Published Sunday, Nov. 22, 1998
BACK TO HERALD...
By Ed Farrell
Herald Sports Writer
SMETHPORT 7 15 7 17 46 KENNEDY CHRISTIAN 7 0 0 0 7 Scoring plays KC --Trimboli 57 run (Lauffer kick) S -- Alter 74 pass from Defilippi (Defilippi kick) S -- Alter 67 run Defilippi kick) S -- Alter 15 run (Den. Mitchell pass from Defilippi) S -- Dodge 27 pass from Defilippi (Defilippi kick) S -- Defilippi 29 field goal S -- Durphy 1 run (Defilippi kick) S -- Alter 47 pass from Defilippi (Defilippi kick) Team stats SMETHPORT KENNEDY 10........First downs.....13 138.....Rushing yards.....199 231.....Passing yards.....82 11-7-0.....Att-comp-int.....10-5-2 369.....Total yards.....281 2-1.....Fumbles-lost.....4-2 3-38.....Penalties-yards lost.....9-94Individual stats Rushing: SMETHPORT -- Alter 8-107, Defilippi 7-14, Durphy 7-10, Denny Mitchell 3-4, Shelgren 1-2, Dan Mitchell 1-1; KENNEDY CHRISTIAN -- Trimboli 14-143, Friday 17-41, McClure 6-27, Cecil 7-9, Shirley 1-(-21). Passing: SMETHPORT -- Defilippi 11-7-0-231; KENNEDY CHRISTIAN -- McClure 10-5-2-82. Receiving: SMETHPORT -- Alter 3-130, Denny Mitchell 2-26, Galloway 1-48, Dodge 1-27; KENNEDY CHRISTIAN -- Shirley 2-40, Monsman 1-33, Jovenall 1-6, Friday 1-3. |
However, during the intervening 47-plus minutes, Smethport smothered the Golden Eagles with a multi-faceted offensive barrage.
Paced by the 7-for-11, 231-yard, 4-touchdown passing performance of quarterback Mike Defilippi, District 9 titlist Smethport tallied 46 unanswered points en route to a 46-7 victory at Veterans Stadium.
"I don't think they've seen an option team or a team that can throw as well as we do,'' Smethport head coach Carl Defilippi said regarding Kennedy. "Our quarterback -- I know I'm prejudiced -- but he's good,'' Defilippi said of his son, "and we've got some receivers that can catch it. We're pretty multiple, and it's hard to stack up and stop any one thing.''
On the game's first play from scrimmage, Trimboli, on a quick-hitter, sprinted 57 yards up the middle and Steve Lauffer's subsequent conversion kick afforded Kennedy a 7-0 margin 16 seconds into the contest.
However, Smethport answered almost immediately.
On a third-and-11 play from his own 26-yard line, Defilippi used a play-action fake to freeze Kennedy's defense, then connected with Marty Alter and the latter stepped out of an Aaron Friday tackle to complete a 74-yard scoring strike. The first of Defilippi's five conversion kicks knotted the count at 7 at the 10:17 mark of the first frame, and the ease with which the Hubbers struck served as a precursor of what lay ahead.
"Kennedy Christian, they held the No. 1 team in the state (Sharpsville) to no touchdowns last week. I didn't know how we'd match up, they're so physical,'' the elder Defilippi assessed. "They broke that first play for a big, long touchdown and I didn't know if it was gonna be a romp, or what. But we answered with a big score, and less than 10 minutes (gone), it's 7-7 and then our kids got some confidence.''
The Golden Eagles -- minus the 1,700 yards rushing and 30 touchdowns of senior tailback Jason Cecil due to a sprained ankle --nonetheless responded, but a 13-play drive beginning from their own 31-yard line ended in a missed 24-yard Lauffer field-goal attempt with 4:01 left in the period.
From that juncture, Defilippi-led Smethport, aided by four Kennedy Christian turnovers, dominated for the duration.
After the teams exchanged punts at the outset of the second stanza, the Hubbers struck instantly. Defilippi, optioning left, pitched to Alter, who cut back behind a block, then sprinted untouched right up the gut for a 67-yard scoring sprint at the 9:01 mark.
On the ensuing series, John O'Rourke's center snap sailed over punter Travis Shirley's head, and Smethport smothered the latter for a 21-yard loss as the Hubbers assumed possession at the KC 18-yard line. Two plays later, Alter ran 15 yards for his third score and Defilippi tossed a 2-point conversion pass to Denny Mitchell as Smethport built a 22-7 margin at intermission.
During the second half, despite Cecil's courageous effort to contribute, Kennedy's drives ended in two Shawn McClure passes being picked off, Friday's muffed punt return, and a pair of Shirley punts.
McClure's initial interception, by Alter, did not directly result in a Smethport score, but four plays later Friday's fumbled Defilippi punt at Kennedy's 29-yard line was recovered by Randy Stroup. Defilippi then tossed a second-down, 27-yard TD to Mike Dodge and his subsequent kick extended the Hubbers' lead to 29-7 with 3:25 remaining in the third period. McClure's second interception, by Dodge on a second-and-6 play from Smethport's 46-yard line, resulted in a 9-play drive and Defilippi's 29-yard field goal 46 seconds into the final stanza.
In the final frame, a 1-yard Steve Durphy run with 6:46 left, and a 47-yard Defilippi-to-Alter pass play with 2:04 remaining concluded the scoring for Smethport (12-0).
"We just didn't execute and they came to play, and probably it's my fault -- maybe I didn't have 'em ready,'' Kennedy head coach John Turco assessed. "But I know one thing: These kids, they've done everything I've asked of them this year. When it was hopeless and we had lost to Sharpsville the first time, they came back and became District 10 champs. I'm not gonna fault our kids.
"We know what turnovers can do,'' Turco, thinking back to his club's 6-3 win over Sharpsville. "One week, you're aided by the turnovers, then the next week turnovers kill you. But it wasn't the turnovers that killed us; it was poor execution.''
Notes: The Golden Eagles (9-3) will lose 11 seniors, including Cecil, Trimboli, McClure, Shirley, Jason Monsman, Marshall Jovenall, John Kawecki, Steve Butler, John O'Brien, Carlo Garofalo and Lauffer, who joined the team following the soccer season's conclusion. Typifying their approach to the game, Trimboli, on the game's final play with his team trailing by 39 points, rambled 27 yards and had to be dragged down. The run capped a 14-carry, 143-yards rushing effort. "Our seniors were great all year. ... We wouldn't have come this far if it weren't for the seniors,'' Turco praised. "I know they hate to go out, not being able to continue, but we made it to, what is it, the final 16 in the state? A lot of people didn't believe that we would go this far, and we have to be pleased with that and our seniors have to be pleased with that. It's a bitter pill to swallow for them, but they have to be pleased with that." ... On Cecil, who concluded his senior campaign with 227 carries for a school single-season standard 1,725 yards and 182 points. "I put it in his hands; if he wanted to go ahead and play, I was gonna let him play, 'cause he carried us to so many great victories and had so many yards,'' Turco explained. "And he said he just couldn't do it. But during the first half he just worked himself up, mentally, to where he just blocked out the pain and he told me right before we went out for the second half, 'Let me please play; give me a chance.' ''
