Greensburg Salem shuts out Ringgold for crucial victory

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 12, 2018 | 10:39 PM

Greensburg Salem knew it had to handle its business Friday night against Ringgold if the Golden Lions had any thoughts of qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs.

Greensburg Salem did exactly that as they relied on their rushing attack to beat Ringgold, 35-0, in a Big Eight Conference game at Offutt Field.

The Golden Lions (3-5, 3-2) rushed for 301 yards. Senior running back Adam Cuccia had 97 yards and a touchdown on three carries, and junior fullback Aaren Putt totaled 84 yards on five carries.

After punting on their first drive, Greensburg Salem scored on five straight possessions.

“Any time when you’ve lost a couple weeks in a row, it’s always nice to get back into winning. Any win you get is a good win,” Golden Lions coach Dave Keefer said.

“We given teams the opportunity to get a lead on us, and we play from behind. We really wanted to focus on getting out to a stronger start.”

Greensburg Salem got out to a 7-0 lead when senior fullback Kenneth Shea capped off an eight-play drive by running in from 2 yards. Cuccia had a 39-yard run on the drive to reach the Rams 17-yard line.

On the ensuing possession, Ringgold (0-8, 0-5) had what arguably was its best drive of the game, going deep into Golden Lions territory. But penalties and a sack pushed the Rams back to midfield. Ringgold went for it on fourth, but the Golden Lions snuffed out a run play and forced a turnover on downs.

“Defensively, we’ve really tried to emphasize trying to get lined up better and being fundamentally better. I thought our defense got to the ball a little bit better, got lined up the right way and we played better defense,” Keefer said.

“The stop gave us an opportunity to get back on the field to get more points and get the game moving in the right direction.”

On the next Golden Lion possession, Putt’s 46-yard run set up a 15-yard touchdown run by Jalen Page, making it 14-0.

Ringgold junior quarterback Jacob Duncan then fumbled the ball, and the Golden Lions took over at the Rams 20. Greensburg Salem reached the end zone three plays later when Shea scored again from 2 yards to extend the lead to 21-0.

The Golden Lions scored on their fourth possession in a row when senior wide receiver Dajauhn Hertzog took a 6-yard sweep to the right to cap a four-play drive. That made it 28-0 with over a minute remaining in the first half.

Greensburg Salem started the second half with the ball and drove down the field on two plays, capped by a 49-yard touchdown run by Cuccia. The mercy rule went into effect, and the Golden Lions put in their backups.

Heading into the matchup, Ringgold was allowing 52.6 points per game, including 62 to Thomas Jefferson and Gateway. Ringgold, which was shut out for the fifth time this season, was held to 97 yards of offense, including 64 on the ground.

The Golden Lions will travel to Thomas Jefferson and Indiana to conclude the regular season. Greensburg Salem will need to win one of its final two games to reach the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2010.

“We know we have a tough road to get in but one of our goals before the season started was to get into the playoffs. We have to keep picking coal and going to work each day,” Keefer said.

Andrew John is a freelance writer.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, Ringgold