Elizabeth Forward uses big plays to pull away from Yough

By: Liam Belan
Friday, October 11, 2024 | 10:45 PM

Previous Next

Elizabeth Forward has spent the past two weeks trying to put the Interstate Conference on notice after feeling overlooked early in the season, and Friday night was no different as the Warriors dominated Yough, 45-7, to move to 3-0 in the conference.

The Warriors (5-3) have won four straight, and coach John DeMarco believes his squad is coming together with a chip on its shoulder.

“We’ve been trying to talk about making a statement, because everybody out there has pretty much forgotten about us,” DeMarco said. “We know what we’ve got on this team, so we’re taking them one at a time and lining them up and knocking them down.”

The Cougars (2-6, 0-3) were the latest squad to be knocked down as EF’s strong defense led by Chris Climes, Jace Brown and Charlie Nigut dominated.

“Scoring late in this one was a positive for us,” Yough coach Ben Hoffer said. “We moved the ball well offensively, but we just faltered. We have to be better in all three phases of the game, and that’s on me.”

Quarterback Ryan Messina was terrific again for the Warriors, finishing 9 of 11 for 247 yards and three touchdowns and tacking on 61 rushing yards and a score on three carries.

Connor Stokes caught a 95-yard touchdown from Messina on his only grab of the night, and AJ Grese had three receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown as well as a kick return touchdown. Nigut caught three passes for 60 yards and took seven carries for 61 yards and a touchdown. Chad Rager caught a 23-yard touchdown.

For Yough, quarterback Raidon Kuroda went 9 of 27 for 114 yards and a touchdown to Ryan Sarver (4 yards) to cap off the scoring in the fourth quarter.

It was all Elizabeth Forward from the opening kick, as Grese caught the kick on his 11-yard line and went 89 yards to quickly make it 7-0.

As Hoffer said, it wasn’t all hopeless for Yough. The Cougars looked like they might have a chance to respond on the next drive, getting into the red zone. But Kuroda was sacked three straight times by Climes and Brown.

On fourth-and-28, Kuroda opted for a pooch punt and buried the Warriors at their own 5.

But on their first offensive play of the day, the Warriors managed to double the lead.

Messina dropped back and unleashed a deep ball right into the breadbasket of Stokes, who went untouched to the end zone for a 95-yard strike. Luke Holdren’s point-after made the score 14-0 with 6:20 to play in the first quarter.

“We have some weapons and it’s tough for teams to defend,” DeMarco said. “If you wanna come up and press, you better be able to run because Connor can take off. You got AJ on the other side who can run, and you got Charlie. Our line is blocking really well too, so right now our offense is tough to defend.”

After the Cougars gave the ball back to the Warriors for their next drive, it was a bit more methodical for Elizabeth Forward. Nigut took carries 9 and 15 yards before he caught a short pass to set up a 32-yard touchdown run from Messina. With 2:47 left in the first, the Warriors took a 21-0 advantage.

On the ensuing drive, Yough earned two first downs on three penalties as Kuroda baited the Warriors into two encroachment calls before a pass interference penalty extended the drive again on third-and-11. But the Cougars eventually stalled as a fourth-and-2 pass intended for Sarver was deflected away by Nigut. From there, the Warriors drove but had to settle for a 32-yard field goal from Holdren.

After the kick, the Warriors forced a three-and-out from Yough. It then took EF three plays to march 63 yards and score.

Messina ran for 16 yards, then he dumped off a screen pass that Nigut took 46 yards to the 1, and Nigut punched it into the end zone from there to cap off a quick scoring drive that made it 31-0.

Rager caught his touchdown reception with 1:45 left in the first half to bring the halftime score to 38-0.

With the running clock in the second half, the Cougars had a lengthy opening drive that didn’t amount to points before the Warriors ended their scoring on the ensuing possession.

Messina connected with Grese for a 16-yard score to make it 45-0 with a minute left in the third quarter.

Before it was all said and done, Kuroda led a strong scoring drive as he connected on passes of 35, 12, and 21 yards before his 4-yard score to Sarver. Sarver’s extra point brought the scoring to a close at 45-7.

The result sets up a huge battle atop the Interstate Conference next week as Southmoreland (7-1, 3-0) will travel to Elizabeth Forward.

DeMarco cited his history with the Southmoreland football program, saying that their players will be fired up to take on a former coach. Southmoreland’s head coach, Tim Bukowski, coaching with DeMarco at Clairton.

The Cougars will host Greensburg Salem next week.

“We’ll watch film and do the same things we’ve been doing the last eight games,” Hoffer said. “This is no different than any other game. It’s our homecoming, so we should have a good crowd, and I just hope that we don’t make the mistakes we’ve been making over the last couple of weeks.”

Tags: Elizabeth Forward, Yough