STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – McDowell battled for three overtimes but ultimately came out on the short end of a 57-50 triple-overtime thriller against State College in the PIAA Class 6A playoffs.
State College quarterback Finn Furmanek connected with Michael Gaul on a 13-yard touchdown pass in the third overtime, and then Gaul pounced on McDowell running back Artis Simmons’ fumble on the Trojans’ third overtime possession to secure the win.
State College’s Donte Nastasi, a receiver, scored rushing touchdowns in the first and second overtimes to help extend the game.
It was a game controlled early on by McDowell, as Ben Moore and Christian Santiago scored short touchdown runs to stake the Trojans to a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.
State College freshman running back D’Antae Sheffey responded with a 14-yard touchdown run to make it 14-14 at halftime.
What followed was a wild second half and overtime periods.
McDowell took its opening drive of the third quarter and scored on Moore’s 31-yard strike to Nick DeSanto, but State College answered with Matt Wall’s 6-yard touchdown scamper.
Moore hit Simmons on a 49-yard touchdown pass and followed up with a 10-yard two-point conversion pass to Ray Jackson to tie the game at 29-29 with 11:21 left in regulation.
Wall gave State College a 36-29 lead on a 7-yard touchdown run with seven minutes to go, but Simmons and the Trojans rallied, with the senior running back scoring on a 10-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds to go to send the game to overtime.
State College advances to play the winner of the WPIAL championship game between Pittsburgh Central Catholic and North Allegheny.
WESTINGHOUSE 44, CENTRAL CLARION 8
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Putting six different players in the end zone, Pittsburgh City League champion Westinghouse rolled to a 44-8 win over Central Clarion at Cupples Stadium.
The Bulldogs (12-0), who face either Farrell or Sharpsville in the PIAA semifinals next week, led 20-0 at halftime and put the Mercy Rule running clock into motion with Roderick Jeter’s 21-yard touchdown run and quarterback Keyshawn Morsillo’s two-point conversion run made it 36-0 with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
Morsillo threw for 153 yards, completing 8 of 16 passes and connecting with Davon Jones for a 15-yard TD pass to make it 14-0 in the second quarter. Morsillo also ran for 44 yards on nine carries while scoring on two two-point conversions and tossing another to Troy Brown after the team’s opening score of the game late in the first quarter.
Kahlil Taylor ran for 78 yards on eight carries and scored on a 3-yard run. Shaun Robinson ran for a 3-yard TD to start the scoring and backup quarterback Kahlil Green finished the scoring with a 3-yard TD run with 12 seconds remaining.
Westinghouse outgained Central Clarion (10-2), 407-106. The Wildcats ran just nine offensive plays in the second half with one first down.
The Wildcats took advantage of a botched punt snap by Westinghouse to score their only touchdown. Taking over at the Westinghouse 26, the Wildcats scored three plays later on Jase Ferguson’s 9-yard TD pass to Connor Kopnitsky. Ferguson’s two-point pass to Ashton Rex made it 36-8 with 5:21 left in the game.
Ferguson completed 9 of 19 passes for 89 yards, trying to elude the Westinghouse pass rush all night. He was sacked three times, leading to his minus-17 yards on 11 attempts. Rex caught five passes for 40 yards. Kopnitsky ran for 38 yards on nine carries.
CENTRAL-MARTINSBURG 35, CLEARFIELD 6
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. – Central scored three times in under five minutes in the second half to pull away from Clearfield, 35-6 in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A championships.
Central quarterback Jeff Hoenstine threw for 231 yards and three touchdowns, and his 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter gave the Scarlet Dragons a 28-0 lead.
This came just three minutes after Hunter Smith scored on a 10-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0 after Central stopped Clearfield on a fourth down attempt.
After Hoenstine’s touchdown, Central forced a three-and-out and went up 35-0 on Hoenstine’s 8-yard touchdown strike to Dalton Metzger.
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Clearfield got on the board late in the fourth quarter on Brady Collins’ 2-yard touchdown run.
Hoenstine also threw a pair of touchdown passes to Eli Lingenfelter in the first half.
Clearfield ends its season with a record of 8-4. Carter Freeland had 54 yards on the ground for the Bison and Carter Chamberlain 32.
Central outgained Clearfield for the game, 330-161.
