Quick start leads Elizabeth Forward past Burrell in Big East Conference game

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, September 8, 2018 | 12:21 AM

Elizabeth Forward coach Mike Collodi is well aware of what quarterback Zach Benedek brings to his offense.

The senior possesses above average arm strength, consistently makes smart decisions and has the ability to gain extra yardage with his legs, too.

The latter was on clear display Friday night as Benedek ran for 112 yards and four scores in a 43-14 victory over Burrell in Class 3A Big East Conference play at Warriors Stadium.

“We know what Zach can do but sometimes we pull the reins back a little bit, and we don’t want to show too much,” Collodi said. “Being his senior year, we want to unleash everything and let everyone see what they have to worry about. They have to worry about his arm, his decision making and his legs now, too. He’s a heck of a player and he makes it extremely difficult for teams to defend.”

Benedek showed his ability to run on the opening two possessions for the Warriors (2-0, 2-0). He capped off a four-play drive with an 8-yard score just over a minute into the game to make it 7-0.

After the Warriors’ defense forced a Burrell punt, Benedek went 57 yards for a touchdown on the opening play of the drive, extending the lead to 14-0.

“I was a little nervous about it because I’ve never really been a runner, and I’ve always been more of a pocket passer,” Benedek said. “When we switched the offense this year, it turned out well. The guys are doing a great job up front of giving me a hole, and I’m just hitting it hard and going as much as I can.”

The Warriors forced the Buccaneers (0-3, 0-2) into another punt situation, gaining possession at the Burrell 43-yard line. Benedek showed off his arm on a pair of plays, connecting with Evan Lewis on a 25-yard pass and finding Nico Mrvos for an 18-yard score.

In addition to his impressive numbers on the ground, Benedek was 8 for 14 with 160 passing yards in the victory.

EF built its three touchdown advantage within the first four and a half minutes of the contest.

“That was what we wanted to do coming into the game,” Collodi said. “We wanted to try to score early and often and play fast and physical football.”

Benedek struck again on EF’s next drive, adding an 8-yard touchdown run late in the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, EF continued to build on its lead.

Benedek picked up an 8-yard score on the ground while Chris Makosey, who had 68 yards on 12 carries, had a 2-yard touchdown run.

Andrew Smith added a 31-yard field goal as the Warriors took a commanding 37-0 lead into halftime.

“They did a good job and jumped on top of us,” Burrell coach Shawn Liotta said. “We didn’t play well early, and we didn’t compete early on in the ball game, but I give our kids credit. We battled back there and started to play tougher toward the end of the first half and the second half.”

The Warriors’ defensive unit was dominant in the first half, allowing 21 total yards.

Burrell turned the ball over on downs once and punted on six occasions in the opening 24 minutes.

“My hat goes off to our defense. We shut them down,” Collodi said. “I know coach Liotta is an offensive guy and he has an offensive repertoire with formations and different plays, but our guys came out and did a really good job of defending his guys.”

Burrell (0-3, 0-2) got on the board in the second half, scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by Lukas Kastelic and a 12-yard rushing score by Logan Phillips.

The win was even sweeter for Collodi considering it came against his alma mater. Collodi, a 2000 Burrell graduate, was pleased to claim the victory in front of a large group of friends and family.

“It was pretty crazy all week. I got a lot of calls and texts from people back in Burrell and it was weird saying all week long that we were going to beat Burrell,” Collodi said. “I’m glad the result was the way it was.”

Jose Negron is a Mon Valley Independent staff writer.

Tags: Burrell, Elizabeth Forward