Teska-Rubrecht connection working wonders for Greensburg Salem

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, September 11, 2021 | 6:43 PM

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When Greensburg Salem quarterback Hayden Teska has dropped back to pass this season, he’s connected with seven receivers through three games.

But the player he has clicked with the most is senior Cody Rubrecht.

The duo connected six times Friday against Mt. Pleasant for 153 yards and three touchdowns. Rubrecht also caught two touchdowns against in the season-opener against Hempfield and finished with seven catches for 197 yards.

They have a special chemistry. Rubrecht caught touchdown passes for 61, 56 and 24 yards against the Vikings in the Golden Lions’ 34-6 victory.

In three games, Rubrecht has caught 15 passes for 420 yards. Teska has completed 36 of 75 passes for 715 yards and seven touchdowns.

“We practice all of the time and play catch all of the time,” Teska said. “We have good chemistry, growing up playing together. We just know, and we have a connection.”

The Golden Lions offense was highly efficient against Mt. Pleasant in the first half. In their first three possessions they scored in two plays, three plays and one play. Their fourth drive ended after five plays, and their fifth drive was a kneel down to end the half.

“Hayden knows how to lay it out for me,” Rubrecht said. “I run, he throws and it kind of works out. On the first touchdown, Hayden had the perfect throw.”

Teska said: “Cody made a great catch on it.”

The Golden Lions ran only 12 plays in the first half compared to Mt. Pleasant’s 30 and held a 21-6 lead at halftime.

“We took what they gave us,” Greensburg Salem coach Dave Keefer said. “In the second half, they decided to take away the passing game and we ran J.C. (Wallish) and Rashad (Canady), which we’re comfortable doing.”

Teska said the win was a confidence boost as the team gets ready to open conference play at Knoch this week.

“We’re motivated to keep playing and are ready to win,” Teska said. “We want to move forward, keep getting better every week and keep driving. We just want to win.”

Rubrecht said Mt. Pleasant left a hole behind the corners on his first two scores. On the third score, he said Teska made a great throw and all he had to do was jump higher than the defensive back.

“I’m pretty fast, and Hayden is able to lay the ball out for me,” Rubrecht said. “It happened against Hempfield but not as much against Connellsville. Catching three touchdowns is amazing, especially because I hadn’t been feeling good earlier this week. I really gained some confidence with this performance.”

Greensburg Salem had two players step in and play well. Clayton Hudspath jumped in at played right tackle and Matt Wallace filled in for Jerome (Wallish) at defensive back.

“They did a nice job and it was a good team effort,” Keefer said. “Collectively, we know we have a good unit and we know we have a nice group. How good we can be in how we continue to build on the success we had.”

Bill McChesney said: “Luckily we’re a family at Greensburg Salem. One guy goes down, another steps in. That’s how it works. Clayton stepped up, and I’m really happy that he got to see the field on Friday Night.

“When you have guys like Hayden and Cody leading the way, the sky is the limit.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg Salem