Herald Staff reports



The Mercer Mustangs and Greenville Trojans locked up probable spots in the District 10 football playoffs with victories Friday night.

The Mustangs topped Lakeview, 35-6, and probably ended the Sailors’ hopes for the Class A playoffs, although the district committee could set a precedent and take 5 teams from the stronger south contingent. The committee will meet this weekend.

Greenville defeated Slippery Rock, 40-6, and secured an apparent D-10 AA bid when Hickory lost to Sharon, 14-7.

In other action Friday: West Middlesex routed Conneaut Valley, 53-6; Grove City ripped Moniteau, 33-6; Sharpsville downed Clarion, 28-0; Wilmington pounded Karns City, 55-9; and Reynolds fell to Oil City, 48-0.

On today’s card, undefeated Farrell travels to Kennedy Catholic for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

ä Mercer 35, Lakeview 6 — A win was all the Mustangs needed at Stoneboro to lock up a spot in the District 10 Class A playoffs and they did just that in convincing fashion.

With senior quarterback Andrew Erdos leading the way for Mercer (6-2 in Region 1-A, 7-3) with 16 carries for 75 yards on the Sailor defense and another 35 through the air, the Mustangs are sitting pretty this morning as the playoff pairings are expected to be announced.

While the spotlight was on the matchup that pitted 2 of Mercer County’s top 3 leading rushers — Lakeview’s Kyle Scott and Mercer’s Kyle Mariacher — against one another, Erdos’ execution of the offense stole the show.

“Most of the 1st half and the 2nd half he called the plays at the line of scrimmage for us,” Mercer head coach Pat McClearn said. “When you have a 4-year senior quarterback you ought to be able to do that and he does a nice job for us.”

Erdos opened up Mercer’s 1st offensive series by finding classmate Andy Reda on a 24-yard completion. Two plays later, Mariacher broke loose for a 25-yard run and Erdos nudged the ball into the end zone on the next play for a 6-yard TD. Will Juergens’ extra point put Mercer up 7-0.

As the 2nd quarter opened, the tandem of J.T. Mannozzi and R.J. Swartz knocked the ball out of Lakeview quarterback Jeremy Westlake’s hands and Swartz returned it 19 yards for another Mercer TD.

“That was a big turning point,” McClearn said.

Westlake returned the ensuing kickoff to the Sailors 40-yard line. Scott then ran for 30 yards on 2 carries, followed by a Westlake run of 20 yards and another from 5 yards out to cut the Mercer lead to 8.

Later in the quarter, Mariacher punched it in from 13 yards out to complete a 12-play, 90-yard drive. Juergens kick gave the Mustangs a 21-6 lead at halftime.

Mariacher added another rushing TD for the Mustangs in the 4th quarter, as did Rawlins Huntley.

The Mustangs held Scott to 76 yards on 18 carries and didn’t allow Lakeview to get a first down in the 2nd half until the final 2 minutes of the contest.

“They’re a lot like us … they want to come out and run the ball,” McClearn said. “We forced them to where they had to pass.”

Coach Dan York’s Sailors (4-4, 6-4) will now play the waiting game and see if they can back their way into the tournament.

“There’s nothing we can do about anything,” York said. “That’s just the way it goes. We had our chances. I’m proud of the kids. They played tough all year.” — By Patrick Connelly, Allied News sports editor.

ä Grove City 33, Moniteau 6 — At Forker Field, Grove City, the Eagles of coach Jeff Bell warmed up for the District 10 AAA playoffs with a romp in the non-league encounter.

The Region 5-AAA champs fell behind 6-0 early, but it was all Grove City the rest of the way. Marty Phipps tallied on an 11-yard run, then Wesley Phipps tacked on scores of 7 and 1 yards for a 20-6 halftime lead.

In the 2nd half, Jamarr Patterson scored on a 39-yard sprint, while Harold Price finished off the TD production with a 3-yard burst. Tyler Dagres converted on 3 PATs.

Patterson racked up 89 yards on 7 carries to lead the Eagles (7-3). Defensively, Patterson had a fumble recovery, while Marty Phipps pulled in an interception. Dan Sprando and Leonard Howard each had 9 tackles.

ä Sharpsville 28, Clarion Area 0 — At McCracken Field, Sharpsville, the Blue Devils warmed up for the AA playoffs by pitching a shutout in the non-league encounter.

Coach Paul Piccirilli’s Devils (8-2) looked impressive against the 7-3 Bobcats. Quarterback Frank Joseph tallied a pair of touchdowns on runs of 11 and 12 yards, while Nate Titus scored on a 45-yard burst and Matt Llewellyn on a 2-yard run. The Devils also recorded a safety, while Jon Wilson booted a pair of PATs.

Titus led the rushing attack with 119 yards on 21 carries.

ä West Middlesex 53, Conneaut Valley 6 — At West Middlesex, the Big Reds (3-5, 4-6) rumbled for 428 rushing yards and wrapped up the 2009 season by routing the Indians (2-6, 2-8) in a Region 1-A contest.

Billy Gilmore, who carried the ball for the 1st time this year on Friday, had 2 carries, 129 yards and 2 scores. Jon Jancso also had 129 yards on 8 totes with 2 scores. Gilmore scored from 78 and 51 yards while Jancso’s scoring sprints were from 2 and 72 yards.

Also for WM, Kyle Wimer fired a 16-yard TD pass to Ryan Chupak and Nate Ash (5 yards), Wimer (1 yards) and Colin Patten (11 yards) rushed for scores.

WM loses Ash, Chupak, Jancso, Wimer, Gilmore, Kyle Beck, Ryan Benson, Logan Mihalcak, Cody Truchan and Frank Zieminick to graduation.

“I wish my seniors the best of luck,” said WM coach Jason McElhaney. “I’m glad to see them go out with a nice win.”

ä Oil City 48, Reynolds 6 — At Oil City, the Reynolds Raiders fell behind early and never got back into the contest as they finished the season at 1-6 in Region 3-AA and 1-9 overall.

The Raiders’ lone score came in the final frame when John Besic scored from 8 yards out. Logan Carson scored a pair of TDs for Oil City (5-2, 7-2), which earned a berth in the District 10 playoffs.

The high-powered Oilers rolled up 425 yards of offense.

ä Greenville 40, Slippery Rock 7 — At Stewart Field, Greenville, the Trojans (4-3, 7-3) rushed for 452 yards and posted a total of 507 yards as they routed the Rockets (2-5, 2-8).

Greenville qualified for the D-10 playoffs for the 3rd straight year as Sharon beat Hickory.

Dylan Zuschlag rushed for 237 yards and 2 scores and R.J. Malson rumbled for 102 yards and 2 scores in leading the Trojans. Zuschlag’s scores were from 59 and 33 yards while Malson tallied from 3 and 1 yards. Also for Greenville, Josh Riffe scored on a 14-yard run and Nick Weaver ran in from 5 yards out.

ä Wilmington 55, Karns City 9 — At Karns City, the ’Hounds (9-1) pounded the Gremlins (8-2) from District 9, avenging last season’s 22-21 regular season-ending upset.

Sutton Whiting went for 114 yards rushing, tallying TDs of 77 and 20 yards, and also caught a 55-yard scoring strike from Jake DeMedal and completed a pass. DeMedal completed 3 of 4 aerials for 91 yards.

Derrick Burns burst for another pair of scoring sprints (55, 4) for Wilmington, which totalled 427 yards. Meanwhile, the Hounds Hammer defense gave the Gremlins only 155 yards (68 rushing).

Karns City, which has won at least of share of the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference.

———

MERCER 7 14 0 14 35

LAKEVIEW 0 6 0 0 6

Scoring plays

M — Erdos, 6 run (Juergens kick)

M — Swartz, 19 fumble return (Juergens kick)

L — Westlake, 5 run (Blair run failed)

M — Mariacher, 13 run (Juergens kick)

M — Mariacher, 1 run (Juergens kick)

M — Huntley, 4 run (Juergens kick)

Team stats

MERCER LAKEVIEW

12 First downs 7

221 Rushing yards 131

35 Passing yards 15

6-2-0 Att-comp-int 3-1-0

256 Total yards 146

2-1 Fumbles-lost 4-2

6-45 Penalties-yards lost 1-5

Individual stats

Rushing: MERCER — Mariacher 14-86, Erdos 16-75, Huntley 6-46, Hennegan 4-14; LAKEVIEW — Scott 18-76, Westlake 13-39, Novak 3-16, Blair 3-0.

Passing: MERCER — Erdos 6-2-0, 35; LAKEVIEW — Westlake 3-1-0, 15.

Receiving: MERCER — Reda 1-24, McClearn 1-11; LAKEVIEW — Blair 1-15.

———

MONITEAU 6 0 0 0 6

GROVE CITY 7 13 6 7 33

Scoring plays

M — 22 pass (run fail)

GC — M. Phipps, 11 run (Dagres kick)

GC — W. Phipps, 7 run (Dagres kick)

GC — W. Phipps, 1 run (kick fail)

GC — Patterson, 39 run (kick fail)

GC — Price, 3 run (Dagres kick)

Team stats

MONITEAU GROVE CITY

11 First downs 19

84 Rushing yards 277

117 Passing yards 115

20-10-1 Att-comp-int 10-8-0

201 Total yards 392

2-1 Fumbles-lost 0-0

6-30 Penalties-yards lost 3-20

Individual stats

Rushing: MONITEAU — N/A; GROVE CITY — Patterson 7-89, Shaffer 7-51, W. Phipps 8-36, M. Phipps 5-31, Price 6-25, Beech 5-20, Dagres 2-14, Sevin 2-4, Depeal 1-5, Reddick 3-2.

Passing: MONITEAU — N/A; GROVE CITY — Dagres 8-7-0, 91, Depeal 2-1-0, 24.

Receiving: MONITEAU — N/A; GROVE CITY — Reddick 5-86, M. Phipps 2-30, W. Phipps 1-9.

———

CONN. VALLEY 0 6 0 0 6

MIDDLESEX 12 13 21 7 53

Scoring plays

WM — Chupak, 16 pass from Wimer (kick failed)

WM — Gilmore, 78 run (pass failed)

WM — Ash, 5 run (Chupak kick)

CV — Smith, 4 run (kick failed)

WM — Jo. Jancso, 2 run (pass failed)

WM — Jo. Jancso, 72 run (kick failed)

WM — Wimer, 1 run (Jo. Jancso catch)

WM — Gilmore, 51 run (Chupak kick)

WM — C. Patten, 11 run (Allen kick)

Team stats

CONN. VALLEY MIDDLESEX

4 First downs 13

18 Rushing yards 428

35 Passing yards 38

8-4-1 Att-comp-int 5-3-0

53 Total yards 466

3-0 Fumbles-lost 1-1

5-40 Penalties-yards lost 1-5

Individual stats

Rushing: CONNEAUT VALLEY — Smith 14-37, Harris 3-3, Varee 6-(-7), Baker 3-(-15); WEST MIDDLESEX — Gilmore 2-129, Jo. Jancso 8-129, Mihalcak 10-77, Ash 4-48, Wills 3-19, C. Patten 2-13, Gearhart 1-10, L. Patten 1-4, Wimer 3-(-1), Allen 1-(-2).

Passing: CONNEAUT VALLEY — Baker 8-4-1-35; WEST MIDDLESEX — Wimer 4-3-0, 38, Jo. Jancso 1-0-0.

Receiving: CONNEAUT VALLEY — Varee 1-25, Griffin 1-8, Smith 1-7, Harris 1-(-5); WEST MIDDLESEX — Beck 2-22, Chupak 1-16.

———

CLARION 0 0 0 0 0

SHARPSVILLE 9 13 0 6 28

Scoring plays

S — safety

S — Titus, 45 run (Wilson)

S — Joseph, 11 run (kick fail)

S — Llewellyn, 2 run (Wilson kick)

S — Joseph, 12 run (kick fail)

Team stats

CLARION SHARPSVILLE

4 First downs 19

11 Rushing yards 215

33 Passing yards 44

13-4-0 Att-comp-int 13-4-3

44 Total yards 259

2-1 Fumbles-lost 2-2

5-44 Penalties-yards lost 4-25

Individual stats

Rushing: CLARION AREA — Walters 4-(-29), Rue 12-30, Grejea 6-21; SHARPSVILLE — Llewellyn 13-28, Titus 21-119, Totin 3-10, Joseph 10-51, Christopher 1-7.

Passing: CLARION AREA — Walters 13-4-0, 33; SHARPSVILLE — Joseph 13-4-3, 44.

Receiving: CLARION AREA — Rue 1-3, Renninger 3-30; SHARPSVILLE — Llewellyn 1-6, Dunlap 1-16, Piccirilli 2-22.

———

REYNOLDS 0 0 0 6 6

OIL CITY 14 28 6 0 48

Scoring plays

OC — Carson, 30 pass from May (Klena kick)

OC — Tyler Fleeger, 21 pass from May (Klena kick)

OC — Carson, 49 run (Klena kick)

OC — Heber, 34 int. return (Klena kick)

OC — Heasley, 64 run (Klena kick)

OC — Johnson, 4 run (Klena kick)

OC — Klena, 36 run (run failed)

R — Besic, 8 run (run failed)

Team stats

REYNOLDS OIL CITY

9 First downs 10

163 Rushing yards 241

0 Passing yards 184

3-0-2 Att-comp-int 20-11-1

163 Total yards 422

4-3 Fumbles-lost 2-20

2-15 Penalties-yards lost 2-20

Individual stats

Rushing: REYNOLDS — Rhodes 16-73, Besic 8-42, Matthews 9-25, Fowler 3-12. Baptiste 5-10, Gursky 1-6, Troyer 1-0, Wolfe (3-(-5); OIL CITY — Heasley 3-77, Carson 2-65, L. Klena 6-57, Heber 3-22, Johnson 5-19, Hadley 2-14, J. Klena 2-(-3), May 2-(-10).

Passing: REYNOLDS — Wolfe 3-0-2, 0; OIL CITY — May 9-6-0, 117, Kulinski 4-1-1, 35, McVay 4-3-0, 22, Carson 1-1-0, 16, Hadley 2-0-0.

Receiving: OIL CITY — Williams 2-26, Fleeger 2-25, Lantz 1-35, Taylor 1-30, Carson 1-30, Hutchinson 1-19, May 1-16, Yarnell 1-4, J. Klena 1-(-1).

———

WILMINGTON 14 14 14 13 55

KARNS CITY 3 0 0 6 9

Scoring plays

W — Whiting, 77 run (Wilson)

KC — Kepple, 30 field goal

W — Burns, 55 rn (Wilson kick)

W — Whiting, 20 run (Wilson kick)

W — Burns, 4 run (Wilson kick)

W — Whiting, 55 pass from DeMedal (Wilson kick)

W — Phillian, 1 run (Wilson kick)

W — Devido, 3 run (Ryder kick)

W — Kaufman, 40 interception return (kick failed)

KC — Garing, 75 kickoff return (kick failed)

Team stats

WILMINGTON KARNS CITY

11 First downs 8

308 Rushing yards 68

119 Passing yards 87

5-4-0 Att-comp-int 9-6-2

427 Total yards 155

2-0 Fumbles-lost 3-2

6-45 Penalties-yards lost 1-10

Individual stats

Rushing: WILMINGTON — Whiting 5-114, Burns, 6-78, Llewellyn 3-31, Devido 3-25, Crawford 1-21, DeMedal 1-11, Tekac 3-11, Donati 2-10, Phillian 5-9; KARNS CITY — N/A.

Passing: WILMINGTON — DeMedal 4-3-0, 91; Whiting 1-1-0 28; KARNS CITY — N/A.

Receiving: WILMINGTON — Burns 2-61, Whiting 1-55, Palladino 1-3; KARNS CITY — N/A.

———

SLIPP. ROCK 0 7 0 0 7

GREENVILLE 7 14 12 7 40

Scoring plays

G — Riffe, 14 run (Simons kick)

G — Zuschlag, 59 run (Simons kick)

G — Malson, 3 run (Simons kick)

SR — Gallagher, 7 run (Jeon kick)

G — Weaver, 5 run (kick failed)

G — Malson, 1 run (pass failed)

G — Zuschlag, 33 run (Simons kick)

Team stats

SLIP ROCK GREENVILLE

4 First downs 19

45 Rushing yards 452

29 Passing yards 45

16-3-1 Att-comp-int 15-6-0

74 Total yards 507

1-0 Fumbles-lost 3-2

5-65 Penalties-yards lost 2-20

Individual stats

Rushing: SLIPPERY ROCK — Gallagher 13-58, Bury 2-0, Gaul 2-0, Angerett 3-(-6), Furrh 1-(-7); GREENVILLE — Zuschlag 14-237, Malson 20-102, Scelsi 7-35, Holiga 3-23, Douglas 6-23, Riffe 3-17, Black 2-8, Weaver 2-7.

Passing: SLIPPERY ROCK — Bury 16-3-1, 29; GREENVILLE — Holiga 15-6-0, 45.

Receiving: SLIPPERY ROCK — Gordon 1-16, Mertens 1-10, Knight 1-3; GREENVILLE — Houpt 1-9, Malson 1-9, Yavorsky 1-9, Zuschlag 1-8, Zahniser 1-6, Meadors 1-4.