Week Zero football roundup: Mars edges West Mifflin

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, August 25, 2018 | 12:51 AM

Garrett Reinke ran for 166 yards as Mars edged past Class 5A No. 4 West Mifflin, 7-6, in a Week Zero nonconference game Friday night.

Tyler Kowalski scored Mars’ touchdown on a 1-yard run in the first quarter.

West Mifflin’s Parrish Parker scored on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter, but the Titans (0-1) failed to tie the game by missing the extra point.

Avella 14, Mapletown 12 — Owen English hit Ty Jaworowki with a 44-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter to give Avella (1-0) the nonconference win against Mapletown (0-1). English, who rushed for 170 yards, scored Avella’s other touchdown on a 66-yard run in the first quarter. The two teams will face each other again in Week 8 at Mapletown.

Avonworth 49, Neshannock 21 — Derek Johncour threw for 347 yards and four touchdowns to lead Avonworth (1-0) over Neshannock (0-1) in nonconference play. Turner Grau caught nine passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns while teammate Jax Miller rushed for 148 yards and three TDs.

Jake McCormick threw for 147 yards for Neshannock.

Baldwin 34, Fox Chapel 7 — Angelo Priore ran for 103 yards on seven carries, including a 57-yard touchdown run, all in the first quarter as Baldwin (1-0) won a nonconference game between Class 5A teams.

Beaver 26, Brashear 8 — Gino Mavero returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown as Beaver (1-0) beat Brashear (0-1) in nonconference play. Mavero, who ran for 50 yards, added a rushing touchdown. Beaver outgained Brashear, 245 yards to 126.

Beaver Falls 41, Ellwood City 0 — Six different players scored touchdowns — including one on special teams and one on defense — as Class 3A Beaver Falls (1-0) blanked Class 2A Ellwood City (0-1). Dayln Brickner scored on a 71-yard punt return, and Tyler Cain added a TD on a 16-yard interception return. Amen Cottrill paced the offence with 75 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Bentworth 34, Brownsville 14 — Trent Cavanaugh ran for 175 yards and two touchdowns and caught a 10-yard pass from Shawn Dziak for another TD as Class A Bentworth (1-0) beat Class 2A Brownsville (0-1). Dziak, who threw for 170 yards, added two rushing touchdowns. Lucas Harn ran for 187 yards and both of Brownsville’s touchdowns. Brownsville led at halftime, 14-7.

Beth-Center 50, California 28 — Bailey Lincoski threw for 143 yards and a touchdown and ran for 105 yards and three TDs while teammate Dominic Fundy ran for 203 yards and a touchdown as Class 2A Beth-Center (1-0) defeated Class A No. 5 California (0-1). Jaden Zuzak and Cochise Ryan each scored on kickoff returns — 80 and 75 yards, respectively — for California.

Blackhawk 21, Central Valley 7 — Class 4A Blackhawk’s defense held Class 3A Central Valley (0-1) to only 65 total yards and four first downs in its nonconference win. Josh Butcher ran for 108 yards and a touchdown for Blackhawk (1-0), which totaled 199 yards of offense.

Chartiers Valley 48, Ringgold 0 — Connor Barrett ran nine times for 197 yards and four touchdowns to lead Class 5A Chartiers Valley (1-0) to the shutout over Class 4A Ringgold (0-1) in the debut for Rams coach Mike Zmijanac. Chartiers Valley scored 42 of its points in the first half.

Connellsville 64, Uniontown 19 — Gage Gillott tossed for 177 yards and three touchdowns as Class 5A Connellsville (1-0) beat Class 3A Uniontown (0-1). Josh Maher threw three touchdowns, including two to Jalen Rogers, for Connellsville. Ky’Ron Craggette ran for 134 yards and a touchdown while teammate Dom Richter ran two times — both for touchdowns — for 112 yards for Uniontown.

Derry 45, Latrobe 15 — Derry jumped out to an early lead and shook off a rough third quarter in beating Latrobe for the third consecutive year for the first time since 1985-87. Onreey Stewart rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns for the Trojans (1-0), and Dom DeLuca had three sacks. Latrobe (0-1) scored a defensive touchdown and had a safety.

Fort Cherry 20, Chartiers-Houston 13 — Zachary Vincenti ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns and teammate Chase Belsterling added 129 rushing yards as Class 2A Fort Cherry (1-0) defeated Class A Chartiers-Houston (0-1). Fort Cherry outgained Chartiers-Houston, 321 yards to 106.

Freedom 39, Hopewell 6 — Zach Rosa threw for 110 yards and a touchdown and ran 15 yards for another score to lead Class 2A Freedom (1-0) to victory over Hopewell (0-1). Jake Pail added two rushing touchdowns in the win.

Gateway 31, Mt. Lebanon 8 — Derrick Davis rushed 20 times for 181 yards and a 52-yard touchdown as Class 5A No. 1 Gateway (1-0) beat Class 6A No. 4 Mt. Lebanon (0-1). Brendan Majocha added 155 passing yards and two touchdowns for Gateway. Seth Morgan threw for 218 yards and ran for a touchdown for Mt. Lebanon.

Greensburg C.C. 41, Tuscarawas Central Catholic, Ohio 7 — Greensburg Central Catholic scored 28 points in the second quarter en route to a nonconference victory.

The Centurions added 13 points in the third quarter to seal the win and improve to 1-0.

Hampton 28, Knoch 8 — Max Obenrader completed 10 of 13 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown and he scored on an 11-yard run to lead Class 5A Hampton (1-0) to the win against Class 4A Knoch (0-1). Brandon Sickles caught five passes for 105 yards and one touchdown for Hampton. Matt Goodlin ran for 104 yards to lead Knoch’s offense.

Hempfield 27, Greensburg Salem 24 — Hempfield made it three straight wins over the host Golden Lions with a victory in the 54th meeting of their series.

Nathan Roby had two interceptions, including a pick-6, blocked an extra point, and rushed for 65 yards to lead Hempfield, which piled up 186 yards on the ground and picked off three passes.

Aaron Putt rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown, and Trent Patrick threw two touchdowns for Greensburg Salem.

IMG Academy (Fla.) 42, Pine-Richland 0 — Pine-Richland managed just 75 yards of offense in a home loss to the top-ranked team in the country. Quarterback Cole Spencer led the team with 33 yards rushing for Pine-Richland (0-1). Noah Cain had two touchdowns rushing for IMG Academy (1-0), which extended its winning streak to 38 games.

Keystone Oaks 56, Seton-La Salle 19 — Micheal Daure rushed for 249 yards and five touchdowns and returned a punt 63 yards for another score to lead Class 3A No. 4 Keystone Oaks (1-0) to the win over Class 2A Seton-La Salle (0-1) in a matchup of neighboring schools. Max Schipani threw for 127 yards and a touchdown in the loss.

Kiski Area 24, Allderdice 9 — The Cavaliers (1-0) opened their new Richard J. Dilts Stadium in style by defeating the defending City League champion, Allderdice. Drew DiNunzio-Biss scored the new field’s first touchdown and rushed for 85 yards. Denzel Gatewood scored the only touchdown for the Dragons (0-1).

Leechburg 28, Apollo-Ridge 13 — Jake Blumer scored on runs of 15 and 37 yards and added a 50-yard fumble return to lead Leechburg (1-0) to a nonconference victory.

Moon 32, Montour 6 — Dante Clay completed 10 of 24 passes for 171 yards and scored a rushing TD from 2 yards out to lead Moon (1-0) to a nonconference victory over Montour (0-1). Brady Sunday gained 34 yards on 11 carries. The Tigers scored two touchdowns on interception returns and also scored a touchdown on special teams, as Malcolm Johnson returned a blocked punt 27 yards for a score.

North Allegheny 45, COF Academy 20 — Ben Maenza led the Tigers offense with 140 rushing yards and three touchdowns en route to a nonconference win over COF Academy from Ohio. The visitors took a 12-8 second-quarter lead, but allowed 37 points in the next 28 minutes.

North Catholic 49, Albert Gallatin 12 — Cameron Branch rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns as Class 3A No. 2 North Catholic (1-0) beat Class 5A Albert Gallatin (0-1). Zack Rocco threw for 112 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another TD for North Catholic, which led 28-0 at the half.

North Hills 42, Butler 7 — Tyler Brennan scored five first-half touchdowns — four rushing and one on an interception return — as Class 5A North Hills (1-0) downed Class 6A Butler (0-1). North Hills scored all of its points in the first half.

Norwin 44, Penn-Trafford 36 — Jack Salopek threw four touchdowns and ran for another as the Knights, No. 5 in the Trib HSSN 6A rankings, topped the rival Warriors. Salopek finished 20 of 28 for 283 yards. He added 71 yards rushing. Gabe Dunlap completed 11 of 13 passes for 156 yards and three touchdowns for Penn-Trafford. He added 15 carries for 112 yards.

Penn Hills 21, Steubenville, Ohio 14 — Hollis Mathis completed 21 of 37 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns to lead Class 5A No. 2 Penn Hills (1-0) to victory at Steubenville, Ohio (0-1). Daequan Hardy caught three passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns, including a 61-yard TD in the fourth quarter to put the Indians ahead for good.

Tayveon Crawford ran for 96 yards and scored both of Steubenville’s touchdowns — one on an 80-yard kickoff return to start the second half and the other on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Peters Township 43, West Toronto Prep, Canada 7 — The Indians (1-0) opened a 36-0 first-quarter lead and rolled to a victory at the Western Pa. vs. Everyone Showcase at the Wolvarena.

Plum 32, Highlands 14 — Plum quarterback Hunter Linhart threw for a career-high 299 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Mustangs in a nonconfence win.

Linhart threw touchdown passes of 44 and 48 yards to sophomore Maximos Matolcsy and a 23-yard strike to junior Nicolas Sluka to lead Plum (1-0). William Guzzi rushed for 144 yards on 20 carries to lead all rushers, and Matolcsy led all receivers with 193 yards receiving.

Rochester 42, New Brighton 13 — Noah Whiteleather ran for 152 yards and two touchdowns as Class A Rochester (1-0) defeated Class 2A New Brighton (0-1). Jackson Hall threw for 164 yards and a touchdown in the loss.

Seneca Valley 30, McDowell 6 — In nonconference play, Gabe Lawson completed 12 of 14 passes for 188 yards and three touchdowns to lead Seneca Valley (1-0) to the win over visiting McDowell (0-1). Lawson, who added a rushing touchdown, hit Josh McClean with two scoring passes.

Serra Catholic 44, Yough 25 — Patrick Brennan threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns to lead Class 2A Serra Catholic (1-0) to nonconference victory at Class 3A Yough (0-1). Matt Ulishney caught four passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns and returned a punt 50 yards for another score for Serra Catholic.

Jacob Sever paced Yough with 192 passing yards and two touchdowns. Dustin Shoaf ran for 114 yards and two scores on 24 carries.

Shaler 34, New Castle 21 — Shaler (1-0) snapped its 24-game losing streak by upsetting Class 5A No. 5 New Castle (0-1) in nonconference play. Shaler’s last win came at Butler in Week 4 of the 2015 season.

South Allegheny 41, Frazier 14 — In nonconference play, Antonio Epps ran for 169 yards and three touchdowns and caught a 24-yard scoring pass from Brandon Nolder as South Allegheny (1-0) scored 25 third-quarter points to put away Frazier (0-1). Nolder threw for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

Southmoreland 18, Mt. Pleasant 14 — Zach Carnuto threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Peterson on a broken play in the final minute to lift Class 2A Southmoreland (1-0) over visiting Class 3A Mt. Pleasant (0-1), ending the Scotties’ 13-game losing streak dating to 2016.

Carnuto, in a shotgun formation, unexpectedly took a snap and scrambled momentarily before spotting Peterson open in the end zone and firing a strike for the game-winner after Southmoreland advanced the ball from its 46 on just four plays.

The touchdown came just moments after Mt. Pleasant had taken a 14-12 lead on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Lucas Pieszak to Jacob Johnson with 55 seconds left.

Riley Comforti’s 43-yard run on the first play of the final drive for Southmoreland set up the Scotties’ clinching touchdown.

Carnuto passed for 167 yards and Ronnie Robinson rushed for 130 yards and scored two touchdowns for Southmoreland, which beat Mt. Pleasant for the first time since 1995.

Valley 26, Burrell 21 — Deonte Ross ran for 158 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries to lift Valley (1-0) to a nonconference win over rival Burrell (0-1) in the annual Battle of the Bypass.

Luke Kastellic scored on runs of 4, 7 and 46 yards for Burrell.

Washington 59, Laurel Highlands 25 — Zack Swartz threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns to lead Class 2A No. 1 Washington (1-0) to the win over Class 4A Laurel Highlands (0-1). Dan Walker caught four passes for 103 yards and a touchdown and scored on a 94-yard kickoff return while teammate Zahmere Robinson caught two passes — both for touchdowns — for 136 yards. Dylan Asbury added 113 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Waynesburg 47, Jefferson-Morgan 8 — Nate Stephenson ran for 155 yards and three touchdowns to lead Class 3A Waynesburg (1-0) to victory over Class A Jefferson-Morgan (0-1). Luke Robinson added two rushing touchdowns in the win.