Elizabeth Forward holds off Mt. Pleasant in 1st-place showdown
By:
Friday, October 6, 2023 | 11:17 PM
Mt. Pleasant’s Brady Poole leaps over Elizabeth Forward’s Connor Fleming in the fourth quarter Friday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Brody Hutter steps through the tackle attempt by Elizabeth Forward’s Commor Fleming in the third quarter Friday.
Elizabeth Forward’s Ryan Messina breaks into the secondary past Mt. Pleasant’s Dylan Pitzer in the third quarter Friday.
Elizabeth Forward’s Charles Nigut shakes off Mt. Pleasant’s Cole Chatfield on Friday.
Elizabeth Forward’s Krystian Kennedy (2) celebrates after a pick-six to put the game away against Mt. Pleasant on Friday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Brody Hutter beats Elizabeth Forward’s Krystian Kennedy to the end zone for a third-quarter touchdown Friday.
Elizabeth Forward’s Charles Nigut avoids Mt. Pleasant’s Luke Nicotera on Friday.
Elizabeth Forward’s Isaiah Turner shakes the tackle attempt by Mt. Pleasant’sMicah Roadman for a third-quarter touchdown Friday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Dante Giallonardo shakes the tackle attempt by Elizabeth Forward’s Isaiah Turner for a fourth-quarter touchdown Friday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Dante Giallonardo steps through the tackle attempt by Elizabeth Forward’s Brendan Stroschein on Friday.
Elizabeth Forward’s Charles Nigut avoids Mt. Pleasant’s Garrett Eicher on Friday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Jarett Gam catches a pass in front of Elizabeth Forward’s Connor Fleming on Friday.
Elizabeth Forward’s Charles Nigut carries Mt. Pleasant’s Luke Noctera into the end zone Friday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Cole Chatfield defends on a pass intended for Elizabeth Forward’s Krystian Kennedy on Friday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Garrett Eicher causes Elizabeth Forward’s Charles Gigut to fumble Friday.
Elizabeth Forward’s Charles Nigut and Tyler Scott take down Mt. Pleasant’s Dante Giallonardo on Friday.
Elizabeth Forward was forced to show its mettle for the second consecutive week.
The Warriors withstood a big second-half rally by No. 4 Mt. Pleasant to stay undefeated and stay atop the WPIAL Class 2A Interstate Conference.
The Warriors got the winning touchdown with 27 seconds lead to defeat the Vikings, 39-25, in a first-place showdown.
Missed opportunities in the first half cost the Vikings, who rallied from a 22-3 third-quarter deficit to tie the score 25-25 with 4:25 left.
Elizabeth Forward needed someone to step up late in the game, and sophomore quarterback Ryan Messina did just that.
With the score tied and the Mt. Pleasant defense keying on stopping running back Charlie Nigut and wide receiver Isaiah Turner, Messina delivered two key first-down passes on third down and then ran 29 yards to set up the winning score, a 6-yard run by Nigut.
The win keeps the Warriors (7-0, 2-0) undefeated and a top of the WPIAL Class 3A Interstate Conference standings.
“These kids know how the win, and this is the second week that we were tested,” Elizabeth Forward John DeMarco said. “These types of games will help us down the road.”
Elizabeth Forward grabbed a 22-3 lead early in the third quarter, but the Vikings (5-2, 1-1) rallied and cut the lead with 22-17 on two Brody Hutter touchdown runs of 3 yards and 75 yards. The rally was similar to the second-half rally that beat Freeport two weeks ago.
“It would have been nice to win this game,” Mt. Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas said. “I was happy with what we did. I thought we’d get another shot at winning the game, but that’s a good team and they made some big plays down the stretch.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Warriors got a 24-yard field goal by Andrew Sinay for a 25-17 lead.
But the Vikings tied the score 25-25 with 4:25 left when quarterback Cole Chatfield squeezed a pass into the arms of Dante Giallonardo for a 25-yard score. Hutter ran in the 2-point conversion.
“When we went up 22-3, I was thinking this game was over,” DeMarco said. “But that team fought back hard, and we missed some tackles on defense. But Ryan came up big for us. He has the option to run the ball, and that was a big run for us.”
Undaunted, the Warriors went 77 yards in 11 plays for the winning score.
Krystian Kennedy sealed the victory by returning an interception 24 yards for a score with 4 seconds left.
Mt. Pleasant took a 3-0 lead on its first possession of the game on a 31-yard field goal by Jarett Garn.
The Vikings missed a couple of scoring opportunities in the first half, driving to the Elizabeth Forward 20 but getting turned back by the Warriors defense.
“They’re a really good defense. It was hard going in there,” Fazekas said. “Missing those opportunities hurt us, 100 percent.”
In the second quarter, Elizabeth Forward decided to let Nigut loose. He took a screen pass 39 yards for a touchdown and then after a poor punt, scored on an 8-run run with 39 seconds left in the first half for a 15-3.
The lead stretched to 22-3 when Messina hit Turner on a 36-yard touchdown pass.
Messina completed 6 of 16 passes for 126 yards, and Nigut rushed for 119 yards.
Chatfield completed 9 of 21 passes for 141 yards. Hutter rushed for 111 yards.
The Vikings also missed three scoring opportunities in the game, driving to the EF 20 but got turned back.
Mt. Pleasant played without senior linebacker/running back Jackson Hutter, who is dealing with a lower-body injury. The Vikings also lost senior tackle Kolby Hudec in the first half to a lower body injury.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: Elizabeth Forward, Mt. Pleasant
More High School Football
• Quarterback’s quick recovery boosts No. 1 Pine-Richland in WPIAL semifinal vs. high-scoring Bethel Park• 5 things to watch in H.S. football: Will coaches Cherpak, Walker add to trophy collections?
• Trib HSSN game-by-game playoff previews for 2024 Week 12
• Through the Years: 87-yard run sparked Freeport to playoff win in ’84
• Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Colleges taking note of Penn-Trafford running back Tasso Whipple
