Shady Side Academy outscores young, penalty-prone Apollo-Ridge

By: Jerin Steele
Saturday, September 21, 2024 | 7:40 PM

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A week that started with the coach resigning ended with a victory for the Shady Side Academy football team.

The Bulldogs defeated Class 2A Allegheny conference foe Apollo-Ridge, 40-32, on Saturday afternoon at their annual homecoming game at Michael J. Farrell Stadium.

Chuck DiNardo, who had coached the Bulldogs for eight seasons, resigned Monday.

A statement provided to TribLive on Thursday by Shady Side Academy chief marketing officer Diana Toole said the resignation was a personal decision by DiNardo.

After the game, acting coach Dave Szlachetka and the coaching staff declined an interview request.

Szlachetka has been an assistant coach at Shady Side Academy for more than 30 years, and it was his first game as head coach, which ended in victory.

That win was, in part, because of a swing in momentum late in the first half.

After Apollo-Ridge (0-4, 0-2) tied the score 10-10 with less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter, Shady Side (2-3, 1-1) quickly drove down the field, and quarterback Cam Mallory found Eric Swan for a 4-yard touchdown on the final play of the half.

That gave the Bulldogs a 16-10 lead going into halftime, and they led the rest of the way.

Cash Festko ran the second half kickoff deep into Apollo-Ridge territory. A few plays later, Darrin Haynes scored on a 1-yard run.

It was the first of three second-half touchdowns for Haynes. He also scored on runs of 2 and 4 yards and finished the day with 156 yards on 22 carries.

Mallory finished with 165 yards passing and three touchdowns.

Apollo-Ridge managed to stay within striking distance for the majority of the second half, thanks, in part, to the passing of junior quarterback Alex Clawson.

Clawson passed for 365 yards and three touchdowns, including a 27-yard strike to Eric Fryer in the final minute. Clawson then ran in a 2-point conversion that cut the lead to eight.

The Vikings attempted an onside kick after the touchdown, but it was recovered by the Bulldogs. Apollo-Ridge had a successful onsider earlier in the second half but couldn’t do it twice.

Clawson hit seven different receivers.

“He’s only a junior, and he’s just going to keep getting better,” Apollo-Ridge coach John Skiba said. “He has great ball-placement when he has time, and we have to give him time. He’s a good kid.”

Logen Schrock and Mason Deyarmin caught touchdown passes.

Penalties hampered the Vikings. The Vikings were flagged 13 times, eight for pre-snap infractions. They also turned the ball over three times, and all three were at critical junctures. There was a muffed punt and interception on a tipped pass in the red zone and a fumble on a fourth-down play.

It’s something they will look to rectify next Friday when they host Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

“The first three weeks we averaged 11 penalties and three turnovers,” Skiba said. “I have a bunch of underclassmen playing. There’s freshmen, sophomores and juniors. I have six seniors, and those guys are not our skill guys so we’re chugging through this thing.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Shady Side Academy