Spartans catch Beaver Falls at the wrong time
Laurel (7) vs. Beaver Falls (34)
Written: Sep 18, 2010
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
BEAVER FALLS — Perhaps Laurel fans can blame last night’s loss at Beaver Falls on the WPIAL schedule-maker.
The Spartans happened to play the Tigers the week after they lost at Aliquippa. Beaver Falls players were looking for some one to take out their frustrations on, and Laurel just happened to be the next opponent.
The result was a 34-7 Beaver Falls victory in a Midwestern Athletic Conference contest played at Geneva College’s Reeves Field. The Tigers scored 21 points in the second quarter and held a commanding 27-0 lead at the half.
“We played pretty good defense against Aliquippa, but we missed some tackles and had some penalties,” Beaver Falls coach Ryan Matsook said. “We were down 27-0 (to Aliquippa), and I think our guys were embarrassed by that.
“We preached to them all week that we had to get off to a good start, and they rose to the challenge.”
The fact that Laurel (1-2 overall, 0-2 in the MAC) was coming off a 38-26 nonconference victory against Jeannette helped to keep the Tigers’ attention focused on the Spartans.
“Jeannette’s a name program with a great tradition. Our players know that,” Matsook said.
It would have been hard for Beaver Falls (2-1, 2-1) to have a better start than the one it had against Laurel.
The Tigers took the opening kickoff and marched 60 yards in 12 plays with Trey Hall, who rushed for 111 yards in 16 carries, scoring on a 22-yard burst off the left side. The extra-point attempt was missed, but Beaver Falls was on top 6-0 at the 5:25 mark.
The Tigers’ defense then stuffed Laurel on three plays and forced a punt.
A personal foul penalty against the Spartans on the punt return gave Beaver Falls the ball at the Laurel 40. Twelve plays later, the Tigers were in the end zone. Mike Stevenson scored on a 1-yard blast over right guard at 10:03 of the second quarter.
Quarterback Weslley Nesmith, filling in for injured starter Carlin Henderson, then skirted right end for the two-point conversion and a 14-0 lead. Henderson was out with a sore shoulder.
At that point, Beaver Falls had run 24 plays to Laurel’s four and one of those for the Spartans was a punt. In the first quarter, Beaver Falls had 111 yards total offense to Laurel’s 1.
“I thought we were ready, but I don’t think we were ready for that kind of physical nature from Beaver Falls,” Laurel coach Jerry Holzhauser said.
It didn’t get much better for Laurel the rest of the first half.
Beaver Falls defensive back Austin Cleckley picked off a Brandon Ritchie pass and returned it 22 yards for the Tigers’ third touchdown. Beaver Falls put together an eight-play, 69-yard drive at the end of the half with Stevenson scoring from a yard out with 40.9 seconds left before the intermission.
That score was setup by a 22-yard gallop by Hall over right guard on a third-and-8 play.
Laurel played much better the second half. The Spartans took the third quarter kickoff and got a great return of 58 yards from Dylan Jones. They then drove 36 yards in 13 plays with Ritchie getting into the end zone from 2 yards out at 4:26 of the third.
Beaver Falls matched that score by going 47 yards on four plays. Damian Rawl had a 37-yard run that carried to the 3 and Hall scored a touchdown on the next play.
“They really took it to us up front. We couldn’t get the ball moving. We didn’t block people the first half at all,” Holzhauser said. “We were better the second half, but we can’t get behind like that.”
LAUREL BEAVER FALLS
8 First downs 11
120 Yards Rushing 210
12 Yards Lost 0
108 Net Rushing 210
3 Passes Attempted 12
0 Passes Completed 7
1 Passes Intercepted 0
0 Yards Passing 74
108 Total Yards 284
3-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
2-30.5 Punts-Average 1-38
3-37 Penalties-Yards 6-45
LAUREL 0 0 7 0 — 7
BEAVER FALLS 6 21 7 0 — 34
Scoring plays
BEAVER FALLS — Trey Hall, 22-yard run (kick failed).
BEAVER FALLS — Mike Stevenson, 1-yard run (Weslley Nesmith run).
BEAVER FALLS — Austin Cleckley, 22-yard interception return (kick failed).
BEAVER FALLS — Stevenson, 1-yard run (Evan Richards kick).
LAUREL — Brandon Ritchie, 2-yard run (Joseph Johnson kick).
BEAVER FALLS — Hall, 3-yard run (Richards kick).
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