Tigers rally nets spot in first PIAA title game

ALTOONA, Pa. — Martinsburg Central came out of the gate and threw a haymaker at Beaver Falls when it scored on its opening drive in the PIAA Class 3A semifinals at Mansion Park Stadium.

Luckily for the Tigers, they had Malik Shepherd ready to deliver the counterpunch and the knockout.

In the second half, Shepherd carried nine times for 89 yards and a touchdown and also caught a 17-yard scoring pass from quarterback Austin French on the first play of the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference as Beaver Falls (12-1) knocked off the District 6 champion Dragons, 14-7, to earn a spot in the state championship game for the first time.

“There have been many other games this season where we have had to battle back, and I think we’re pretty used to taking that punch in the mouth and coming back and playing our best football,” Beaver Falls coach Ryan Matsook said.

“It’s what we’ve done all year and what we’re probably going to have to continue to do if we’re going to win a state title.”

Beaver Falls, which is also in the state tournament for the first time, will take on another first-time finalist in District 3 champion Middletown Saturday at 3 p.m. at Hersheypark Stadium.

“It means a lot especially if we win because it will be the first time Beaver Falls has ever won a state championship and that would mean a lot for the city,” Shepherd said.

“It feels great as long as we’re in the state championship and we play good, it feels great.”

To get there, it took an impressive effort on both sides of the ball for Beaver Falls to come back against Martinsburg Central.

On their first possession, the Dragons looked like the hungrier team as they blew Beaver Falls off the ball n a four-play, 73-yard scoring drive. On the touchdown, Martinsburg Central running back Alex Hoenstine gashed the Tigers for 25 yards and gave his team a 7-0 lead just 3:18 into the game.

“I think we got them on their heels a little bit, but then I think they adjusted to our plays and adjusted to our blocking and started to come to the off-tackle hole with some of their defensive backs,” Martinsburg Central coach Dave Baker said.

“They were really fast, and the guys that we couldn’t block came hard to the off-tackle and kept us from getting any big gains at all and they’re difficult to trap.”

Martinsburg Central picked up 73 yards on its first scoring drive, but only added another 170 the rest of the game. Hoenstine finished with 25 carries for 102 yards, but only had 25 on the ground after halftime.

“We were not able to get our running game going because their big guys were tough, their linebackers came hard at us and we were just not able to run the ball like we would have liked,” Baker said. “When we got to where we had to pass, we had problems and, mainly, they solved our passing, they solved our running and they started to run the quarterback.” Shepherd moved into the shotgun in the second half and was effective running the option, teaming with Darrell Carter for a solid 1-2 punch. Like Shepherd, Carter struggled in the first half, but picked it up after the intermission with eight carries for 54 yards.

“Our line wasn’t really blocking at first and we can in at halftime and had a pep talk with the team and we came out and played hard in the second half,” Shepherd said.

“We kind of took them lightly at first and came out and played soft, but that first touchdown, they haven’t scored ever since.”