Herald Staff reports
Greenville High football team held serve Friday night in its quest for a District 10 Class AA playoff berth.
The Trojans’ 42-7 triumph over Reynolds at Stewart Field fanned the flames as they contend with Hickory and Oil City for either the fourth spot out of Region 3-AA or possibly an at-large berth.
Wilmington (6-1, 8-1) and Sharon (6-1, 7-2) are assured spots, while Hickory (4-1, 5-2) hosts Oil City (3-2, 6-2) tonight. Greenville has suffered setbacks to Wilmington, Sharon and Oil City, but beat Hickory.
“If we can win next week (hosting Slippery Rock), maybe the District 10 committee can take a look at us. I think we’re deserving,” Trojans’ taskmaster Brian Herrick said in a post-game interview.
Dylan Zuschlag zigged and zagged for a 6-carry, 114-yard rushing performance that included scoring sprints of 35 and 63 yards; R.J. Malson — playing on a severely sprained ankle — contributed 34- and 2-yard touchdown runs and his kick-out block sprung Zuschlag on his latter TD, and David Holiga had a 7-for-10, 106-yard, 2-TD passing performance, with Nate Houpt hauling in 4 aerials. Holiga hit Houpt and Chris Roberts for 9- and 7-yard 2nd-stanza TD tosses.
Greenville garnered a 6-0 first-quarter lead, then extended its edge to 35-7 by the break and 42-7 through three periods.
The Trojans (3-3, 6-3) totalled 415 yards, averaging 10 yards per play, and Zuschlag is zeroing in on the 1,000-yard plateau, with 946 yards on 122 totes (7.7 yards/carry) and he has tallied 10 TDs.
“Greenville has a lot of speed, a lot of depth, a lot of talent,” 2nd-year Reynolds head coach Jerry Pacifico praised, adding, “but I thought we played well.
“We played hard for the first half, then in the third quarter (the Trojans) wore us down because of their size,” Pacifico assessed. “They’re bigger than us, a little stronger, and they wore us down. But our kids never quit playing.”
Owing to injuries, illness and other factors, Pacifico had just a 23-player Raiders’ roster at his disposal. Still, Justin Wolfe and Brandon Weaver collaborated on a trio of tosses, including a 24-yard fade to the left corner of the end zone for Reynolds’ lone score.
“I told the kids earlier this week, ‘Don’t look at the scoreboard; just play hard,’ and that’s exactly what they did,” Pacifico praised. “They did a good job, and I’m very proud of our leadership. Our seniors stepped up. We’re banged up a little bit, but played hard. That aspect, and they never gave up,” Pacifico concluded.
Note: In a series that began in 1965, Greenville, with its 4th consecutive win, extended its all-time edge to 25-16-2. — By Ed Farrell, Herald assistant sports editor.
ä Farrell 36, Conneaut Lake 6 — At Conneaut Lake, the unbeaten Steelers of coach Jarrett Samuels rested some players who were dinged up or suffering from illness, but still rolled easily over the Indians.
Ron Jackson carried only twice in the contest, but both went for touchdowns on bursts of 54 and 42 yards. Quarterback Danny Odem scored on a 1-yard run and hooked up with favorite receiver Dion Eilam on a 24-yard touchdown aerial. The flashy Eilam finished off the TD production with a 75-yard run to open the second half.
Conneaut Lake’s lone score came on a 15-yard run by Eric Schell.
Jackson led the team’s 226-yard rushing with 96 yards on his 2 TD sprints, while Odem picked up 74 yards on 5 totes.
Defensively, Devonte Goudy recorded 3 sacks for the Steelers (7-0 in Region 1-A, 9-0 overall). The Lakers fell to 0-8, 1-8.
Farrell, which has clinched at least a tie for the region crown and has locked up the top seed from the region for the District 10 playoffs, can close out an unbeaten regular season at Kennedy Catholic next Saturday.
ä Grove City 21, Warren 3 — At Warren, the Eagles (4-0, 6-3) captured the Region 5-AAA championship with a win over the Dragons (1-3, 2-7).
Jamarr Patterson rushed for 169 yards on 16 carries with one score and Marty Phipps added 2 TDs and 101 yards rushing.
GC took a 7-0 lead in the 1st quarter on a 65-yard run by Phipps and Jeff Hershberger’s PAT.
Warren cut the lead to 7-3 on an 18-yard FG by Colter Johnson in the 2nd quarter, but GC responded when Patterson broke loose on a 53-yard score.
Phipps added a touchdown from 2 yards out in the 3rd frame.
ä Wilmington 40, Slippery Rock 0 — At Wilmington, the Hounds rolled behind the rushing of Sutton Whiting and Derrick Burns.
Whiting chalked ujp 113 yards on 7 carries, while Burns had 100 yards on 8 totes. Whiting tallied 3 touchdowns on a 47-yard punt return and sprints of 9 and 57 yards. Burns added 1 score on a 3-yard burst.
Chad Palladino scored on a 20-yard aerial from Jake DeMedal, while Jake DeVido added a score on a 32-yard interception return. Bryce Wilson converted 4 PAT kicks.
The victory lifted the Hounds to 6-1 in Region 3-AA and 8-1 overall. The Rockets fell to 2-4, 2-7.
ä Lakeview 22, Kennedy Catholic 0 — At Stoneboro, the Sailors improved to 4-3 in Region 1-A and 6-3 overall despite playing without standout running back Kyle Scott.
Scott was battling the flu last week and Lakeview assistant Rich Kollar reported that he was suffering from bronchitis this week.
Lakeview took a 6-0 lead in the 2nd quarter on a 5-yard run by Alex Patterson. The PAT failed.
In the 3rd, the Sailors went up 14-0 on a 2-yard TD run by Patterson and a 2-point conversion run by quarterback Jeremy Westlake.
Lakeview tacked on the final points of the game in the 4th quarter on a 55-yard punt return by Chad Blair, who then ran for the 2-point conversion.
KC (1-7, 1-8) stats were not reported to The Herald.
ä Beaver Local 35, Brookfield 7 — At Lisbon, Ohio, the visiting Warriors closed out the season on a tough note. Brookfield’s lone score, a 20-yard pass from Brandon Mosora to Cameron Derr and PAT kick by Jeremy Quinlan knotted the score at 7-7 in the second period, but Beaver Local controlled the rest of the game.
Ricky May scored 3 touchdowns to lead the home team.
Joe Kirila led the Warriors in rushing with 76 yards on 18 carries.
Brookfield finished at 1-9 as did Beaver Local.
———
REYNOLDS 0 0 7 7 7
GREENVILLE 6 29 7 0 42
Scoring plays
G — Zuschlag, 35 run (kick failed)
G — Houpt, 9 pass from Holiga (Simons kick)
G — Malson, 34 run (Sarcinella pass from Holiga)
G — Roberts, 7 pass from Holiga (Simons kick)
R — Weaver, 24 pass from Holiga (Simons kick)
G — Malson, 2 run (Simons kick)
G — Zuschlag, 63 run (Simons kick)
Team stats
REYNOLDS GREENVILLE
12 First downs 15
49 Rushing yards 282
98 Passing yards 106
17-6-0 Att-comp-int 11-8-0
147 Total yards 415
1-0 Fumbles-lost 5-2
6-65 Penalties-yards lost 4-40
Individual stats
Rushing: REYNOLDS — Baptiste 11-30, Matthews 10-14, Rhodes 2-9, Besic 4-4, Gursky 1-3, Fowler 2-2, Wolfe 5-(-13); GREENVILLE — Zuschlag 6-114, Riffe 4-43, Malson 4-38, Douglas 2-26, Holiga 2-23, Weaver 3-15, Black 3-12, Taylor 1-6, Scelsi 1-5, Zahniser 3-1, Addison 1-(-1).
Passing: REYNOLDS — Wolfe 176-0, 98; GREENVILLE — Holiga 10-7-0, 106; Zahniser 1-1-0, 27.
Receiving: REYNOLDS — Weaver 3-51, Fowler 3-47; GREENVILLE — Houpt 4-78, Zuschlag 3-48, Roberts 1-7.
———
FARRELL 6 24 6 0 36
CONN. LAKE 0 0 0 0 6
Scoring plays
F — Jackson, 54 run (run fail)
F — Jackson, 42 run (Jefferson run)
F — Odem, 1 run (Odem run)
F — Eilam, 24 pass from Odem (pass fail)
F — Eilam, 75 kickoff return (run fail)
CL — Schell, 15 run (kick fail)
Team stats
FARRELL CONN. LAKE
5 First downs 9
226 Rushing yards 137
35 Passing yards 42
10-2-1-35 Att-comp-int 11-7-1
261 Total yards 179
2-1 Fumbles-lost 7-3
6-65 Penalties-yards lost 2-10
Individual stats
Rushing: FARRELL — Odem 5-74, Hailstock 6-19, Jackson 2-96, Pinkins 1-3, Venable 4-22, Hughes 1-0; CONNEAUT LAKE — Schell, 16-73, Wade 6-22, Miller 14-14, Smith 6-33.
Passing: FARRELL — Odem 9-2-0-35; Pegues 1-0-1-0; CONNEAUT LAKE — Miller 10-5-1-11; Schell 6-2-0-31.
Receiving: FARRELL — Eilam 2-35; CONNEAUT LAKE — Wade 5-30; Schell 1-(-3), Raglin 1-15.
———
GROVE CITY 7 7 7 0 21
WARREN 0 3 0 0 3
Scoring plays
GC — M. Phipps, 65 run (Hershberger kick)
W — Johnson, 18 FG
GC — Patterson, 53 run (Hershberger kick)
GC — M. Phipps, 2 run (Hershberger kick)
Team stats
GROVE CITY WARREN
18 First downs 10
346 Rushing yards 89
44 Passing yards 136
7-3-0 Att-comp-int 23-14-0
390 Total yards 225
0-0 Fumbles-lost 0-0
12-97 Penalties-yards lost 6-60
Individual stats
Rushing: GROVE CITY — Patterson 16-169, M. Phipps 9-101, Price 8-32, Reddick 7-26, Shaffer 2-8, M. DePeal 3-8, Dagres 5-2; WARREN — Stapleford 9-62, Latimer 11-19, Delatrre 4-8.
Passing: GROVE CITY — Dagres 4-2-0-13, M. DePeal 3-1-0-31; WARREN — Stapleford 23-14-0-136.
Receiving: GROVE CITY — Miller 1-31, M. Phipps 1-8, Ruffo 1-5; WARREN — Bupp 6-84, Jones 3-23, Latimer 1-13, Johnson 1-8, Larsen 3-8.
———
KENNEDY 0 0 0 0 0
LAKEVIEW 0 6 8 8 22
Scoring plays
L — Patterson, 5 run (kick failed)
L — Patterson, 2 run (Westlake run)
L — Blair, 55 punt return (Blair run)
Team stats
KENNEDY LAKEVIEW
N/A First downs 6
N/A Rushing yards 94
N/A Passing yards 78
N/A Att-comp-int 9-4-0
N/A Total yards 172
N/A Fumbles-lost 3-2
N/A Penalties-yards lost 9-60
Individual stats
Rushing: KENNEDY CATHOLIC — N/A; LAKEVIEW — Patterson 17-45, Novak 6-29, Blair 9-12, Westlake 3-8.
Passing: KENNEDY CATHOLIC — N/A; LAKEVIEW — Westlake 9-4-0-78.
Receiving: KENNEDY CATHOLIC — N/A; LAKEVIEW — Novak 1-16, Reddick 3-62.
———
SLIPP. ROCK 0 0 0 0 0
WILMINGTON 14 19 7 0 40
Scoring plays
W — Palladino, 20 pass from DeMedal (Wilson kick)
W — Whiting, 47 punt return (Wilson kick)
W — Burns, 3 run (kick failed)
W — Whiting, 9 run (kick failed)
W — DeVido, 32 int. ret. (Wilson kick)
W — Whiting, 57 run (Wilson kick)
Team stats
SLIPPERY ROCK WILMINGTON
4 First downs 12
92 Rushing yards 275
7 Passing yards 20
7-1-1 Att-comp-int 4-1-1
49 Total yards 291
0-0 Fumbles-lost 0-0
4-20 Penalties-yards lost 2-15
Individual stats
Rushing: SLIPPERY ROCK — Henry 4-13, Waryanka 2-10, McDeavitt 8-9, Gaul 1-8, Gallagher 11-4, Bury 2-3, Croll 1-2, White 1-0, Knight 2-(-7); WILMINGTON — Whiting 7-113, Burns 8-100, DeVido 3-33, Henderson 2-15, DeMedal 2-6, T. Donati 1-2, Phillian 2-1, Vasko 1-1, Crawford 1-0 .
Passing: SLIPPERY ROCK — Gallagher 3-0-1-0, White 1-0-0-0, Bury 3-1-0-7; WILMINGTON — DeMedal 2-1-1-20, Tekac 1-0-0-0, Vasko 1-0-0-0.
Receiving: SLIPPERY ROCK — Gallagher 1-7; WILMINGTON — Palladino 1-20.
———
BROOKFIELD 0 7 0 0 7
B. LOCAL 7 7 6 15 35
Scoring plays
BL — May, 1 run (Shultz kick)
B — Derr, 20 pass from B. Mosora (Je. Quinlan kick)
BL — Schneider, 1 run (Shultz kick)
BL — May, 5 run (kick failed)
BL — May, 5 pass from Schneider (pass good)
BL — Lattanzio, 11 run (Shultz kick)
Team stats
BROOKFIELD BEAVER LOCAL
10 First downs 16
137 Rushing yards 192
37 Passing yards 171
8-4-0 Att-comp-int 19-14-0
174 Total yards 363
1-1 Fumbles-lost 2-2
7-50 Penalties-yards lost 5-25
Individual stats
Rushing: BROOKFIELD — Kirila 18-76, Den. Sulick 6-40, Sydlowski 2-21, Je. Quinlan 7-6, B. Mosora 2-(-6); BEAVER LOCAL — May 17-73, Pirl 1-40, Mercer 4-22, Smith 3-21, Schneider 7-14, Beohm 3-11, Lattanzio 1-11, Britt 3-(-2).
Passing: BROOKFIELD — Je. Quinlan 7-3-0-15, B. Mosora 1-1-0-20; BEAVER LOCAL — Schneider 19-14-0-171.
Receiving: BROOKFIELD — Derr 1-20, Venzeio 1-10, B. Mosora 1-7; BEAVER LOCAL — Lunders 5-59, May 6-53, Jennings 1-25, Pirl 2-21.
