Greensburg Salem making playoff push with victory over Derry

By: Dave Mackall
Friday, October 11, 2024 | 11:09 PM

Ty George’s second season as Greensburg Salem’s football coach is developing into a potential game-changer for the playoff-starved Golden Lions program.

Despite a recent skid.

Kai Brunot scored two touchdowns, and the Greensburg Salem defense limited Derry to 84 yards of total offense as the Golden Lions ended a three-game losing streak by beating the Trojans, 28-0, on Friday night at Trojan Stadium in Derry Township for their first Class 3A Interstate Conference win.

Greensburg Salem (5-3, 1-2) kept pace with the top three teams in the conference with two regular-season games remaining in a bid to return to the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2018.

The Lions haven’t finished with a winning record since a 7-3 mark in 2011 and haven’t won a WPIAL playoff game since beating Hopewell, 23-0, in 2000.

“It’s been a long time, and both of those goals are on the doorstep for us,” George said.

Brunot rushed for 73 yards, and sophomore quarterback Brody Chismar added 66 yards rushing and passed for 47, including a 7-yard scoring strike to Dominic Rosensteel in the first quarter.

Rosensteel also gained 66 yards rushing for Greensburg Salem, which outgained Derry in total offense 258-84.

George said the Lions quietly went about business in the days leading to the game with an eye toward avenging last season’s 26-21 loss to the Trojans at Offutt Field in Greensburg in George’s first season as coach.

“No question. We were down big in the first half and tried to make a comeback, but we fell a little bit short,” George said. “We kind of left it open-ended from last year. We wanted to right the wrong. The kids did a great job of coming out right from the jump and competing and making up for last year in a big way.”

Greensburg Salem capitalized on a botched punt by Derry and scored the game’s first touchdown when Rosensteel caught his only pass of the game to give the Lions a 7-0 lead.

They added another score just before halftime, Brunot’s 1-yard run giving Greensburg Salem a 14-0 advantage at the break.

“Any time you can punch one in right before the half and know you’re getting the ball to start the second half,” George said. “They kind of put us in a good position to get some more plays. And we’ve got some playmakers, for sure, and I think maybe that’s something that we can play off down the stretch.”

Greensburg Salem is at Yough on Friday before closing out the regular season at home against Southmoreland on Oct. 25.

While Greensburg Salem’s touchdown in the final minute of the second half sent Derry reeling, Brunot’s 49-yard touchdown run on the first play of the third quarter that gave the Lions a 21-0 lead all but iced the outcome.

“It was a good run by (Brunot), but we didn’t tackle very well,” Derry coach Mike Arone said. “They made plays. But it’s just not how we want to play. It’s not how you win football games. I just thought they beat us tonight, physically and athletically.”

Brady Smith added a 1-yard touchdown run later in the third for Greensburg Salem.

Derry (3-5, 0-3) plays its final two regular-season games on the road at Mt. Pleasant on Friday and at Yough on Oct. 25.

The top three teams in the conference will qualify for the WPIAL playoffs, with Greensburg Salem chasing Southmoreland and Elizabeth Forward (both with 3-0 conference records) and Mt. Pleasant (2-1).

Tags: Derry Area, Greensburg Salem