Charleroi rains on on Southmoreland’s playoff-clinching parade

By: Jason Black
Saturday, October 5, 2019 | 12:12 AM

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It was a bittersweet night on Friday for the Southmoreland football team.

The Scotties clinched a spot in the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in 40 years thanks to McGuffey’s victory over Brownsville. Unfortunately, the Scotties didn’t feel much like celebrating thanks to a 28-7 loss to visiting Charleroi in Class 2A Interstate Conference action at Russ Grimm Field.

“We made the playoffs, but we weren’t looking to rely on other teams,” Southmoreland coach Dave Keefer said. “We wanted to control our own destiny.”

Instead, it was the Cougars who controlled the game by controlling the line of scrimmage.

“In the second half, they pounded us,” Keefer said. “Our line didn’t block. They just pounded us, and tonight, they were the better team.”

Charleroi’s Brayden Mihalcin rushed for 117 yards on 26 carries. More importantly, he scored two rushing touchdowns in the second half to help the Cougars earn the huge section win. The win clinched a playoff spot for the Cougars.

“It’s a big win,” Charleroi coach Lance Getsy said. “Southmoreland is a team that has been putting up a lot of points on everybody and they didn’t score a point against our defense. That’s tremendous.”

The first half was a defensive struggle, and it was the Scotties’ defense that put the first points on the board.

On Charleroi’s first play from scrimmage, quarterback Alex Conrad rolled to his left and threw a short pass that was picked off by Mason Basinger. Basinger briefly bobbled the ball but gained control and raced 37 yards for a touchdown that put the Scotties in front.

Southmoreland’s defense came up with another big play on Charleroi’s next possession as Colt Harper intercepted a pass near midfield, putting a halt to a Charleroi drive.

However, the Scotties (5-2, 4-2) couldn’t do much offensively as Charleroi applied pressure in the backfield for much of the first half.

After a defensive stand late in the first quarter, Charleroi got the ball back and put together a nice seven-play drive that ended when Conrad found Legend Davis on a 24-yard touchdown strike to tie the game.

“We knew that Charleroi is a good football team and we had to keep pace,” Keefer said. “It was 7-7 at halftime and I wasn’t that worried. But we needed to come out and make a stop, and they ran it down our throats.”

The Cougars (5-1, 4-1) set the tone for the second half by putting together a 10-play drive that culminated with a Mihalcin 10-yard touchdown run.

Later in the quarter, Conrad finished off a seven-play drive with a 1-yard scoring run. Then in the fourth, Mihalcin sealed the win by scoring on a 1-yard run to cap an 11-play drive.

“We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half, but we just went back to what we do,” Getsy said. “We made some adjustments and we executed. We got the run game going and that kept their offense off the field, which is always a good thing.”

The Scotties failed to generate much of an attack all game long. Brandon Peterson caught three passes for 38 yards while Colt Harper was limited to just 9 yards rushing on 11 carries. Quarterback Zach Cernuto threw for 87 yards.

Conrad had a strong all-around game for the Cougars. He threw for 95 yards, rushed for 45 and had a key interception to stop a Southmoreland drive in the third quarter. Davis hauled in four passes for 51 yards.

Southmoreland will take a break from section play next week when it plays at Shenango. Charleroi will visit McGuffey in another big section game.

Tags: Charleroi, Southmoreland