2 weeks Ago By By ROB MALSOM Herald Sports Editor
Hickory and Reynolds suffered their first losses of the season last week while Farrell and Brookfield captured their first wins. The Hornets fell to Sharon while the Raiders lost at Sharpsville. Farrell rolled past Mercer for its initial win while the Warriors won on the road at Champion.
This week’s slate features seven non-region games, highlighted by the “Steel Bowl” between Farrell and Sharon. SATURDAY Coach Amp Pegues’ Region 1 Steelers, fresh off their first win of the season, head to Tiger Stadium Saturday for a 6 p.m.
kickoff against Region 4 Sharon. Farrell, which won last year’s “Steel Bowl,” 20-0, has won seven straight games against the Tigers. The big play in last year’s game was a blocked punt by Aidan Marshall, which Nicanor Andrada scooped up and returned 12 yards for a touchdown.
Simier Wade also had a pair of TD runs for the Steelers. Sharon has won 35 “Steel Bowl” games, Farrell has won 28, and there have been seven ties — an outcome no longer possible under current overtime rules. The series dates back to 1922.
“We hope to make it eight straight on Saturday,” said Farrell head coach Amp Pegues. “They are a really good team. Really good defensively again as coach (Ed) Roberson is doing a good job as defensive coordinator and they are doing just enough offensively and playing good team football.
(head coach Jason) McElhaney does a good job with his team, so we have our hands full this weekend.” Farrell opened Region 1 play last Friday with a 58-0 blowout win over Mercer at the Pegues Sports Complex. Steelers’ QB Aaron Pegues was 16-of-18 for 282 yards and three touchdowns.
Juelz Johnson (shoulder injury) returned for Farrell after missing one game and rushed for only 18 yards, but scored a pair of touchdowns. Julius Phillips had three catches for 100 yards and tacked on three scores, which included a pair of punt returns for touchdowns. Sharon, which is ranked No.
8 in the state in Class 3A by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, is coming off a 20-14 win over Hickory. The Tigers’ Kare’mez Norris had a touchdown catch and returned a kickoff 84 yards for a score and Cassius Hosey pounced on a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown. Sharon QB Ethan Engelmore had 104 passing yards and Ike Friday rushed for 76 yards.
“We are excited to be able to make this thing work schedule-wise so we could continue this rivalry,” said McElhaney. “It’s a great opportunity for everyone involved — coaches, the kids, the community. There’s a lot of history and tradition there.
It’s nice to be in the spotlight again and the rivalry is historic. We are fired up about the opportunity to get out and play Farrell.” Coach Bill Dungee’s Region 4 Hornets head up I-79 on Saturday for a 1 p.
m. kickoff against Region 7 Erie at Veterans Stadium. Hickory, ranked 10th in the state in Class 3A, will try to bounce back from a 20-14 loss to Sharon at Hornet Stadium last Friday.
Jadon Phillips had a 33-yard TD catch for the Hornets and Kelvin Morrison rushed for 128 yards and a score. Zander Telesz threw for 113 yards and Phillips caught five passes for 86 yards. Erie, which has lost two straight games, dropped a tough 28-24 decision to McDowell last week.
The Trojans rushed for 246 yards and four touchdowns. For Erie, quarterback Paul Johnson threw a pair of TD passes to Markel Pope (76 and 31 yards), a touchdown toss to Tahjae Thomas, and had a 6-yard TD run. Erie cut the lead to 28-24 and recovered an onside kick, but were unable to put together a drive and a sack ended the game.
The Royals were penalized 15 times for 135 yards. FRIDAY Coach Paul Piccirilli’s Region 1 Blue Devils head to Troy-Alan Stadium in Slippery Rock to face the Region 4 Rockets. Sharpsville handed Reynolds its first loss of the season last weekend, 34-12, at McCracken Field.
Jaiden White had a 27-yard TD run and returned a kickoff 85 yards for a score, Geno Currie had a pair of TD runs, and Aiden Cadman threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Aiden Puskar. White finished the game with 18 carries for 138 yards and Currie rushed for 115 yards on 14 totes. Coach Larry Wendereusz’s Slippery Rock squad dropped a 42-7 decision to Grove City at Forker Field on Saturday.
The Rockets’ lone score was a 7-yard touchdown pass from Fred Campagna to Cooper Glass in the second quarter. Campagna was 14-of-20 for 115 yards. Popovec led the receivers with four catches for 56 yards.
Slippery Rock had only 8 rushing yards against the Eagles and 99 yards total. Last year, Sharpsville beat Slippery Rock, 23-6, in Week 4. White had two TD runs in that game.
Coach Blake Reddick’s Region 2 Sailors host Josh Mull’s Region 1 Raiders on Friday night. Lakeview is coming off a 28-13 Region 2 win against Maplewood while Reynolds fell at Sharpsville, 34-12. Lakeview broke some big runs last week against Maplewood.
Blake Skiles led the way for the Sailors as he rushed for 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns (50 and 10 yards). Leyton Zacherl rushed for 86 yards and a score (72 yards) and Gavin Schell had a 63-yard touchdown run. Zacherl finished the game with 86 rushing yards and was 6-of-10 for 77 yards.
Reynolds is looking to rebound from its first loss of the season. Xavier Zachrich scored both touchdowns for the Raiders against Sharpsville last Friday. His TD runs were 34 and five yards.
Zachrich and Gabe Minjarez both rushed for 102 yards. Lakeview rolled past the Raiders, 37-0, last year. Skiles had a touchdown catch from Zacherl in that game.
Jeff Lockard’s Region 1 Mustangs host Mike Menold’s Region 2 Trojans on Friday. Mercer won its season-opener at Franklin (8-7) on Aug. 24, but has since lost three straight games to Lakeview (12-0), Reynolds (32-31 in 3OT), and Farrell last week, 58-0.
Mercer had a tough time generating any offense last week against the Steelers. Parker Puskar rushed for 41 yards and QB Rider Chiappini threw one pass for 10 yards. Greenville rolled to a 62-0 win at Cochranton last Friday.
Justin Schell, Rudy Gentile, and Cael Thurber had two touchdowns each for the Trojans. Schell caught a pair of TD passes from Nick Solderich, Gentile had two rushing touchdowns, and Thurber reached the end zone on a run and an interception return. Solderich, Swayze Walker, and Zach Copeland added rushing touchdowns for Greenville.
Solderich was 5-of-7 for 120 yards, Gentile led the ground game with 81 yards on eight carries, and Schell hauled in two catches for 70 yards. Coach Sam Mowrey’s Region 4 Eagles host the Region 5 Bison at Forker Field on Friday night. Grove City is coming off a 42-7 win over Slippery Rock last Saturday.
Jaxyn Wilson had a monster game for the Eagles with 143 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Wilson reached the end zone on runs of 11, 7, 1, 29, and 12 yards. Clayton Martin also caught a 24-yard TD pass from Lucas McCreadie.
Grove City held a slim 14-7 lead at halftime, but outscored the Rockets 28-0 in the second half. Ft. LeBoeuf opened the season with a 41-27 loss to Meadville, but has won three straight games against Farrell (29-28), Corry (19-13), and North East (28-23).
The Steelers and Bulldogs are defending D-10 champions and Ft. LeBoeuf secured the win over Corry with a goal-line stand. Bison QB Dominic Walters had three touchdown runs and fired a 51-yard scoring strike to Xavier Blose.
LeBoeuf was outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter, but hung on for the win. Grove City beat LeBoeuf, 35-0, in the District 10 semifinals last season at Troy-Alan Stadium in Slippery Rock. Clayton Martin had a touchdown catch in that game.
Coach John Fox’s Region 1 Golden Eagles travel to Guys Mills on Friday for a clash with Region 2 Maplewood. With low numbers, KC has had a rough start to the season. The Golden Eagles opened with a 67-0 loss to Cambridge Springs, had Week 2 off, had to forfeit to Sharpsville in Week 3, and suffered a 58-0 loss to Wilmington on Saturday at Butala Stadium.
Taijeire Chambers led the Golden Eagles with 49 rushing yards against the Hounds.KC standout Rayvion Wilbon-Venable is eligible to play this weekend after having to sit out the first two games. He receved a supplemental ejection during the Golden Eagles’ final game last season.
KC dropped a tough 36-32 loss to Maplewood last season. Wilbon-Venable had a pair of rushing touchdowns and returned kick for a scores in that game. Coach Randy Clark’s Warriors host the Leopards on Friday in a Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier Division clash.
Brookfield picked up its first win of the season last Friday in its Grey Tier opener at Champion, 45-13. Rico Smith rushed for 241 yards and three touchdowns and Blake Hammond had 93 rushing yards and two scores. Warriors’ QB Josh Rankin also threw a touchdown pass to Christian Davis, who hauled in eight catches for 86 yards.
Liberty has suffered losses to Warren JFK (22-19), Girard (41-7), Cortland-Lakeview (19-6), and Crestview (44-14). Dawaun Moody had 76 rushing yards and caught three passes for 44 yards against Crestview last week. Tyson Lawrence-Watson threw for 111 yards and had a 66-yard TD toss to Juju Ferrell.
Brookfield beat Liberty, 41-39, in overtime last season. Smith had a pair of TD runs. The Hounds, which are ranked No.
9 in the state in Class 1A by the Patriot-News, are off this weekend. Wilmington, which beat Kennedy Catholic (58-0) on Saturday, are back in action on Sept. 27 when it visits Farrell.
The Hounds’ Freddie Zehetner, Jamie Miller, and Michael Mistretta had two touchdowns each against Kennedy Catholic. Some stats courtesy of Ryan Briggs, Herald sports correspondent, and the Erie Times-News. Visit for longer and more detailed previews of this weekend’s games.
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