Pair reaches milestones as Mt. Pleasant closes with win over Uniontown

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 26, 2018 | 11:03 PM

The Mt. Pleasant football team has been a little down on its luck, but the Vikings ended on a high note as two players achieved milestones and the team wrapped its season with a big 49-13 Class 3A Big East Conference win over visiting Uniontown.

Quarterback Lucas Pieszak accumulated more than 1,000 yards in the season for the second consecutive year, and wide receiver Jake Johnson set the school record for the most catches in a season. Johnson hauled in 43 receptions this season, one more than the previous record set by B.J. Bellush in 1992.

Pieszak finished the game with 164 passing yards, 159 to Johnson. Pete Billey gained 108 yards on the ground.

But despite the lopsided score and Uniontown’s winless campaign, Mt. Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas said the Vikings weren’t about to take the Red Raiders lightly.

“We came out ready to win and knowing that we were going to have to play a good game,” he said. “There was no taking it lightly here, I can assure you of that.”

Fazekas said Pieszak’s achievement is notable because the Vikings (2-8, 2-6) are a team that is known to favor the run. He said Johnson, like Pieszak, is a special athlete and a good kid.

“That record is from 1992,” Fazekas said. “For him to be in that category, it’s really something.”

Pieszak hit his mark first, completing a short pass to Billey on Mt. Pleasant’s second drive of the game. Johnson followed it with a 37-yard touchdown run down the right sideline, and Brad Tait’s kick gave the Vikings a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Fumbles were plentiful for the rest of the period as the driving rain made conditions slippery. But Billey managed to recover one of those loose balls on the last play of the opening quarter, helping to set up a 31-yard scoring pass from Pieszak to Johnson on the second play of the second period.

The shutout didn’t last as Dom Richter ran 46 yards on a quarterback keeper to score on the third play of Uniontown’s drive. The Red Raiders (0-10, 0-8) failed to convert on a run attempt, leaving them trailing 14-6.

By halftime, Mt. Pleasant had widened the gap thanks to Billey’s ground game. He scored from 14 yards midway through the quarter and cashed in from the 5 with 37 seconds left to put the Vikings up 28-6.

Mt. Pleasant got the ball to start the second half, and Alex Kadylak broke loose for a 60-yard touchdown run four plays into the third quarter. The Vikings got the ball back after a Red Raiders fumble, and Johnson nabbed a 70-yard scoring pass from Pieszak, setting a new record and starting a running clock with a 42-6 Mt. Pleasant advantage.

Trenton Abair added a 5-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Ky’ron Craggette responded with a 76-yard TD run for Uniontown to finish his night with 167 rushing yards, but it was too late for the Red Raiders.

“Youth shows,” Uniontown coach Cedric Lloyd said of his team, which featured three seniors and several first-year players. “Their experience and things of that nature was far more experienced than we are.”

Jamie Rankin is a Daily Courier staff writer.

Tags: Mt. Pleasant, Uniontown