High school roundup for Aug. 26, 2023: Union gets past Mohawk in season-opening barnburner

By: Tribune-Review
Sunday, August 27, 2023 | 12:04 AM

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Braylon Thomas scored his second rushing touchdown of the fourth quarter on a 13-yard quarterback draw with 32 seconds remaining to give Union a wild, 40-36 come-from-behind win over Mohawk in a nonconference season opener Saturday.

Mohawk (0-1) led 35-26 with less than three minutes left. First, Thomas scored on a 16-yard run with 2:47 left and hit Lucas Stanley on a two-point pass to make it 35-45.

Union (1-0) got the defensive stop it needed and took over at its own 48 with no timeouts and 1:46 left. After converting a fourth-and-2 with a pass to Grayson Blakley, Thomas finished the drive with the game-winning 13-yard run.

Thomas had 191 yards and three touchdowns in the air and 121 yards and two scores on the ground.

Quarterback Jay Wrona had a huge game for Mohawk, going 12 for 26 for 375 yards and five touchdowns.

He hit Dante Retort on scoring passes of 44 and 53 yards, Bobby Fadden on TD tosses of 72 and 36 yards and Blake Logan on a 35-yarder.

Thomas connected with Dayne Johnke on touchdown passes of 54 and 49 yards and Andrew Gettings on a 14-yarder. Johnke also caught a 4-yard scoring strike from Stanley.

Beaver 35, Western Beaver 14 – Qualan Cain ran 12 times for 59 yards and four touchdowns as Beaver rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit for a nonconference win.

Western Beaver (0-1) raced out to a 7-0 lead when Dorian McGhee took a quick out from freshman quarterback Jaivin Peel and raced up the left sidelines for 99 yards in the first quarter.

Peel hit Mikey Crawford with a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 in the second quarter.

Before halftime, Beaver’s Amari Jackson caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from Travis Clear to make it 14-7.

After halftime, Cain scored four consecutive touchdowns on runs of 1, 3, 4 and 4 yards as the Bobcats (1-0) tied the score and pulled away.

Steelton-Highspire 42, Imani Christian 27 – Ronald Burnette had two second-half touchdown runs to lead perennial Pennsylvania power Steelton-Highspire (1-0) to a shootout win in the York Rose Bowl Showcase.

Steel-High jumped out to a 21-0 lead on two touchdown runs by quarterback Alex Erby and a 53-yard run by Nazier Fuller.

Imani Christian (0-1) fought back with three consecutive touchdown runs by David Davis – from 2, 15, and 5 yards out – to tie the score 21-21.

After Burnett scored a 50-yard TD to give Steel-High the lead, Imani answered with a 60-yard touchdown strike from Stphen Vandiver to Che’Von Allen to make it 27-27.

Steel-High took the lead for good on a 29-yard pass from Erby to Jaeion Perry and tacked on a 24-yard run by Burnette to account for the final margin.

Sharon 26, Neshannock 0 – Quarterback Mister Ham was 9 for 13 for 109 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 93 more yards on 11 carries to lead Sharon (1-0) to a nonconference win. Quarterback Jino Mozzocio led Neshannock (0-1) with 42 rushing yards on 16 carries.

Boys soccer

Altoona 1, OLSH 0 — Goalkeeper Luke Mitchell made four saves and Cohen Crawford scored the lone goal as Altoona (2-0) shut out OLSH (0-1-1) to win the Indiana Tournament.

Bentworth 8, Washington 0 – Ryan Moessner had three goals and three assists to lead Bentworth (1-0) to the nonsection win against Aquinas Academy (0-1). Ryan Colbert added two goals and two assists while John Scott tallied two goals and one assist.

Carlynton 5, Obama Academy 3 – Ryan Lewis had two goals to lead Carlynton (1-0) to a nonsection win against Obama Academy (0-1).

Greensburg Salem 2, Hempfield 1 – Alex Swatchick and Tobyn Anderson scored to lead Greensburg Salem (1-0) to a nonsection season-opening win. Braden Crowe scored on a penalty kick for Hempfield (0-1).

Hampton 2, Gateway 1 – Luke Fiscus and Xavier Ware scored to lead Hampton (1-0) to a nonsection win over Gateway (0-1).

Mars 2, Knoch 1 – Landon Rocke and James Jayamohan scored to lead the Fightin’ Planets (1-0) to a win at the Mars tournament. Austin Friedline scored for Knoch (0-1).

McGuffey 4, Steel Valley 0 – At the Chartiers-Houston Tournament, Nate Kler scored twice as McGuffey (1-0) shut out Steel Valley (0-1).

North Allegheny 8, Ambridge 0 – Joey Vojtas had a hat trick to lead North Allegheny (1-0) past Ambridge (0-1) at the Pine-Richland tournament.

Peters Township 2, Bethel Park 0 – Adam Smiga and Jeven Kelley scored and Markus Bizyak notched the shutout as Peters Township (1-0) beat Bethel Park (0-1) in nonsection play.

Pine-Richland 2, North Catholic 0 – Ethan Wygart and Brady Baker scored to power tournament host Pine-Richland (1-0) past North Catholic (0-1).

Seneca Valley 5, Norwin 1 – Nathan Prex netted a hat trick and Cole Kamarec and Zach Garma also scored to lead Seneca Valley (2-0) past Norwin (1-1) at the Intersection Kickoff Tournament at Seneca Valley.

Serra Catholic 3, West Mifflin 1 – Collin Holmes scored two goals while A.J. Mejalli added a goal and an assist as Serra Catholic (1-0) defeated West Mifflin (0-1) at the West Mifflin Tournament. Tony Fisher recorded seven saves in goal for the Eagles.

Thomas Jefferson 9, West Mifflin 0 – Brayden Miller had a hat trick and Jake Shoemaker recorded two goals and four assists to lead Thomas Jefferson (1-0) at the West Mifflin tournament. Owen Householder scored twice and Sam Wessel and Nick Ditmore combined on the shutout for the Jaguars.

Upper St. Clair 2, Plum 1 – Liam Park and Emi Sobarzo scored and Joe Donnelly had a pair of assists to lead Upper St. Clair (2-0) in the final game of the Plum tournament. Travis KOdman scored for the Mustangs.

Plum 6, West Allegheny 0 – Garrett Chandler scored a pair of goals to lead Plum in its first game of the day at the Plum tournament. Fedgy Fertil, Gage Adinolfi, Jonathan Aristyl and Eli Wastchak also scored for the Mustangs.

Waynesburg 3, Chartiers-Houston 0 – Ryon McCartney scored twice and Owen Haught added a goal to lead Waynesburg (1-0) past Chartiers-Houston (0-1) at the Chartiers-Houston tournament.

Wheeling Park 2, Franklin Regional 1 – Tresz McCloud scored the game-winning penalty kick with 28 seconds to go to lead Wheeling Park (1-0) at the Pine-Richland JRK tournament. Joey Bayne scored for Franklin Regional (0-1).

Yough 6, Derry 1 – Collin Barner had two goals and Isaac Pacacha added a goal and two assists as Yough (1-0) beat Derry (0-1) at the South Allegheny Tournament.

Girls soccer

Avonworth 4, Freedom 0 – Emma Luther, Gianna Babusci , Minah Syam and Caroline Sweeney scored to lead Avonworth (1-0) past Freedom (0-1) in a nonsection match.

Burrell 2, McDowell 1 – Maggie Nesko and Miley Kariotis scored and Mckenna Miller had an assist as Burrell (1-0) defeated McDowell (0-1) in the South Hills Classic at South Park.

Butler 4, Cathedral Prep 1 – Leah Deal and Madison Rose each had a goal and an assist and Ella Rekich and Sydney Patterson also scored for Butler (1-0) in a nonsection win.

Chartiers-Houston 3, Beth-Center 1 – Amelia Brose, Ava Capps and Mia Reddix had goals as tournament host Chartiers-Houston (1-0) defeated Beth-Center (0-1). Kendall Welsh scored for the Bulldogs.

Hampton 2, Central Valley 1 – Sara Kenst and Olivia Hoffman each scored as Hampton (1-0) opened its season by defeating Central Valley (0-1) in nonsection play.

Keystone Oaks 3, Aquinas Academy 2 – Aly Simon had two goals to lead Keystone Oaks (1-0) over Aquinas Academy (0-1) at the South Allegheny Tournament.

Montour 3, Canon-McMillan 0 – Grace Bannon scored twice to help Montour (1-0) to a nonsection win over Canon-McMillan (0-1).

North Allegheny 3, Cumberland Valley 1 – Kieran Shannon, Ally Ruiz and Abigail Stager scored as North Allegheny (2-0) won a pair of games in Altoona over the weekend.

Penn-Trafford 1, Mt. Pleasant 0 (OT) – Miley Currie finished off a pass from Alexis Brown with three minutes left in the second overtime to lead Penn-Trafford (1-0) to a nonsection win over Mt. Pleasant (0-1) to open the season. Sophomore Alannah Hall recorded the shutout for the Warriors.

Peters Township 5, South Fayette 0 – Ella Neupaver had a goal and an assist to lead Peters Township (1-0) to a nonsection win over South Fayette (0-1). Lucia Trapanotto, Julia Spergel, Paige Malley and Milena Gill also scored and Molly Kubistek and Kaitlyn Strine combined on the shutout for Peters.

South Park 3, Mercyhurst 0 – Alicia Riberich scored twice and Emily Mihelcic added a goal to lead host South Park (1-0) at the South Hills Classic.

Upper St. Clair 7, Fort LeBoeuf 0 – Valentina Sobarzo had two goals and an assist and Brooke Bodamer scored twice to lead Upper St. Clair (1-0) at the South Hills Classic. Abby Mascaro recorded a goal and an assist and Cam Friday and Maddie Webb combined on the shutout.

West Allegheny 1, Thomas Jefferson 0 – Ella Smith scored the only goal and Ally Frueh recorded the shutout as West Allegheny (1-0) beat Thomas Jefferson (0-1) at the West Mifflin Tournament. The win was the first for head coach Christine Chiodo, a 2012 West Allegheny graduate.

West Mifflin 9, Obama Academy 0 – Caroline Chelosky scored four goals and Jada Downs added three more to help West Mifflin (1-0) past Obama Academy (0-1) at the West Mifflin tournament.

Girls volleyball

Ligonier Valley 3, Yough 1 – Emily Rankin had seven kills to lead Ligonier Valley (1-0) to a season-opening 25-21, 24-26, 25-17, 25-21 nonsection win over Yough (0-1). Abby Tutino added six kills and 14 service points and Rylee Monticue had six kills and 13 assists for the Rams.