Western Beaver rolls past Shenango
Shenango (24) vs. Western Beaver (46)
Written: Sep 26, 2011
By Dan Irwin
New Castle News
Ryan Mayo emphasizes to his players that “we rise, we fall, we stand together.”
So when Shenango High suffered a 46-24 Big Seven Conference shellacking Saturday at the hands of Western Beaver, he wasn’t about to blame it on the loss of two suspended starters.
Those were sophomore quarterback Tynen Greer and placekicker/punter Ronald Davis, who are facing school discipline for unspecified reasons, according to principal Joe McCormick. Mayo expects them to be unavailable “for the foreseeable future.”
“No excuses,” the Wildcats’ head coach said of the Homecoming loss. “It was tough on short notice. We didn’t get a whole lot of reps, practice-wise, the way we had to play. But those two guys don’t play defense. And our defense didn’t play well, so it should have no effect on them.
“Offensively, we were a little bit limited in what we could do, but end of the day, whenever you’re not moving the ball, it’s because you’re not staying on blocks, you’re not executing the way you need to.”
Western Beaver (2-0 conference, 2-2 overall) built a 46-8 lead to launch the mercy rule with 4:23 left in the third period. Senior Dustin Creel exploded for 144 yards on seven carries, including touchdown runs of 46 and 22 yards. Quarterback Eric Blinn added 85 yards on nine carries, scoring once from 45 yards out. He and Creel also hooked up on a 13-yard TD pass.
“That was the biggest difference,” Mayo said. “Once those two guys got in space, we had a hard time bringing them down. You’ve got to be able to bring people down on the second level and we weren’t able to do that.
“Defensively, we started five sophomores tonight. Obviously, that youth probably has an affect. I didn’t think it would have this kind of affect. End of the day, they have two senior studs, and it showed.”
The Golden Beavers also got 92 yards rushing from Zach Perry, including scoring romps of 56 and 26 yards. But head coach Matt Gray seemed most pleased with his defense. Take away Joe Seaburn’s 57-yard burst that set up quarterback Anthony Prestopone’s 5-yard TD run two plays later, and Western Beaver limited Shenango to just 70 yards total offense and two first downs while building a 38-8 halftime lead.
“We executed very well offensively,” Gray said. “I didn’t know coming in if we were going to be able to stop them defensively. They’re so big up front compared to us.
“The past couple of years we’ve played them they’ve been able to move the ball consistently against us. This year, we stopped them pretty much the whole game.”
One bright spot for Shenango was Seaburn, who rushed for 116 yards on seven carries. Prestopine carried nine times for 79 yards and two TDs.
The lopsided outcome was a marked change from the two teams’ last couple of meetings, which they split by a total of six points. But, Mayo said, Saturday’s loss and last year’s 26-21 defeat had one thing in common.
“They both hurt,” he said. “The close ones hurt and this one certainly hurts.”
Shenango returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it travels to Rochester for a conference clash. The Rams (1-1, 3-1) are coached by Shenango graduate Gene Matsook.
(Email: d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com)
*****
W. BEAVER SHENANGO
14 First downs 8
373 Yards Rushing 341
9 Yards Lost 9
364 Net Rushing 332
5 Passes Attempted 5
3 Passes Completed 1
0 Passes Intercepted 1
59 Yards Passing 12
423 Total Yards 344
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
3-37.7 Punts-Average 3-33
8-64 Penalties-Yards 8-75
W. BEAVER 14 24 8 0 — 46
SHENANGO 8 0 8 8 — 24
Scoring plays
WESTERN BEAVER — Dustin Creel, 46-yard run (Creel run).
WESTERN BEAVER — Creel, 13-yard pass from Eric Blinn (Pass failed).
SHENANGO — Anthony Prestopine, 5-yard run (Joe Seaburn run).
WESTERN BEAVER — Creel, 22-yard run (Cody Boyde pass from Blinn).
WESTERN BEAVER — Zach Perry, 56-yard run (Perry run).
WESTERN BEAVER — Perry, 26-yard run (Creel pass from Blinn).
WESTERN BEAVER — Blinn, 45-yard run (Dan D’Angelo run).
SHENANGO — Prestopine, 56-yard run (Tyler Welsh run).
SHENANGO — Kirk Heath, 1-yard run (Sam Sibeto run).
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