Pair of 200-yard rushers help Monessen beat West Greene for 4th straight win

By: Jose Negron
Friday, September 30, 2022 | 11:52 PM

For the first time in 50 years, Monessen featured a pair of 200-yard rushers Friday night.

Daevon Burke and Tyvaughn Kershaw combined for 445 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in the Greyhounds’ 62-25 victory over visiting West Greene in Tri-County South Conference play at Memorial Stadium.

Burke carried the ball nine times for 233 yards and rushing scores of 89 and 59 yards. He also added a 77-yard kickoff return for a score in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Tyvaughn Kershaw finished with a team-high 12 carries for 212 yards and four touchdowns. He scored from 20 yards out as time expired in the first quarter before adding a 41-yarder in the second, a 50-yard run in the third and a 22-yard score in the fourth.

“Those guys are just getting their footing,” Monessen coach Wade Brown said. “They’re starting to get used to what we want to do, and they know it’s going to be a long season. They’re hitting the ground running, and they’re doing what we’re asking them to do.”

West Greene (1-5, 1-2) featured a 100-yard rusher of its own in Colin Brady, who finished with 17 carries for 150 yards and two touchdowns. He kicked off the scoring with a 23-yard touchdown on the Pioneers’ second possession and added a 65-yard touchdown run that gave West Greene a 13-8 lead with under five minutes left in the opening quarter.

“Even though we put up 62 points, we still got out to a slow start,” Brown said. “Colin is a great player and he did what he always does, but I’m glad we were able to stop him a few times.”

After Brady helped put West Greene ahead 7-0 with 5:14 left in the first quarter, Monessen (4-2, 3-0) responded on the ensuing kickoff as Burke returned it for a Greyhounds touchdown. A two-point conversion made it 8-7.

Brady scored on the next possession to make it a five-point game before Burke’s long touchdown run and another successful two-point try allowed the Hounds to regain the lead at 16-13.

Monessen then took advantage of three straight West Greene fumbles.

Daniel Dozier recovered one on the Pioneers’ next possession and Lorenzo Gardner connected with Timmy Kershaw for a 42-yard touchdown pass that made it 24-13 after a conversion.

The Hounds recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Tyvaughn Kershaw found the end zone for the first time to help push the lead to 32-13 at the end of the opening frame.

Tyvaughn Kershaw recovered another fumble early in the second and a 59-yard score by Burke allowed Monessen to take a commanding 40-13 edge with under 10 minutes left in the half.

“As an offense, you want to take advantage when the defense gets you the ball. It’s really a thank you to the defense when you do that,” Brown said.

Tyvaughn Kershaw, who had 128 rushing yards by halftime, found paydirt from 41 yards out to push the lead to 46-13 before West Greene added a late score on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Lane Allison to Parker Burns.

Monessen held a 46-19 edge heading into the break and had both of its leading rushers above the 100-yard mark. Burke had 175 yards on five carries going into halftime.

“It’s really good when all you have to do is turn around and hand the ball off,” Brown said. “It makes it a lot easier on offense when they’re getting the chunks of yards they were getting. That’s good for us; we just have to keep it up and keep getting better every week. We can’t be satisfied with what we did tonight.”

While Tyvaughn Kershaw added two more touchdowns in the second half, the Pioneers put six more points on the board in the third quarter when Allison found Burns again from 10 yards out.

Monessen finished with over 500 yards of total offense. West Greene had 311 total yards, including 90 through the air from Allison.

The Greyhounds have now won four consecutive games after starting the season with back-to-back nonconference losses to Washington and Cornell. Monessen will look to continue its winning ways when it travels to Carmichaels next week.

“The confidence is definitely growing,” Brown said of his group. “It’s encouraging what they’re doing, and I’m really happy for the kids that they’re getting to experience some success.”

West Greene hosts California next week.

Tags: Monessen, West Greene