ERIE, Pa. – McDowell’s Stephon “Baby” Porter set the tone right away, returning the opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown as the Trojans beat the Ramblers, 23-13.
It was a measure of revenge for McDowell against its rivals, having lost in this game a year ago, 41-0.
Prep responded, as Luke Costello hit RJ Roberts for a 41-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.
The second quarter belonged to the Trojans, however, as they outscored the Ramblers 13-0 to take a 20-7 halftime lead.
Blayze Myers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jake Hower, and Alex Sontheimer kicked field goals of 24 and 40 yards to hand the Trojans their 13-point halftime advantage.
The Trojans extended their lead to 23-7 in the third quarter on the strength of Sonthheimer’s third field goal of the game, this one from 22 yards out. That proved to be more than enough.
Suhtaun Lewis scored on a 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, but the Ramblers were unable to cut into the lead any further.
Myers finished 13-of-20 through the air for 138 yards and the touchdown, while Dom Beraducci led the Trojans’ ground game with 80 yards on 18 carries. Hower finished with four receptions for 86 yards.
Costello was 7-of-24 through the air for 86 yards for the Ramblers.
FRANKLIN 35, WARREN 0
WARREN, Pa. – Cole Buckley got the opportunity to start at quarterback and took full advantage, accounting for four touchdowns to help Franklin end a 20-game losing streak with a 35-0 win at Warren.
Rewatch the game:
Buckley opened the scoring with a 74-yard touchdown pass, and added three scoring runs, of 25, 79, and 10 yards, as the Knights built a 28-0 halftime lead. Franklin’s last win was a 23-16 victory at Conneaut on Sept. 24, 2021.
“It’s great, it’s all smiles across the locker room,” Buckley said during his Cole Orthodontic Associates postgame interview. “Coming into this game, we thought we could win and we executed. We did what we were supposed to do.”
See Buckley’s full Cole Orthodontic Associates postgame interview:
Buckley finished with seven carries for 139 yards, and was 2-4 passing for 92 yards to earn Allegeny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game honors. He made the start at quarterback with regular starter Jason Corey unavailable.
“Going into this, I was a little nervous I hadn’t done it (play quarterback) in a long time, but then that (scoring drive) happened. And I just felt like I could do anything with the ball,” Buckley said.
The Knights needed just three plays to settle in. Following a penalty, Franklin had a 2nd-and-21 from its own 26. Buckley took the snap and rolled right. He threw a pass across his body to Alex Wible. Wible bobbled, then caught the ball over the defender’s back, shed a tackle, and raced 74 yards to the end zone.
Five minutes later, Buckley scored his first rushing touchdown of the game with a 25-yard scamper to put Franklin ahead, 14-0.
Warren responded with a long drive that reached the Franklin 15. The Knights forced a turnover on downs and on Franklin’s first play, Buckley got the edge, and took it 79 yards to paydirt.
Buckley scored his fourth touchdown late in the first half on a 10-yard run to give the Knights a 28-0 advantage.
Bryson Watson finished the scoring with just under three minutes to play in the third quarter. Watson stepped in front of Eric Dippold’s pass and returned the interception 19 yards for a pick-6.
Defensively, the Knights limited Warren to 148 total yards and just 2.64 yards per play.
Tommy Nyquist had nine carries for 29 yards, and Ethen Ringer had seven carries for 24 yards.
Dippold finished 9-23 passing for 87 yards with two interceptions.
Watson had 14 carries for 153 yards. According to Penny Weichel of yardsandpoints.com, that’s the first time Franklin has had two 100-yard rushers in the same game since 2015.
TITUSVILLE 56, CONNEAUT 12
LINESVILLE, Pa. – Ian McDonald and Jaxon Covell both had monster games as Titusville earned its third win of the season, 56-12 over Conneaut.
McDonald was 12-of-15 for 228 yards and three touchdowns through the air and also rushed for 92 yards and two more touchdowns.
Covell, meanwhile, had 129 yards receiving, 103 yards rushing and accounted for three touchdowns.
McDonald connected with Covell on a 16-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes into the game, and the Rockets were off to the races.
The Rockets led 35-0 at halftime, as McDonald scored on runs of six and five yards and threw two more touchdown passes – a 33-yarder to Kameron Mong and a 49-yarder to Covell.
Nate Stearns (15 yards) and Jaden O’Neil (55 yards) had rushing touchdowns in the second half for the Rockets.
GROVE CITY 41, GREENVILLE 0
GREENVILLE, Pa. – Hunter Hohman threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as Grove City blanked Greenville, 41-0.
Hohman actually got the scoring going on the ground in the first quarter for the Eagles, who led 34-0 at halftime.
Hohman scored on a 3-yard run and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Lutz as the Eagles led 14-0 after the first quarter.
Hohman’s 48-yard touchdown strike to Clayton Martin made it 21-0, and Dominic Garzarelli’s 3-yard touchdown run extended the lead to 27-0.
Hohman put the finishing touches on the half with a 52-yard strike to Nathan Greer.
Greer found the end zone for the Eagles one final time in the third quarter, returning a fumble 28 yards for a score.
34-0 at halftime. Hunter Hohman 3 run, Hohman 25 pass to Gavin Lutz, Hohman 48 pass to Clayton Martin, Dominic Garzarelli 3 run, Hohmam 52 pass to Nathan Greer
Greer 28 yard fumble return.
Hohman was 18-of-23 for 267 yards. Greer had five catches for 82 yards, and Martin had five receptions for 82 yards.
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS 45, SAEGERTOWN 0
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS, Pa. – Brett Kania rushed 11 times for 125 yards and three touchdowns as Cambridge Springs improved to 6-0 with a 45-0 win over Saegertown.
The Blue Devils led 19-0 at halftime en route to the win.
Morgan Applebee completed 6-of-8 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to Preston Gorton, who finished with 54 yards receiving.
Josh Gorton had 36 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Blue Devils, while Brandon Hoover had four receptions for 64 yards.
REYNOLDS 60, KENNEDY CATHOLIC 20
TRANSFER, Pa. – Gabe Minjarez rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns and also had a receiving touchdown as Reynolds picked up its third win of the season, 60-20 over Kennedy Catholic.
The Raiders led 41-6 at halftime.
Xavier Zachrich got the scoring going for the Raiders with a 26-yard run, and his 27-yard receiving touchdown from Gavin Alabran made it 14-0.
Rayvion Wilbon-Venable had Kennedy’s lone touchdown of the first half on a 39-yard run in the second quarter, but the momentum for the Golden Eagles was short-lived.
Minjarez scored on a 2-yard run and also hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Alabran.
Alabran put the finishing touches on the half with a 75-yard interception return for touchdown.
Parker Ray (6 yards), Alabran (27 yards) and Minjarez (87 yards) all scored on second half touchdown runs for the Raiders
MERCER 24, MAPLEWOOD 13
MERCER, Pa. – Daemyin Mattocks carried 15 times for 100 yards and a touchdown as Mercer picked up a 24-13 win over Maplewood.
After throwing three touchdown passes last week, Kyle Jordan got Maplewood on the board first with a 55-yard strike to Dominick Kinney at the 5:23 mark of the first quarter to make it 7-0.
Mercer responded on its ensuing drive, with Carter Addison punching it into the end zone from three yards out that, coupled with the 2-point conversion, gave Mercer an 8-7 lead.
Mercer actually converted all three of its 2-point conversion attempts.
The 8-7 score held until the 6:12 mark of the third quarter, when Mattocks scored on a 7-yard run that made it 16-7.
Maplewood cut the score to 16-13 with 9:51 to go in regulation on Jordan’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Landon Lentz.
Mercer had the final answer, as Rider Chiappini scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:01 to go.
Addison finished with 71 yards on 14 carries for the Mustangs.
Jordan was 10-of-28 through the air for Maplewood for 194 yards.
NORTHWESTERN 19, UNION CITY 13
ALBION, Pa. – Lloyd Fountain’s 3-yard touchdown run with 1:05 to play lifted Northwestern to its first win of the season, 19-13 over Union City.
The two teams battled to a 7-7 tie after the first half, as Skylar Olmstead scored on a 2-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to give Union City a 7-0 lead.
Northwestern responded less than a minute later on Fountain’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Kolton Sutter.
Fountain gave Northwestern its first lead of the game, 13-7 on its opening drive of the third quarter, scoring on a 12-yard touchdown run.
Union City tied the game with just over eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter on Owen Kerns’ 4-yard touchdown run.
Fountain finished with 144 yards passing and 80 yards rushing.
Olmstead had 90 yards rushing and Kerns 83 for Union City.
FARRELL 34, WILMINGTON 6
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Farrell built a 22-0 lead after the first quarter on its way to a 34-6 win over Wilmington.
Kabron Smith threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns through the air – two of which went to Brandon Chambers.
Smith completed 17-of-22 passes.
Chambers finished with 87 yards receiving, while Simeir Wade led the way with 165 yards receiving and Danny Odem had 107 and a touchdown for the Steelers, who improved to 6-0 with the win.
SENECA 18, IROQUOIS 6
ERIE, Pa. – Nolan Seabury ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as Seneca beat Iroquois, 18-6.
With the game tied 6-6 at halftime, Seabury had a 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and added a 26-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
For the game, Seabury threw for 101 yards and ran for 55.
Christian Krysiak had a 32-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Alderson in the first quarter for Iroquois. Krysiak was 17-of-25 through the air for 246 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
FAIRVIEW 31, CORRY 13
CORRY, Pa. – Vinny Campoli ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns as Fairview earned a 31-13 win over Corry.
Fairview led 14-7 at halftime on the strength of touchdown runs covering seven and 18 yards from Campoli.
Nolan Carey had an 8-yard touchdown run in the first half for Corry.
Campoli and Carey traded touchdowns runs in the third quarter, with the Tigers pulling away in the fourth quarter on the strength of a Michael Gennuso 26-yard field goal and a Braden Moore interception return for touchdown.
Tyler Benford added 57 yards on the ground for Fairview.
Carey had 98 yards rushing and 158 yards passing for Corry.
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS 45, SAEGERTOWN 0
SAEGERTOWN, Pa. –
FORT LEBOEUF 43, GIRARD 14
WATERFORD, Pa. – Fort LeBoeuf outscored Girard 20-0 in the second half, bouncing back from last week’s loss to North East with a 43-14 win.
Connor McChesney scored on touchdown runs of three and six yards for the Bison, and also through a 9-yard touchdown pass to Damian Blose.
In the second half, Blose had a 38-yard touchdown run and Jace Wallace had a touchdown run in the fourth quarter as well.
Ryan Welka had a 24-yard touchdown run in the first half for the Bison.
Blose finished with 136 yards on the ground and Welka 105 for the Bison.
Carson Stevens threw a pair of touchdown passes for Girard to James Kibbe and Tyler Mayes. Stevens finished with 198 yards through the air.
HARBOR CREEK 20, GENERAL MCLANE 14
HARBORCREEK, Pa. – Harbor Creek built a 20-0 first half lead and held off General McLane for a 20-14 win.
Lance Brown had a pair of touchdown runs covering 16 yards and one yard, while Tyshawn Jones had a 17-yard scoring scamper to stake Harbor Creek to its early lead.
McLane cut the lead to 20-7 at halftime on the strength of Magnus Lloyd’s 2-yard touchdown run.
The Lancers got within 20-14 on Isaac Zietz’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Zietz in the third quarter, but the Huskies’ defense held from there.
Brown had 120 yards on the ground for Harbor Creek and Jones 70.
Lloyd finished with 138 yards on the ground for General McLane, while Isaac Ziets had 155 yards passing.
NORTH EAST 31, LUTHERAN EAST (OHIO) 0
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio – Jackson Humes threw four touchdowns – all to Jamari Curlett, as North East went on the road and won its fifth-straight game, 31-0 over Lutheran East (Ohio).
Humes finished with 229 yards through the air, while Curlett had 129 yards receiving.
