Fort Cherry turns on jets in 2nd half, speeds past Monessen

By: Adam Brewer
Friday, September 20, 2024 | 11:41 PM

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Monessen looked like it had all the momentum after scoring on its first drive of the second half to go up a touchdown on Fort Cherry in a battle of unbeaten squads in the Black Hills Conference.

The Rangers had other plans.

The defending Class A champions turned the tide quickly after trailing by seven, scoring 28 straight points en route to a 35-14 victory over the Greyhounds on Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

“We had some early mistakes that could have cost us the game,” FC coach Tanner Gary said. “But luckily it didn’t and our kids responded in a big way in the second half. We have five new starters on the line and a couple of new backs. They needed to face some adversary and come back from it.”

After taking the cast off his injured thumb last week, Fort Cherry’s Matt Sieg did most of his damage on the ground. The junior quarterback amassed 207 rushing yards, added 97 yards through the air and accounted for three touchdowns.

“We just had to stick with the game plan,” Sieg said. “It was rough in the first half with some turnovers, but we made the adjustments and just wore them down in the second half. The thumb feels fine and I thought our blocking was really good tonight.”

The Rangers (5-0, 2-0) have won 20 of their last 21 games and have taken five of the last six meetings against the Greyhounds (4-1, 1-1). Monessen’s last win over Fort Cherry was 2012.

“Fort Cherry is a juggernaut and they are hard to keep in check,” Monessen coach Wade Brown said. “We played a good first half and had that early lead in the third quarter. But then our offense just fell flat and we couldn’t get those big plays. They were able to get those big plays and take the game over.”

Monessen took a 14-7 lead with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Tavian Taylor from Dennis Hawkins at the 10:33 mark of the third quarter.

After the teams exchanged three-and-outs, the Rangers found their offensive mojo and Braydon Cook took a 15-yard reverse for a score to cap off a 12-play, 65-yard drive. Despite the touchdown, the home team still led 14-13 after the visitors missed the extra point.

The Greyhounds clung to a one-point lead, but their offense was stuck in neutral over the next three drives, only accumulating 13 total yards. The Rangers were the complete opposite, as their offense started to produce chunk plays at a consistent clip.

Sieg broke free for a 51-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter and a two-point run by Cook gave the Rangers a 21-14 advantage. After an interception by Evan Rogers ended a Monessen drive, Fort Cherry marched six plays for 50 yards as Sieg threw a 17-yard scoring toss to Shane Cornali.

“I love playing football and sometime you have to block out the pain,” Sieg said. “We were clicking on offense in that second half and were near unstoppable. We were ready for the game.”

The Rangers ended the scoring on the night with a 3-yard touchdown run by Ryan Huey, who finished with 75 yards on 12 carries. Fort Cherry compiled 419 yards of offense.

“We want that balance on offense and we can’t be one dimensional,” Garry said. “I told Matt in practice on Thursday that this might be one of those games where he had to take a lot of carries and carry the load on offense. He was up for the challenge.”

Fort Cherry took the opening kickoff, but its offense was stymied early after a couple of incomplete passes and a critical holding penalty.

After Monessen went three-and-out on its opening possession, the Rangers were driving, but the possession quickly ended with a pick in the red zone by Tim Kershaw for the Greyhounds. Monessen forced two more fumbles to slow down the Rangers’ offense in the first half.

“We had to bottle their quarterback and eliminate the big plays,” Brown said. “The turnovers helped us in the first half, too. It’s about a ‘want to.’ We held our own, but then they just impose their will on us. They do that to a lot of teams. You got to play four quarters against a great team like that.”

Both teams were held scoreless in the first quarter, but the Rangers took a 7-0 lead at the 10:16 mark of the second stanza with a 31-yard touchdown strike to Cook from Sieg.

The Greyhounds countered with a 44-yard screen pass touchdown to TyVaughn Kershaw from Hawkins with 4:47 remaining in the first half. Monessen posted an 8-7 lead after a two-point run by the junior tailback and carried that lead into halftime.

TyVaughn Kershaw, who came into the game with a WPIAL-high 18 touchdowns, garnered 70 rushing yards on 15 carries and caught four balls for 56 yards. Hawkins finished with 113 yards on 10-of-17 passing with two touchdowns and an interception.

“Monessen has some playmakers,” Garry said. “They have a big-play offense and they are going to get some yards. Our focus was to move onto the next play and I think our front seven did a tremendous job of wearing them down. We swarm to the ball and just gang-tackle on every single snap.”

Fort Cherry travels to Burgettstown on Friday to continue Black Hills Conference play, while Monessen ventures out to South Side for some nonconference action.

Tags: Fort Cherry, Monessen