Friday night Beaver County football highlights, WPIAL first round
No. 14 Rochester 36, No. 3 Greensburg Central Catholic 15 — Overlooked and playing with a serious chip on their shoulders entering the WPIAL Class 1A playoffs, the No. 14 Rochester Rams took some of that frustration out on the No. 3 Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions Friday night at Hempfield High School, picking up a convincing 36-15 win.
Rochester raced out to a 22-0 lead at the half and held a 28-0 lead after three quarters of play before closing out the win.
Against the Centurions, standout running back Antonio Laure led the charge for the Rams, rushing for 218 yards and three touchdowns in the win on 29 carries and added a 35-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Jayden Norman in the win. Laure scored on runs of 19, 2 and 4 yards, while fellow running back Dom Guido added a 5-yard touchdown run to open the scoring, finishing with 101 yards on 15 carries for the Rams.
As an offense, the Rams racked up 411 total yards, including 373 rushing yards.
With the win, the Rams advance to the second round of the WPIAL Class 1A playoffs, where they'll take on No. 6 Fort Cherry, which defeated No. 11 Monessen in a historic shootout, 56-42, in which the two teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards on the night.
Top Performances
Rochester
Antonio Laure, RB — 29 carries, 218 yards, four touchdowns; one touchdown reception
Dom Guido, RB — 15 carries, 101 yards, one touchdown
Greensburg Central Catholic
Ty Turner, QB — 9-of-19 passing, 132 yards, one touchdown, one interception
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No. 9 Clairton 45, No. 8 OLSH 19 — What was once a promising season came to a frustrating end Friday night at Moon Area High School for the No. 8 OLSH Chargers in a 45-19 loss to the No. 9 Clairton Bears in the first round of the WPIAL Class 1A playoffs.
OLSH trailed early and never quite found its game on either side of the football against the Bears. Struggling to stop the trio of quarterback Capone Jones, running back Drachir Jones and wide receiver Keith Wright, the OLSH defense allowed a season high in points in the playoff matchup.
Jones ripped off three long runs on the night, including a 69-yard touchdown in the winning effort, while Jones added a 43-yard rushing touchdown.
OLSH seemingly had life late in the first half after quarterback Nehemiah Azeem found Dereon Greer for a 63-yard touchdown before Greer made a touchdown-saving tackle on the final play of the first half at the 1 yard line, but things unraveled quickly in the second half as Clairton scored 27 second-half points.
OLSH running back JaVaughn Moore scored on a 41-yard touchdown run to cap off the scoring for the Chargers, who finish the first season under head coach Don Militzer at 8-3 overall.
Top Performances
Clairton
No stats provided
OLSH
No stats provided
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No. 7 Laurel Highlands 44, No. 10 West Allegheny 15 — Looking to get back on track after two straight losses to close the regular season, No. 10 West Allegheny couldn't quite find its footing in the first round against No. 7 Laurel Highlands, falling behind 27-0 in the first half on the way to an eventual 44-16 loss.
West Allegheny had trouble slowing down West Virginia commit and star Laurel Highlands quarterback Rodney Gallagher in the first half as he rushed for two touchdowns and added a touchdown pass, while Mustangs kicker Harry Radcliffe drilled field a pair of field goals from 27 and 37 yards.
Star West Allegheny sophomore Brock Cornell got West Allegheny on the board with a 45-yard rushing touchdown and the 2-point conversion, before Radcliffe answered with a 39-yard field goal, making it 30-8. West Allegheny cut it to a two-score lead on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Gage Upton to Nodin Tracy, along with another 2-point conversion, but the Mustangs took over defensively after that, returning two interceptions for touchdowns to seal the win.
Parker Hoff returned an interception 53 yards for the score before teammate Keondre DeShields returned an interception 102 yards for a score, sending the Mustangs into the second round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs, where they'll take on No. 2 Central Valley.
Top Performances
Laurel Highlands
Rodney Gallagher, QB — 8-of-16 passing, 73 yards, one touchdown; 18 carries, 97 yards, two touchdowns
West Allegheny
Brock Cornell, RB — 12 carries, 103 yards, one touchdown; two receptions, 43 yards
Nodin Tracy, RB — six carries, 16 yards; five receptions, 39 yards, one touchdown
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No. 7 Ligonier Valley 27, No. 10 Western Beaver 20 — A four-touchdown performance from Ligonier Valley running back Haden Sierocky and three key turnovers forced by the Rams led to a 27-20 win over the No. 10 Western Beaver Golden Beavers at Greensburg Salem High School Friday night in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs.
Western Beaver had a tough time slowing down No. 7 Ligonier Valley's potent rushing attack featuring Sierocky and Duncan Foust as Sierocky rushed for four touchdowns on the ground and 200 yards in the win.
The Golden Beavers showed signs of a possible upset late in the first half senior quarterback Xander LeFebrve found go-to receiver Dorrian McGhee — who opened the scoring with a 23-yard touchdown catch – for 46 yards in the final seconds, setting up a 2-yard rushing touchdown from the senior signal caller to tie the game at 13-13 at the half.
Turnovers and penalties, along with the loss of star running back Tyson Florence to injury, did in the Golden Beavers on the night, though LeFebvre and Western Beaver never gave up the fight. A 46-yard completion to receiver Mikey Crawford set up a 20-yard touchdown pass to Debo Moye from LeFebvre, but the Golden Beavers couldn't stop Sierocky, Foust and the Ligonier Valley rushing attack as the Rams closed out the win — the program's first-ever playoff win — advancing to the second round where they'll take on No. 2 Beaver Falls next Friday on Reeves Field at Geneva College.
Top Performances
Ligonier Valley
Haden Sierocky, RB — 25 carries, 200 yards, four touchdowns
Western Beaver
Xander LeFebvre, QB — 7-for-20 passing, 147 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions
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Class 4A
No. 4 Armstrong 39, No. 13 Blackhawk 7
Class 3A
No. 7 Beaver Area 17, No. 10 Deer Lakes 3
Class 2A
No. 3 Sto-Rox 29, No. 14 Riverside 0
Class 1A
No. 5 South Side 34, No. 12 California 3
Contact Joshua Carney at jcarney@gannett.com or 724-681-9136. Follow Joshua on Twitter: @ByJoshCarney
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Friday night Beaver County football highlights, WPIAL first round
