Laurel edges South Side Beaver in double overtime
Laurel (27) vs. South Side Beaver (21)
Written: Sep 13, 2008
  By DAN IRWIN
d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com
Tyler Forbes kept Laurel High in the game last night with his arm.
Ultimately, though, he won it with his feet.
The Spartans’ junior quarterback threw three touchdown passes to lead his team through four quarters and one overtime period against South Side Beaver. He then won it in a second extra period on a 10-yard run that lifted Laurel past teh Rams 27-21 in both teams’ WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference opener.
Forbes connected on 13 of 25 passes for 184 yards, including touchdown strikes of 31 and 9 yards to Jake Dando, and 10 yards to Eric Wallas. That was despite the fact that he spent much of the second half battling incessant South Side pressure.
“I thought Tyler did a nice job offensively for us, and so did our receivers,” Jerry Holzhauser said. “Our protection broke down a few times. They went from a zone to man coverage, and you’re going to get heat there.
“He (Forbes) knew it, and he took some shots, but he stood in there. He’s a competitor, that kid. He wants the ball, he knows what’s going on out there and he’s really matured as a football player.”
Laurel managed only 71 yards rushing, but Forbes and his receivers gave the Spartans (1-0, 1-2) all the offense they needed. Dando caught eight passes for 133 yards, and Wallas snared four for 50.
Wallas’ leaping grab of a deflected pass gave Laurel its first score in overtime. However, South Side (0-1, 2-1) evened things up on its fourth-down play when quarterback Ryan Scialabba found Craig Conti in the back corner of the end zone.
South Side started the second overtime period with the ball, but fumbled it away on third down.
One play later, Forbes faked a handoff and charged into the center of Laurel’s offensive line, finding nothing but rain-drenched grass between himself and the end zone on the other side.
“Everyone knew what they had to do, and everyone executed it perfectly,” Forbes said. “Everyone held their blocks. I ran right up behind the fullback — it was actually an option play — looked up field, no one was there, and I took it into the end zone.”
Defensively, Laurel gave up only one sustained scoring drive, on South Side’s opening possession of the game. The Rams converted an interception on Forbes’ initial pass attempt into a 58-yard, nine play drive capped by Scialabba’s 15-yard pass to Ricco Policastro.
South Side’s other score in regulation came on a breakaway 84-yard romp by Luke Shaffer, who finished with 131 yards on eight carries. Take away that one play, though, and the Spartans surrendered just 113 yards rushing the rest of the way.
“Our defense kept us in the game, and our offense scored when we needed to,” Holzhauser said. ‘There were things that occurred in the game, critical times (like fumbling the ball away at the Rams 17 and getting stopped on fourth-and-inches just inside the 18), but we kept our composure.
“I’m real proud of the way our kids played.”
South Side, rated No. 5 in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s WPIAL Class A rankings, was the third ranked opponent in as many weeks for Laurel. The Spartans were routed 41-0 by No. 2 Clairton, and dropped a 26-21 decision to fourth-ranked North Catholic. But Holzhauser believes the experience paid off last night.
“Those were tough, but we needed to play those two teams to find out what this Big Seven is all about,” he said.
With No. 1 Rochester and No. 3 Monaca still ahead on the conference schedule, the Spartans know they can’t relax.
“This is big, our first conference game,” Forbes said. “Now, we’ve got to build on this.”
SOUTH SIDE LAUREL
10 First downs 10
205 Yards Rushing 91
8 Yards Lost 20
197 Net Rushing 71
14 Passes Attempted 25
6 Passes Completed 13
0 Passes Intercepted 1
60 Yards Passing 184
257 Total Yards 255
3-3 Fumbles-Lost 3-1
4-35.3 Punts-Average 3-32.7
7-50 Penalties-Yards 7-50
SOUTH SIDE 7 0 7 0 7 0— 21
LAUREL 0 7 0 7 7 6— 27
Scoring plays
SOUTH SIDE — Ricco Policastro, 15-yard pass from Ryan Scialabba (Daniel Slaney kick).
LAUREL — Jake Dando, 31-yard pass from Tyler Forbes (Jonathan Johnson kick).
SOUTH SIDE — Luke Shaffer, 84-yard run (Slaney kick).
LAUREL — Dando, 9-yard pass from Forbes (Johnson kick).
LAUREL — Eric Wallas, 10-yard pass from Forbes (Johnson kick).
SOUTH SIDE — Craig Conti, 10-yard pass from Scialabba (Slaney kick).
LAUREL — Forbes, 10-yard run (No conversion attempted).
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