Connellsville football team runs over Hempfield

By: Paul Brittain
Friday, September 1, 2023 | 10:24 PM

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For the first time since 1997, the Connellsville Falcons are 2-0 to start a football season.

Behind the running of Bruce Giles and a defense that only seemed to get tougher as the game wore on, the Falcons defeated Hempfield, 28-7, on Friday evening.

Giles carried the ball 26 times for 221 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Falcons defense gave up an early touchdown to the Spartans (1-1), then shut the door on the visitors the rest of the way.

The teams played through a rough first quarter in which 11 of the game’s 24 penalty flags were thrown.

Connellsville had a promising drive stall on its second possession, when it drove from its 37-yard line to the Hempfield 20 on the strength of 57 yards on four carries by Giles.

But on fourth-and-1, quarterback Anthony Piasecki was dropped for a loss at the Spartans’ 30.

From there, Hempfield drove 70 yards in five plays on 12 yards rushing by Rogan Katchur, who caught a 56-yard pass from Keiran Lippmann and fumbled into the end zone. Teammate Michael Bitar recovered for a touchdown on the final play of the first quarter. Joshua Reilly added the conversion kick for a 7-0 Hempfield lead.

Connellsville responded by driving 80 yards in 11 plays with Giles carrying for 42 yards, including the final 13 to the end zone with 7 minutes, 33 seconds left in the first half. Kasey Stanton’s conversion kick tied the score 7-7.

Two sacks by Wyatt Hall and another sack by Tyler Gallis on Lippmann kept the Spartans at bay, and Connellsville drove 59 yards in seven plays for the go-ahead score.

Giles gained 28 yards on the drive. Piasecki scrambled for 11 yards and completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Capone Mickens to make the score 14-7 with Stanton’s kick.

Hempfield (1-1) quickly drove to the Connellsville 25-yard line in seven plays, but Reilly’s 32-yard field-goal attempt was wide left on the last play of the half.

Connellsville stopped the Spartans after the second-half kickoff, when Lippmann ran a fake punt on fourth-and-10 at the Hempfield 35. Hall was there to halt the play after a 3-yard gain.

The Falcons struck immediately on the next play as Piasecki completed a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jayden McBride in stride down the right sideline for a 21-7 lead.

Connellsville held Hempfield on the next possession and took over on the Spartans’ 45 after a short punt.

This time, the Falcons drove to the end zone in seven plays, with Giles weaving his way between tacklers to score from 18 yards.

The Falcons kept handing to Giles after stopping the Spartans in five plays, but Hempfield came up big with a fourth-down stop at the Spartans’ 42-yard line.

Lippmann completed a pass to Lucas Moore for 48 yards to the Connellsville 10 on the final play of the third quarter.

Connellsville dug in for a goal-line stand that essentially ended the Spartans’ hopes of a comeback.

On third-and-goal, Connellsville stacked Lippmann up at the 1. The Falcons stopped him again inside the 1 on fourth down.

Connellsville then drove to the Hempfield 10, where Stanton’s 27-yard field-goal attempt was wide right.

Hempfield went to Dominic Detruf with three minutes remaining, but after several completions, Ethan Shultz intercepted a pass near midfield to end the drive.

The win was Connellsville’s first over Hempfield since 2014.

Connellsville tri-coach Chad Lembo said before the game that the keys to victory were to forget the opening win over Albert Gallatin and approach Hempfield the same way. He said the Falcons would need to play their best against a well disciplined Spartans team.

Next week, the Falcons travel to Franklin Regional for their final nonconference test of the season.

Tags: Connellsville, Hempfield