Laurel Highlands edges Mt. Pleasant in overtime

By: Paul Brittain
Friday, September 20, 2024 | 11:52 PM

It isn’t often that a team that commits more turnovers than the opponent in a game emerges victorious.

Visiting Laurel Highlands scored a pair of touchdowns off Mt. Pleasant turnovers in the first half.

Mt. Pleasant also turned the ball over on muffed punts twice in the second half.

When the game went to overtime, it looked like the Vikings might pull out the win. But a two-point conversion attempt came up just short in overtime as Laurel Highlands took home a hard-earned 21-20 victory on Friday night at Mt. Pleasant High School.

“We’re a young team so it’s definitely a confidence builder going into conference play,” Laurel Highlands coach Rich Kolesar said.

Both teams managed just one first down each on their opening drives.

The Vikings turned to Stephen Predajna on their second possession, and he gained 20 yards combined in three consecutive carries. But Laurel Highlands’ defense stiffened and held.

Two possessions later, Cole Chatfield was hit and fumbled. Mason Smith scooped it up and rambled 37 yards untouched to the end zone. Tanner Bruzda’s conversion kick made it 7-0 for the Mustangs.

The Vikings found themselves down by a touchdown after one quarter despite a 39-7 advantage in first-quarter yardage.

A 34-yard pass from Noah Lion to Antwan Black to the Mt. Pleasant 46 was wiped out by offsetting penalties.

Things became worse for the Vikings when a fumbled punt was recovered by the Mustangs’ Jacob Johnson at the LH 48.

Lion’s 27-yard scramble helped the Mustangs move to the Mt. Pleasant 21, and a pass to Black moved to the 16.

An offside penalty moved the ball to the 11.

Two plays later, Lion passed 13 yards to Tristen Baker for a touchdown to cap the 52-yard drive and a 14-0 lead with the conversion.

The Vikings responded with a 66-yard drive in seven plays, capped by Chatfield’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Jonah Townsend, and Jarett Garn’s conversion kick made it 14-7 with 27 seconds left in the half.

Mt. Pleasant led in total yardage, 132-62 at halftime.

The Vikings muffed consecutive punts after holding the Mustangs on downs twice to begin the second half, setting Laurel Highlands up at its own 37 and then again at the Vikings’ 30.

But the defense held and took over at the Mt. Pleasant 25.

The Vikings got a break on a bad fourth down snap that was fumbled in the end zone by the punter and recovered by Predajna for a touchdown to tie the score on Garn’s kick with 3:39 left in the third quarter.

The Mustangs had a promising drive end when Garn recovered an LH fumble at the Mt. Pleasant 9-yard line late in the third quarter.

Several minutes later, Garn just missed a 49-yard field goal attempt that would have given the Vikings the lead.

The game eventually went to overtime after both teams’ defenses stiffened.

Lion scored on a keeper from the 6-yard line for a 21-14 lead with the conversion kick on the first overtime possession.

Predajna scored from the 1 for Mt. Pleasant.

The Vikings went for two points on the conversion, and Predajna came up just short as the Mustangs celebrated their 21-20 win.

Mt. Pleasant held an unofficial advantage in total yardage at 290-172.

“Every game, including nonconference, is important for us,” Mt. Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas said. “We’re still in the process of trying to get better. We have to take care of ourselves, with untimely penalties, and things that are always a concern. We take every game by itself and try to get better.”

Mt. Pleasant (2-3) opens its conference schedule at Yough next Friday while Laurel Highlands (3-1) visits Chartiers Valley in conference play.

Tags: Laurel Highlands, Mt. Pleasant