Adjustments work for Seneca Valley
Raiders defense puts on clinic in second half
From local dispatches
Seneca Valley coach Ron Butschle has preached to his players about the importance of the making an impact on the first series of the second half. The next time he wants to make that point, he should just roll the tape from Friday night.
The Raiders swung the momentum in their favor with a turnover that led to a score and the defense clamped down late to preserve a 17-14 triumph against visiting Mt. Lebanon in the Class 6A Quad County Conference.
After playing to a 7-7 tie in the first half, the Blue Devils had possession coming out of the locker room. The Seneca Valley defense forced and recovered a fumble. The next play saw Gabe Lawson launch a 37yard strike to Luke Smith to give the Raiders (3-1, 2-1) a lead they would not relinquish.
“We always talk about how the first series of the second half is a huge series,” Butschle said. “To get a turnover is big. That sets the tone and shows you made adjustments.”
The Raiders had to go back to the drawing board for protection schemes as well. The Blue Devils defense terrorized the Raiders in the first half.
“When I say adjustments, we were trying to figure out how we could slow them down,” Butschle said. “They were giving us fits protection-wise and even in the run game. We wanted to stretch them out and we were able to do that.”
Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, and the Raiders defense made a fourthdown stop to end the game.
Seneca Valley’s special teams, led in this case by kicker Seth Winters, were superb. Winters hit both of his extra points and a 20-yard third-quarter field goal that proved to be the difference. He also booted two touchbacks on kickoffs.
“Our defense and special teams tonight were enormous in our win,” Butschle said. “When they had to make stops, they made stops. When its fourth-and-8 and we have to stop them from getting a first down to end the game, that’s a defining moment for our kids. And having a kicker like that in our arsenal is priceless.”
Lawson finished 6-of-18 passing for 83 yards. He scored another touchdown on a 1-yard run in the first quarter. Smith had a team-leading 48 yards receiving on three catches. Connoer Tyrzek nearly matched that with his lone reception, a 45-yarder.
Matt Stanger rumbled for 64 yards on 19 carries for Seneca Valley.
Seth Morgan tossed touchdown passes of 47 yards to Carter Davidson and 53 yards to Tim Walters for Mt. Lebanon (2-2, 2-1).
The win helps Seneca Valley gain an inside track to a key playoff spot. North Allegheny and Pine-Richland are at the top of the conference and could stay there. The third- and fourth-place teams get home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, though.
More games
Pine-Richland 63, Butler 0: Top-ranked Pine-Richland (3-1, 2-0) racked up 35 points in the first quarter and never looked back en route to the Quad County Conference victory against Butler (0-4. 0-2). The Rams running attack dictated the game. Luke Meckler scored on burst of 45 and 45 yards. He finished with a game-high 117 yards on just three carries. Ryan Geyer ran for 91 yards on 12 carries and scored on runs of 3, 1 and 3 yards. Pine-Richland held a 291-115 advantage in rushing yards and 381-153 in total yards.
North Allegheny 45, Canon-McMillan 21: The Big Macs (0-3, 0-3) scored early, but it was the visiting Tigers (4-0, 3-0) who scored often in the Quad County matchup. Gunnar Fisher connected on 6 of his 13 passing attempts and found Joey Porter Jr., who committed to Penn State earlier in the week, for a 53-yard strike in the second quarter. Ben Maenza took over from there, carrying the ball 19 times for 165 yards and scoring on runs of 8, 4 and 37 yards. All his touchdowns were in the second half for second-ranked North Allegheny.
Canon-McMillan’s Josh O’Hare found the end zone after runs of 1 and 32 yards. He finished with 155 yards on 16 carries.
It was a close game at halftime, with North Allegheny clinging to a 17-14 lead.
The Tigers then went on to score 14 points apiece in the third and fourth quarters, resulting in North Allegheny outscoring the Big Macs 28-7 in the second half. Central Catholic 28, Hempfield
13: Third-ranked Central Catholic (3-1, 2-1) rebounded from its first loss a week ago to earn the Quad County victory, thanks to two rushing touchdowns from Edward Tillman. Visiting Hempfield’s Blake Remaley threw for 243 yards and two scores. Zack Cieslo had 110 yards receiving while Roman Pellis had 88 yards through the air. The Spartans (1-3, 0-3) have lost three games in a row.