mercer 7 -- At Mercer, the visiting Eagles secured their first win of the season by jumping out to a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter.

  Grove City (1-8, 1-5) ran for a season-high 356 yards, led by 87 yards from fullback Tim Dixon and 83 yards from halfback Justin Robinson.

  Robinson's 23-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the game gave Grove City a 7-0 lead. Robinson added a 4-yard score later in the first half.

  Meanwhile, Dixon broke free for a 47-yard touchdown jaunt with 3:23 left in the first quarter. Later in the contest, Dixon caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Chad Pratt.

  Pratt finished the night 4-of-4 for 82 yards. He also ran for 80 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion.

  Grove City senior Bob Covert also tallied a pair of touchdowns. Covert, still working his way back from an early-season knee injury scored on a 1-yard plunge and a 30-yard wingback counter.

  Josh Pratt capped the Eagle scoring in the dying moments of the third quarter by scooping up an errant snap to Mercer punter Dave Knechtel and carrying it five yards for the score.

  The Mustangs did post their first offensive touchdown of the season, however.

  With 9:14 left in the first half, sophomore tailback Jeff Reeher stormed through the middle of the line and raced 68 yards to break the Mustangs' 31-quarter scoring drought.

  In Week One, Don Styers returned an interception for a touchdown for Mercer's lone score of the season until Reeher's run.

  Friday night, Styers led Mercer (0-9, 0-6) with a pair of catches for 24 yards. Reeher led the Mustangs with 80 yards rushing on a half-dozen carries. -- reported by Ryan Briggs, Allied News sports editor

• Wilmington 42, Reynolds 0 -- At New Wilmington, the Greyhounds rebounded from their first loss of the season in convincing fashion, outgaining the AA Raiders (3-3, 3-6) in the MCAC AAA-AA clash, 383-57, in total yards.

  The D-10 Class AAA playoff-bound Greyhounds (5-1, 8-1) raced to 21-0 lead at the intermission as Mike Oestreich ran in from 12 yards, quarterback Matt Coad scampered in from 33 yards and Brian Baer took a punt 58 yards for scores.

  Bobby Whiting got into the act in the third quarter, helping Wilmington extend its lead to 35-0 following runs of 31 and 2 yards before a 20-yard Jonathan Hall dash closed the scoring in the fourth frame.

  Phil McCann converted all six extra points for the Greyhounds.

  Hall carried 11 times for 111 yards, Whiting had 16 carries for 72 yards, Coad finished 6 of 10 for 86 yards, and Matt Krawchyk pulled in five passes for 66 yards to pace the Greyhounds.

• Hickory 17, Mercyhurst 7 -- At Hermitage, Quentin Peagler picked up a Mercyhurst fumble and ran it back 47 yards to spark the Hornets in the first. Soon after, quarterback Ross Trimmer followed Peagler into the end zone from 7 yards out and then in the second frame, Guido Gurrera kicked a 37-yard field goal to cap the game's scoring, earning Hickory another non-conference victory.

  But this was a soild win for Hickory, since Mercyhurst is a District 10 Class AA playoff qualifer. Hickory added a tenth game to their schedule so the 5-4 Hornets will face the Meadville Bulldogs next week.

  Against Mercyhurst, Peagler missed the 1,000-yard mark by 17 yards. He entered the contest with 900 yards and added only 83 to his season total via 27 carries. Trimmer kept the ball 14 times and gained 45.

  Mercyhurst's only score came from Justin Gannoe who took a 31-yard trip for six early in the second quarter. The Lakers dropped to 6-3.

• Girard 48, Brookfield 26 -- At Brookfield, Girard's star quarterback threw his first of five touchdown passes early on in the first quarter of this TAC-8 matchup with a 7-yard pop to receiver Anthony Jackson and did it again, in the same frame, to the same receiver, this time for eight yards to take a 14-0 jump on the Warriors (0-6, 1-9).

  Later, with the count 21-0, Brookfield's Julian Hayes tried to even things out with an 81-yard touchdown run but Collins squelched the Warriors attempt at a rally by returning the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for their fourth TD of the night.

  Collins wasn't finished. Right before and right after halftime, he hit Frank Caputo on a pair of bombs from 20- and 5-yards out and finished the evening with a 19-yard strike to place-kicker Randy Mason. Collins ended the night with 290 passing yards on 19 completions in 32 attempts and led Girard's ground attack with 54 yards on seven carries.

  As for the Warriors, to go with Hayes' 83-yarder, he snagged a 43-yard pass from quarterback Jeff Nasci and remained the only running back in the game to break 100 yards. Hayes picked up 102 total on 9 rushes and he caught two passes for 52 yards. Colin and brother Kyle Brubaker ended the final frame with a pair of rushing TDs from 16 and 22 yards respectively, but it was too late for a comeback.

• Lakeview 23, Saegertown 0 -- At Lakeview, the Sailors broke the winless streak with an offensive and defensive outbreak in the last quarter.

  Buddy Love got into the end zone for the Sailors (1-7, 1-8) from two yards away about a minute into the fourth quarter. Mitch McAfoose booted the point after. Deke Ison then blasted into the end zone from the 6 to make it 13-0.

  The defense then got some points on the board as they caught Saegertown (0-8, 0-9) in their end zone for a safety. Ison, who has 899 yards on 171 carries so far this year, iced the game with a 20-yard scoring run. Drew Rose ran in the conversion.

• Hubbard 34, LaBrae 14--At Labrae, Anthony Smith ran for 191 yards and accounted for all five of the Eagles scores as Hubbard (4-1, 7-2) kept pace in the TAC-8.

  Smith scored in the first quarter on a 22-yard run, and when Dave DeSantis booted the first of his 3 PATs, the Eagles were soaring high.

  Smith tallied three more times in the second quarter to put the game out of reach.

  The first came on a 10-yard pass from Marty Kanetsky. The next came was a result of a 22-yard run, and the PAT by Buccilli upped the score to 21-0. Smith's final tally of the quarter came on a 53-yard run.

  Hubbard's final score came in the third quarter when Smith scored from 20 yards out.

  Labrae's scores came after the game was out of reach.Labrae's record fell to 3-3, 6-3.

Farrell primes for WPIAL postseason

Allen Claibourne returned a pair of pass interceptions for touchdowns Saturday afternoon, leading the playoff-bound Farrell High football team to a 26-13 Big Eight Conference season-ending victory at South Side Beaver.

By virtue of the victory, the Steelers (5-2, 6-3) claimed third place in the Big Eight and will await Monday's meeting to determine the opponent, date and time for their WPIAL playoff opener.

Cory Boyd's 8- and 1-yard touchdown runs stake South Side Beaver to a 13-7 second-stanza lead before Farrell rallied on a trio of Claibourne TDs.

His 74-yard scoring sprint and Pete Craig's subsequent 2-point conversion run enabled the Steelers to assume a 14-13 margin at intermission. Then with 23 seconds remaining in the third period, Claibourne pilfered a Bill Schneider pass and returned it 53 yards, forging Farrell to a 20-13 lead.

With just 22 ticks remaining, Claibourne then intercepted another Schenider aerial -- one of three recorded by the Steelers -- and returned it 36 yards to conclude the scoring.

Claibourne capped his performance by leading Farrell to a 233-146 advantage in yards rushing as he posted a 13-carry, 146-yard effort, complemented by Kennard Davis' 8-carry, 64-yard effort. Davis' 47-yard scoring sprint in the second quarter accounted for Farrell's first score.

Jason Marshall also picked off a pass for Farrell, which forced Schneider into a 4-for-11, 72-yard passing performance. Five Farrell fumbles, however, stifled the Steelers' offense.

Boyd's 23-carry, 95-yard rushing effort led South Side Beaver (2-5, 2-7).

By virtue of Farrell's victory, Union (4-3, 6-3) also advanced to the upcoming playoffs, while Western Beaver was eliminated from consideration.

Seven different players from Sharpsville (6-2) scored in the game. Ron Haywood, Eric Major and Shawn Taylor scored on runs of five, two and one yards, respectively, in the first quarter, and Derek Songer added a 42-yard scoring pass from Bill Stiger for good measure. Ray Rotell kicked the four points after.

In the second, Brandon Nichols and John Perriello added 11 and 15-yard scoring jaunts, and Steve VanZanten put the ball through the uprights for the extra points, as Sharpsville had a stranglehold on the game, 42-0. Ledgemont showed signs of life as they sustained a drive and scored on a 15-yard pass from Jon Radabaugh to Dan Heller. The Radabaugh-Heller conversion was good, and the score was 42-8. Mark Anglin broke free in the fourth frame for a 46-yard TD.