McDowell bounces Allderdice in Class 6A

McDowell of Erie (9-2) defeated Taylor Allderdice (4-6), 27-13, in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs on Friday night at Cupples Stadium.

The City League champions played tough in the first two quarters, as Taylor Allderdice went into halftime with a 7-3 lead. But things unraveled in the third quarter for the Dragons and McDowell scored 21 unanswered points to take a 24-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Terrell James of Taylor Allderdice fumbled on the opening kickoff of the second half and McDowell came up with the loose ball. Two plays later, running back Artis Simmons took a sweep to the right side for a 20-yard touchdown to give McDowell a 10-7 lead.

The fumble on the opening kickoff was a crucial play in the game, as it gave McDowell all the momentum.

“The fumble killed us.” Taylor Allderdice head coach Jerry Haslett said after the game. “A couple of missed tackles to start the second half, and a couple of long runs after the missed tackles, that hurt us. But more than anything the turnover killed us. But you can’t take anything away from Terrell, either. And he’ll be back, he’s only a 10th grader. He’s extremely talented, he just has to hold onto the ball when he gets a chance.”

On Taylor Allderdice’s next possession, McDowell made a defensive stop on fourth-and-2 and took over from its 40. On the next play, Simmons ran for a 60-yard touchdown to enhance McDowell’s lead to 17-7 with just under nine minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Simmons took off in the third quarter and finished the game with 221 yards rushing on 28 carries and two touchdowns.

“They got to the edge on us three times and that was the first time they ran that set on us all game,” Haslett said about the defensive struggles of stopping the run in the second half. “We were used to it. Out of that set they only run two plays. We had a hard time with it, and then of course, missing a few tackles here and there doesn’t help. And that [Simmons] is pretty fast, too. When he got out in the open it was hard to get him.”

On McDowell’s following possession, quarterback Ben Moore connected to Matthew McGregor for a 20-yard touchdown to give the Trojans a 24-7 lead with 5:01 left in the third quarter.