Southmoreland beats Greensburg Salem to clinch playoff spot

By: Andrew John
Friday, October 13, 2023 | 10:21 PM

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After snapping its three-game losing streak last week, Southmoreland looked to make it a two-game winning streak when it traveled to face Greensburg Salem.

Southmoreland (5-3, 2-1) jumped on the Golden Lions early and defeated Greensburg Salem, 46-12, in Class 3A Interstate Conference action Friday night at Offutt Field in Greensburg.

“This was the most guys we had dressed since the beginning of the year. Not that injuries cost us games, but we’ve been dinged up a lot. It’s the first game we were totally healthy and had everybody available,” Southmoreland coach Tim Bukowski said.

With the win, Southmoreland clinched a spot in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs. Last year, the Scotties lost to West Mifflin, 54-28, in the first round.

“Hopefully, it stays that way for the rest of the season and we can make a run. Our goal is to win a playoff game, and that’s the focus of the team. We have enough talent, I think, to get it done this year,” Bukowski said.

On the second play from scrimmage, senior quarterback Kadin Keefer found senior receiver Wyatt Richter down the seam for a 53-yard touchdown pass. The Scotties converted the 2-point conversion for an early 8-0 lead.

Keefer finished 8 of 14 for 133 yards passing with the touchdown to Richter and no interceptions.

Southmoreland’s defense never allowed the Golden Lions to get on track as the Scotties forced five turnovers — three interceptions and two fumbles — to give Southmoreland’s offense short fields.

“The defense has been flying around most of the year. I’m happy for them to create that many turnovers. They were pressuring the quarterbacks all night,” Bukowski said.

On Greensburg Salem’s first drive, junior Cameron Phillips recovered a fumble and Southmoreland took over at the 22-yard line.

The Golden Lions held Southmoreland to a field goal as junior kicker Jake Kaylor connected on a 28-yard field goal to extend the Scotties lead to 11-0 with 6 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

A few drives later, the Scotties scored again as they started the drive at their 25-yard line and found the end zone on senior running back Da’sjon Craggette’s first of three rushing touchdowns of the night. He ran up the middle for a 4-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 18-0 with 7:39 remaining in the first half.

After the Golden Lions (1-7, 0-3) turned it over on downs, Craggette scored on the next Southmoreland drive as he kicked it out to the left side and from 3 yards to make it 25-0 with more than two minutes remaining in the first half.

“They came out and were ready to play. Hats off to them. They got on us early. We just made some mistakes. We got behind the sticks a couple times. We let up a couple big plays and missed some tackles. With a good football team like that, you can’t do that,” Greensburg Salem coach Tyler George said.

The start of the second half wasn’t much different for the Golden Lions as they were forced to punt on their first drive.

On the Scotties’ first play of the second half, junior Cameron Phillips took a handoff down the right side for a 42-yard touchdown run to make it 32-0.

Even with the big lead, the Southmoreland defense wasn’t holding back as it forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions after the Phillips touchdown.

After recovering a fumble, Craggette scored a 4-yard touchdown run a couple plays later.

Craggette finished with 112 yards rushing on 17 carries.

After Craggette’s third touchdown run, Richter picked off Peyton Chismar and ran it in for a 38-yard interception return.

The Golden Lions, with reserves in, didn’t give up and scored the final 12 points of the game. Freshman quarterback Brody Chismar connected with senior Julian Stevens for a 46-yard touchdown to end the shutout late in the third quarter.

Junior Dominic Rosensteel returned a fumble 26 yards for a Greensburg Salem touchdown.

“The biggest thing is we want to play together as a team. We still have a season left. We need to stay together. We need to compete. We need to continue to work hard. I’m happy with how the kids competed at the end. They didn’t just bag it. They tried to go down and score some points,” George said.

Southmoreland finished with 366 total yards, 172 on the ground. The Golden Lions were held to 145 yards of total offense, including 103 yards passing.

The Scotties have outscored their opponents 194-67 in their five wins. Southmoreland was outscored 82-31 during its three-game losing streak.

Southmoreland will move on to face Class 3A No. 1 Belle Vernon at home next week, and the Golden Lions will look to end their five-game losing streak when they travel to Elizabeth Forward.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, Southmoreland