Laurel rolls over Burgettstown
Laurel (55) vs. Burgettstown (7)
Written: Nov 06, 2009
By DAN IRWIN
d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com
For Burgettstown, it was one and out.
That’s because most of the Blue Devils’ offensive series didn’t last much longer.
Laurel High simply manhandled Burgettstown on both sides of the ball last night, rolling to a 55-7 win in WPIAL Class A opening-round playoff action at Spartan Stadium.
Now, Laurel (9-1) advances to the quarterfinals, where it will meet Beth-Center (8-2), a 38-17 winner last night over Serra Catholic.
Beth-Center, by the way, lost to Burgettstown, 7-6, in Week 2 of the regular season.
The Blue Devils (4-6) obviously fared better that night than they did against Laurel. The Spartans’ defense allowed them just six first downs and 83 yards, with Burgettstown’s only score coming when the Spartans unloaded the bench for two series early in the second half. By that time, Laurel already had built a 42-0 advantage, invoking the mercy rule for the game’s final two quarters.
“The kids were real excited, they couldn’t wait to play the game,” said Laurel head coach Jerry Holzhauser, whose team rolled up 445 yards of total offense, including 360 on the ground. “I think we executed real well. I couldn’t ask for anything more.
“This was the last time these seniors will play on this field, and I think that meant a lot to them. They did a great job.”
Sophomore running back Dylan Jones headed a list of offensive stars with 167 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries.
“Our offensive line did a good job tonight,” Jones said. “The holes were wide open. Everyone ran the ball good, too.”
That included Dan Poremski, who had 48 yards and 2 TDs on nine carries, as well as quarterback Tyler Forbes, who rushed for 79 yards and a score on eight carries. Forbes also threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jake Dando, who returned a punt on Burgettstown’s ensuing possession 56 yards for a score.
Jones’ touchdowns came on runs of 11, 2 and 85 yards. He was a little surprised to get the last one after Laurel had opened the second half by sending in its reserves on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
“I thought the JV would stay in there, but they kept their first string in there, and we put ours back in,” Jones said.
But while the opportunity to carry the ball again may have surprised Jones, the result did not.
“That 26 quick trap always works for us.” he said. “It always does a good job for us.”
Holzhauser allowed his reserves to play two series to open the third quarter before reinserting his starters. Freshman running backs fumbled the ball away on each of those series, and the Blue Devils converted the first of those turnovers into their only score.
When Burgettstown recovered the second fumble at the Laurel 18, Holzhauser put an early end come to his starters’ early end, and the first team remained in the game until the finish.
“We gave them two series with our second units and we thought maybe we’d see that done by their side,” Holzhauser said. “We gave them an opportunity to bring their other kids in and they didn’t, and we didn’t want our young kids getting beat up out there. I mean, those were ninth graders going against 12th graders. We had to put our kids back in.
“I think he (Blue Devils head coach Matt Taylor) may have been a little upset by it, but all we did was run the ball. I called three plays the second half. That was it. If they’re upset about that, I apologize, but I was looking for their younger kids being on the field.”
BURGETTSTOWN LAUREL
6 First downs 21
29 Yards Rushing 364
12 Yards Lost 4
17 Net Rushing 360
23 Passes Attempted 4
7 Passes Completed 3
2 Passes Intercepted 0
66 Yards Passing 85
83 Total Yards 445
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-3
7-31.7 Punts-Average 0-0
3-25Penalties-Yards 5-37
BURGETTSTOWN 0 0 7 0 — 7
LAUREL 21 21 7 6 — 55
Scoring plays
LAUREL — Dylan Jones, 11-yard run (Jonathan Johnson kick).
LAUREL — Jones, 2-yard run (Johnston kick).
LAUREL — Tyler Forbes, 20-yard run (Johnson kick).
LAUREL — Dan Poremski, 6-yard run (Johnson kick).
LAUREL — Jake Dando, 28-yard pass from Forbes (Johnson kick).
LAUREL — Dando, 56-yard punt return (Johnson kick).
BURGETTSTOWN — Frank Hutchinson, 12-yard pass from Dylan Bongiorni (Andrew Todd kick).
LAUREL — Jones, 85-yard run (Johnson kick).
LAUREL — Poremski, 16-yard run (Kick failed).
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