Southmoreland takes down rival Mt. Pleasant for 1st time since ’95

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 24, 2018 | 10:57 PM

Horns and sirens pierced the summer air far and near following Southmoreland’s 18-14 football victory over visiting Mt. Pleasant on Friday night, the Scotties’ first win over the neighboring Vikings since 1995.

Zach Carnuto threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Peterson on a broken play in the final minute to lift Class 2A Southmoreland (1-0), which ended a 13-game losing streak dating to a 23-15 victory over Waynesburg on Sept. 30, 2016.

The Scotties haven’t played in the WPIAL playoffs since 1979.

“Mt. Pleasant has owned them for years. That’s why I wanted to play this game,” first-year Southmoreland coach Dave Keefer said.

The two schools, separated by just 5 1/2 miles, previously competed in the Class 3A Interstate Conference, but Southmoreland was dropped by updated enrollment figures to Class 2A this season.

Carnuto, who completed 14 of 25 passes for 167 yards, set up in a shotgun.

He unexpectedly took a snap and scrambled momentarily before spotting Peterson open in the end zone and firing a strike for the game-winner after Southmoreland advanced the ball from its 46 on just four plays.

“We stunk from the coaches to the players,” Mt. Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas. “You can’t have all those personal fouls and missed assignments and expect to be successful. Congratulations to Southmoreland. Give them credit. It just wasn’t good for us.”

The winning touchdown came after the Scotties’ Andrew Rodriguez missed a 20-yard field goal on their previous possession.

Mt. Pleasant (0-1) had taken a 14-12 lead on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Lucas Pieszak to Jacob Johnson with 9:33 remaining.

Riley Comforti’s 43-yard run on the first play of the final drive for Southmoreland set up the Scotties’ clinching touchdown.

Carnuto passed for 167 yards and Ronnie Robinson rushed for 130 yards and scored two touchdowns for Southmoreland.

Robinson scored both first-half touchdowns to give Southmoreland a 12-0 lead.

His 52-yard run down the left sideline into the end zone after taking a lateral from Comforti gave Southmoreland a 6-0 lead in the first quarter before he scooted 16 yards in the second for another score.

Both teams missed field-goal attempts, Mt. Pleasant’s Bradley Tait falling short on a 40-yard try in the first quarter and Southmoreland’s Andrew Rodriguez narrowly missing wide left on a 44-yard attempt with 5 seconds left, both in the second quarter.

Rodriguez also misfired on a 30-yarder in the third quarter.

Trailing and scoreless, Mt. Pleasant began its comeback in the second half.

Pieszak, who passed for 111 yards, fired a pair of touchdown passes of 7 yards to Zac Sellender in the third quarter and the 18-yarder to Johnson in the fourth.

Pete Billey added 111 yards rushing for Mt. Pleasant.

“Our guys came out and played like they wanted this game,” Keefer said. “We’re low in numbers, but the guys that we have reached down and got the job done.”

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

Tags: Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland