Latrobe gallops to win over Hempfield
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Friday, September 8, 2023 | 11:15 PM
Hempfield’s Keiran Lippmann is taken down by Latrobe’s John Wetzel in the first half Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Spartan Stadium.
Hempfield’s Keiran Lippmann finds open field against Latrobe in the first half Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Spartan Stadium.
Latrobe’s Alex Tatsch sheds the tackle attempt by Hempfield’s Brennan Knight in the fourth quarter Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Spartan Stadium.
Latrobe’s Brady Prohovic finds some running room against Hempfield in the first half Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Spartan Stadium.
Latrobe’s Ja’Tawn Willimas drops Hempfield’s Nicholas Marquis for a loss in the third quarter Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Spartan Stadium.
Hempfield’s Keiran Lippmann throws on the run against Latrobe in the first half Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Spartan Stadium.
Latrobe’s John Wetzel avoids Hempfield’s Brock Heisler in the first half Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Spartan Stadium.
Hempfield’s Reddik Katchur returns a kickoff against Latrobe in the first half Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Spartan Stadium.
Hempfield takes the field to play Latrobe on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Spartan Stadium.
Latrobe’s Ben Stratton strip-sacks Hempfield’s Keiran Lippmann in the first half Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Spartan Stadium.
Hempfield’s marching band played the fan favorite “The Horse” during its pregame performance.
But it was Latrobe’s football team that relied on its trio of thoroughbreds to defeat the Spartans, 27-7, in a nonconference game Friday at Bill Abraham Field at Spartan Stadium.
The Wildcats’ backfield trio of quarterback John Wetzel and running backs Brady Prohovic and Alex Tatsch combined to rush for 202 yards and four touchdowns, two each by Wetzel and Tatsch, in the 50th meeting between the Westmoreland County rivals.
Hempfield (1-2) leads the series 29-18-3. Both teams were coming off losses.
And while the offense did its job, it was the Wildcats defense that came up huge all night. Alex Tatsch picked off two passes and had three sacks, and younger brother Andy Tatsch had an interception
The defense was tested early as Hempfield blocked a punt to give the Spartans a short field. But Hempfield quarterback Keiran Lippmann missed two wide-open receivers inside the Latrobe 4.
A short punt by Latrobe (2-1) gave the Spartans good field position at the Latrobe 41, but the Wildcats allowed 1 yard and then the Spartans’ punt went 1 yard to give the Wildcats the ball at their 40.
“I’m really proud of our effort,” Hempfield coach Nick Keefer said. “I thought we played hard for four quarters, we just didn’t execute a couple of times. A couple of those plays go our way, it’s a different ball game. We have to play a full game.”
That’s when the Wildcats offense found its groove, and behind the running of Wetzel, Prohovic and Tatsch, marched 60 yards for a touchdown with Tatsch scoring on an 11-yard run with 8 seconds left in the opening quarter.
“Defensively, to keep them out of the end zone twice was huge for us until we could get the offense going,” Latrobe coach Ron Prady said. “It was a slow start for us offensively. When you struggle on one side of the football, you make it up on the other side.”
Hempfield’s defense turned back Latrobe twice in the second quarter. The Wildcats’ Roman Agostoni missed a 40-yard field goal and Latrobe was held on downs a second time at the Hempfield 13.
In between those stops, Alex Tatsch made a diving catch on an interception at the Hempfield 4 and scored on a run on the next play to make it 13-0.
“We talked about pre-snap penalties and penalties in general,” Wetzel said. “We cut down on that this week. I didn’t throw well in the first half, but luckily up front we did a lot better this week and the running backs ran really hard.”
Wetzel scored on a run of 38 yards in the third quarter and 2 yards in the fourth quarter. He rushed for 101 yards, Prohovic added 71 yards and Alex Tatsch 30 yards.
“I just tried to play my best,” Tatsch said. “It was a team win. Last week wasn’t us. We remembered what Hempfield did to us last year, and we took it as a chip on our shoulder and played hard.”
Hempfield scored with 1:03 left when sophomore quarterback Dom Detruf connected on a 22-yard scoring strike to Jayson Watkins.
“This stings, and it’s going to hurt for 24 hours and then we have to get ready for next week,” Keefer said. “To beat a well-coached team like Latrobe, you have to take advantage of your opportunities.”
The Spartans did a great job taking Latrobe senior wide receiver Ja’Tawn Williams out of the game. He didn’t catch a pass but did play well on defense.
“Hempfield did a good job on Ja’Tawn defensively, so other guys had to make plays,” Prady said. “And we were fortunate to do that. We have to get better and a couple penalties hurt us.
“All our guys are competitors. Our players rallied from last week’s loss. Take away the first few minutes; we came out ready to play. We were a little flat at the beginning.”
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.
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