Greensburg Salem pulls away to rout Ligonier Valley, improves to 2-0
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Friday, August 30, 2024 | 11:08 PM
Greensburg Salem’s Dominic Rosensteel pulls in a touchdown pass from Brody Chismar against Ligonier Valley on Friday.
Greensburg Salem’s Dominic Rosensteel defends on a pass intended for Ligonier Valley’s Aidan Mulheren on Friday.
Greensburg Salem’s Soloman Cain gets around the corner on Ligonier Valley’s Duncan Foust for a third-quarter touchdown Friday.
Greensburg Salem’s Kai Brunot defeats the block attempt by Ligonier Valley’s Jonathon Constable to take down Aidan Muheren for a loss in the second quarter Friday.
Greensburg Salem’s Kai Brunot gets by Ligonier Valley defenders to find the end zone in the third quarter Friday.
Ligonier Valley’s Mark Jablunovsky pulls in a 68-yard touchdown pass against Greensburg Salem in the first quarter Friday.
Greensburg Salem’s Keegan Young intercepts a Ligonier Valley pass and returns it for a third-quarter touchdown Friday.
Greensburg Salem’s Peyton Chismar avoids Ligonier Valley’s Duncan Foust in the first quarter Friday.
Greensburg Salem’s Keegan Young dives into the end zone after recovering a Greensburg Salem fumble to score against Ligonier Valley on Friday.
Greensburg Salem’s Kai Brunot carries an American flag as he leads the team on the field to play Ligonier Valley on Friday.
Greensburg Salem’s Brody Chismar throws a touchdown pass to Dominic Rosensteel against Ligonier Valley on Friday.
Ligonier Valley’s Mark Jablunovsky defends on a pass intended for Greensburg Salem’s Dominic Rosensteel on Friday.
Greensburg Salem fell behind early for the second consecutive game.
And for the second consecutive game, the Golden Lions roared from behind for a victory.
Max Topper scored two touchdowns, and senior Kai Brunot rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown to lead Greensburg Salem (2-0) to a 43-14 nonconference victory against Ligonier Valley (1-1) on Friday at Offutt Field. It was victory 713 in school history.
Brunot’s 57-yard kickoff return and 25-yard run gave the Golden Lions momentum after Ligonier Valley stung them with a 74-yard touchdown pass to Mark Jablunovsky from Biden Schreyer on the Rams’ first offensive play.
“We gave up that long one, but after that we played as a team,” said Brunot, whose team ran for 309 yards.
Brunot’s big runs set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brody Chismar to Dominic Rosensteel to tie the score 7-7.
“I’m super proud how we responded and hung in there,” Greensburg Salem coach Ty George said. “Football is a game of highs and lows, ups and downs. You have to be able to roll when bad things happen and when good things happen. All the credit goes to the kids.”
George said the respect for the Ligonier Valley ground game is what happened on the first play.
The Golden Lions got the ball back after a three-and-out and went 58 yards in eight plays to take a 14-7 lead. Greensburg Salem actually got a little lucky as Brady Smith fumbled approaching the goal line and Keegan Young recovered the ball in the end zone.
“Defense has done such a good job,” George said. “We did a lot of good things, but there are still a ton of things to correct if we want to play playoff football.”
Ligonier Valley attempted to answer that score, driving to the Golden Lions 17 before Brandon Ginder picked off a Schreyer pass in the end zone.
It was one of five turnovers by the Rams. Schreyer completed 9 of 19 passes for 182 yards but was picked off four times.
Greensburg Salem, thanks to an 18-yard hookup between Brady Chismar and Rosensteel, marched 80 yards to take a 21-7 lead at halftime as Brunot scored from the 10.
“All props go to my offensive line,” Brunot said. “They’ve been working all summer, and they really made it easy for me.”
The Golden Lions capitalized on two turnovers by the Rams to begin the second half.
They recovered a fumble at the Ligonier Valley 22, and Smith scored four plays later on a 7-yard run.
Topper then picked off a tipped pass and rumbled 25 yards to make it 35-7.
“The kickoff return gave them momentum,” Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel said. “We’re a little smaller than they are in terms of enrollment and size, and their line was a little bite bigger and did a good job handling us.
“They had a great plan with their no-huddle and wore us down. But we’re going to work on the positive and help us get ready for teams our size down the road. The turnovers did hurt.”
Both teams allowed long touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
John Jablunovsky stepped out of a tackle in the backfield and raced 82 yards for a score. He finished with 119 yards on 12 carries.
“John and Mark are game breakers,” Beitel said. “We’ll go back and learn from our mistakes. Next week we’ll get challenged by a different opponent.”
Topper caught a pass in the flat from Peyton Chismar, broke a tackle, and raced 70 yards for the game’s final score.
Ligonier Valley had 158 yards rushing and 182 in the air.
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: Greensburg Salem, Ligonier Valley
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