Gallagher leads Laurel Highlands over West Mifflin, sets up showdown with Belle Vernon next week

By: Jonathan Guth
Friday, September 24, 2021 | 11:37 PM

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Laurel Highlands boys basketball coach Rick Hauger has said that the moment is never too big for Rodney Gallagher.

Mustangs football coach Rich Kolesar easily could use Hauger’s quote when it comes to the football field. Laurel Highlands’ star quarterback was up to the challenge Friday night in a 27-7 victory over West Mifflin in a Big Eight conference game at Mustang Field.

Up 14-7 and with the Titans (1-4, 0-2) seemingly having momentum, Laurel Highlands was facing a third-and-6 from its own 28 when Gallagher decided to take matters into his own hands … or feet.

Gallagher took the snap out of the shotgun, moved a few steps to his right then took off the down the sideline before cutting inside on a 79-yard run to the West Mifflin 3-yard line as time expired in the third quarter.

Gallagher was slow to get up after the run, forcing him to leave the game for one play, but he came back to throw a 6-yard touchdown pass Keondre DeShields. DeShields leaped for the grab in the back of the end zone for a 20-7 lead with 11 minutes, 19 seconds remaining in the fourth.

“Rodney did a lot of good things tonight,” Kolesar said. “I think a lot of guys did a lot of good things. It was a great team effort to get this win. You have to play week in and week out in this conference. We will get to Belle Vernon tomorrow morning.”

Jayden Pratt capped the scoring for the home team when he pulled in a 21-yard touchdown reception from Gallagher with 1:35 remaining.

Gallagher rushed for 125 yards on 17 carries and scored a touchdown. He completed 11 of 22 passes for 108 yards and three touchdowns.

The win moved LH to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in conference. The Mustangs travel to Belle Vernon (4-0, 2-0) next week in a first-place conference showdown.

The Mustangs defense was also up to the task. On the Titans’ next three drives, Laurel Highlands forced a turnover on downs, Pratt had an interception and Trevor Thomas recovered a fumble.

“It is a great game by our defense across the board,” Kolesar said. “We still have a lot of mistakes and things we have to clean up this week.”

West Mifflin got back in the game at 1:27 of the third when Delron White scored on a 1-yard run. The defense set up the score by forcing a fumble that was recovered at the Mustangs’ 19. Nick Kosuda added the PAT.

Laurel Highlands forced West Mifflin to punt on its first drive, and Bryan Yourchik’s block that was recovered by Demonte Kiss set up the Mustangs’ first score. Kiss caught a 4-yard touchdown reception from Gallagher at 9:50 of the first for a 7-0 lead.

Yourchik was in on another key play that set up a Laurel Highlands touchdown, recovering a fumble at 9:07 of the second. Kiss pulled in an 18-yard reception to the Titans’ 2-yard line. Gallagher scored two plays later on a 1-yard run for a 14-0 advantage with 7:03 remaining in the second.

“I thought, physically, we controlled the line of scrimmage and things like that, but every time we got a big play, it got called back and turnovers on top of that,” West Mifflin coach Rod Steele said. “Like I told our kids, we got to get better from the neck up.”

Daniel Carney’s fumble recovery with 28.5 seconds remaining in the first half stopped a West Mifflin drive. Carney had 43 yards on 11 carries.

Tayshawn McMillan led the Titans in rushing with 54 yards on 10 carries.

Listen to an archived broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.

Tags: Laurel Highlands, West Mifflin