By Patrick Connelly
Allied News Sports Editor
Thanks to a huge 42-7 win Friday night at West Middlesex, coach Pat McClearn’s Mercer High Mustangs now have just one team standing between them and a berth in the District 10 Class A playoffs — backyard rival Lakeview.
“That’s what we play for,” said McClearn. “To have the opportunity in Week 10 to get ourselves into the playoffs … that’s our goal every year.”
Senior Rawlins Huntley has been a standout all season on the defensive side of the ball for Mercer and the win over the Big Reds was no exception. Huntley picked off a pass from quarterback Kyle Wimer to prevent a game tieing score in the 2nd quarter and returned it 99 yards to give the Mustangs a 14-0 lead.
“That’s a big turnaround right there,” West Middlesex coach Jason McElhaney said. “That’s a big swing.”
Herbie Hennegan returned the opening kickoff 56 yards for Mercer, but on the first play from scrimmage Huntley fumbled and the ball ended up in the hands of the Big Reds.
After Nata Ash carried for 6 yards and Jon Jancso was stopped by Mercer for a 2-yard loss, the Big Reds were forced to punt the ball back to Mercer which became what seemed a trend in the 1st quarter.
Both teams had only 1 first down each and aside from Huntley’s fumble, West Middlesex fumbled twice, losing one to Mercer.
In the 2nd quarter, however, both offenses started to click.
The Mustangs put together an 8-play, 51-yard drive before Kyle Mariacher scored on a 6-yard run. Will Juergens kicked the extra point to give Mercer the 7-0 lead.
The Big Reds fought right back and marched to the Mercer 9 yard line before Huntley pilfered Wimer’s pass.
The interception ended a drive that saw Wimer found Logan Mihalcak just half a dozen plays before for a 14-yard gain and 5 Big Reds rushers pick up 48 yards.
The Mustangs took the 14-0 lead into haltime and added to it early in the third quarter after the opening kickoff bounced off Colin Patten’s chest and back into Mercer’s hands.
Quarterback Andrew Erdos scrambled for 3 yards on back-to-back plays before Mariacher scored from 11 yards out on his 2nd of 3 touchdowns in the contest.
Wimer left the game with an injury and freshman Jeremy Jancso took over signal-calling duties for the Big Reds, helping his team rally for a 70-yard scoring drive in which Ash found the end zone from 10 yards out with 4:48 left to pay in the 3rd quarter. Ryan Chupak kicked the extra point to cut the Mercer lead to 14.
Huntley then added another Mercer TD on a 30-yard run and about 30 seconds later returned an Ash fumble for a 26-yard score, giving the Mustangs the 35-7.
Mariacher added his 3rd TD on a 40-yard run early in the 4th quarter.
“We talked about a couple weeks ago getting on a roll and starting to have some good things happen to us,” McClearn said.
The Mustangs (5-2, 6-3) opened the season 1-3 with losses to Mercyhurst Prep, Farrell and Linesville before making a run towards a potential playoff berth.
“I think looking at it now it’s helped us and I think we’re a stronger team right now than we were at the beginning of the year,” McClearn added.
Two-straight losses for the Big Reds (2-5, 3-6) to Region 1-A rivals Linesville and Mercer likely eliminates the team from playoff consideration.
“You can only give a good team like a Mercer a short field so many times before they find a way to capitalize,” McElhaney said.
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MERCER 0 14 21 7 42
MIDDLESEX 0 0 7 0 7
Scoring plays
M — Mariacher, 6 run (Juergens kick)
M — Huntley, 99 interception return (Juergens kick)
M — Mariacher, 11 run (Juergens kick)
W — Ash, 10 run (Chupak kick)
M — Huntley, 30 run (Juergens kick)
M — Huntley, 26 fumble return (Juergens kick)
M — Mariacher, 40 run (Juergens kick)
Team stats
MERCER W. MIDDLESEX
6 First downs 12
243 Rushing yards 219
0 Passing yards 37
3-0-0 Att-comp-int 7-3-1
243 Total yards 256
1-1 Fumbles-lost 4-1
1-5 Penalties-yards lost 2-10
Individual stats
Rushing: MERCER — Mariacher 12-119, Huntley 6-33, Erdos 11-67, Hennegan 2-7, Selders 2-8, Mannozzi 1-3, Campbell 3-6; WEST MIDDLESEX — Ash 13-65, Jo. Jancso 6-33, Patten 7-42, Wimer 6-14, Wills 8-46, Allen 1-8, Mirizio 1-15.
Passing: MERCER — Erdos 3-0-0-0; WEST MIDDLESEX — Wimer 4-1-1-14, Je. Jancso 3-2-0-23.
Receiving: MERCER — None; WEST MIDDLESEX — Mihalcak 1-14, Jo. Jancso 1-7, Pope 1-16.
