Connellsville bounces back to beat Plum in Big East clash

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 14, 2018 | 11:15 PM

Following a pair of deflating losses, Connellsville looked like a completely different group during Friday’s Class 5A Big East Conference home game against Plum.

The Falcons played well on both sides of the ball and the result was a convincing 30-6 victory over the Mustangs at Connellsville Stadium.

“It’s like night and day,” Connellsville coach Marko Thomas said in regards to the way this game went compared to last week’s 57-3 loss to Penn-Trafford.

According to Thomas, the transformation didn’t just happen during Friday’s game. It started much earlier.

“It started on Monday,” Thomas said. “The kids came in and they told each other they were going to change. It was a dogfight early on, but we stopped their opening drive and we got a lot of momentum off of that.”

The Mustangs moved the ball on their opening possession, only to be stalled on a fourth-down play in Connellsville territory. Not being able to come up with early points was a big setback for Plum.

“We just have to overcome adversity,” Plum coach Matt Morgan said, noting he counted six times his team moved the ball into the red zone, only to come up empty.

For Connellsville, coming up big on defense was key, especially after Thomas highlighted his team’s poor tackling in recent weeks.

“Defensively, we tackled everything,” Thomas said. “We wanted the shutout, but if you would have told me we would only give up six points, I’d have been happy. Kudos to the defense.”

Neither team put points up in the first quarter, but in the second Connellsville quarterback Josh Maher and wide receiver Jalen Rogers had two huge hook-ups that helped give the Falcons a 14-0 lead.

Connellsville opened the scoring when Maher connected on a 40-yard scoring strike to Rogers. Then on the Falcons’ next possession, Maher again found Rogers. This time, it was a 47-yard touchdown toss.

Rogers finished with four catches for 106 yards. Maher completed 13 of 25 passes for 253 yards. Maher also closed the first half with a 2-yard touchdown run. The Falcons went to the locker room leading 20-0.

“Offensively, we really came on from the second quarter on,” Thomas said, noting the exploits of Maher and Rogers.

Jared Ozias also figured into the passing game, hauling in six catches for 88 yards.

Connellsville extended its lead in the third quarter when Gage Gillott booted a 23-yard field goal.

The Falcons went up 30-0 when the defense was rewarded with a fourth-quarter touchdown as Damon Maas scooped up a fumble and raced in from 6 yards.

Plum managed to break Connellsville’s shutout bid late in the game as Jaxon Marzec caught a 6-yard touchdown strike from Hunter Linhart, who completed 16 of 39 passes for 137 yards. Plum’s William Guzzi had a strong game on the ground, rushing for 157 yards on 22 carries. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, too many mistakes at too many key points in the game proved costly.

“Connellsville played a great game,” Morgan said. “They capitalized on our errors. They didn’t make the mistakes that we did.”

The Falcons (2-2, 1-2) play at Latrobe on Friday. The Mustangs (1-3, 0-3) travel to McKeesport next Saturday afternoon.

Jason Black is a freelance writer.

Tags: Connellsville, Plum