Robinson expected nights like Friday
McKeesport QB hit preseason goal in win
McKeesport quarterback Devari Robinson thought long and hard about his personal goal coming into the year.
“Me and my dad set that goal early in the season,” Robinson said. “I remember the exact moment. We were in the car coming home from practice and I told him I wanted to get more yards than he did in the regular season.”
Consider it done.
Robinson eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau as part of a 30-carry, 203-yard performance as he scored three touchdowns — including a 16-yard capper with 1:32 remaining in regulation — that helped McKeesport (7-2, 4-1) to a critical 31-14 victory at Franklin Regional (4-3, 3-2).
“Honestly, as great of a football player as he is, and he’s a great one, he’s a better guy and he’s just an unbelievable young man,” McKeesport coach Matt Miller said. “What he did, especially in that last drive, he was hurt and cramping up and we had a limited number of plays we could run, but whenever we needed a first down, he put his head down and got it.”
Robinson showed his toughness inside when he scored on two 1-yard sneaks. He also put his game-breaking ability on display when he ripped off a 57-yard run to set up a field goal attempt late in the second quarter.
And that late run almost proved to be a turning point for Franklin Regional.
After Robinson stepped out of bounds at the Franklin Regional 5 with five seconds remaining in the half, McKeesport opted to send Anthony Beitko out for a 22yard chip-shot field-goal attempt. Instead of an easy three points, the Panthers blocked the kick, tight end Luke Reppermund caught it on the fly and started up the right sideline with blockers in front.
But when he came down with the ball, his momentum took him to the sideline and he barely stepped out of bounds to end the half as both teams came away empty.
“We had four or five people in front of Reppermund after he blocked it and if he hadn’t run out of bounds, we would have scored,” Franklin Regional coach Greg Botta said. “It just wasn’t our night, but I’m not going to take anything away from McKeesport.”
Even with the step out of bounds, Franklin Regional had a momentumbuilder trailing, 21-7, heading into the locker room. The Panthers were also set to receive the opening kickoff to start the second half, but the Tigers thwarted that drive when they forced a fumble and converted it into a 28-yard Beitko field goal.
“Huge. I was furious — making a big play and getting us down there and we didn’t execute that and — that’s a good football team and, if they come out and score, that’s a huge momentum shift,” Miller said. “It was nice to be able to get that stop and hold that lead.”
Though failing to convert on the blocked field goal and not coming out of the gate with a score to open the second half was big, Franklin Regional may have had its fate sealed on its second offensive possession. McKeesport traded scores with the Panthers in the game’s first three drives and held a 14-7 lead, but the Tigers stuffed Franklin Regional running back Zac Gordon on a fourthand-1 at the McKeesport 25 and took over.
On that ensuing drive, Robinson gained 10 yards on a run, then pitched it backwards to Vernon Andrews, who tiptoed down the left sideline and completed a 55-yard touchdown to put the Tigers ahead, 21-7, with 5:47 left in the second quarter.
“That was huge. It was definitely big,” Miller said. “We didn’t want to get into a shootout with this team and we were able to get that stop and take it down there and score ourselves. [That] gave us a little bit of breathing room.”