Meadville beats the weather, University Prep 40-12

Nov. 14—PITTSBURGH — The Meadville Bulldogs overcame a steady rain on a cold Saturday afternoon 93 miles from home at Pittsburgh's Cupples Stadium.

Despite the weather, the commute, playing on their opponents' home field and a speedy University Prep team, Meadville won the Class 4A sub-regional 40-12.

The game was closer than the final score indicated. Meadville only led 12-6 at halftime and didn't pull away until the fourth quarter.

"University Prep was in for a ball game and didn't want their season to end, but we didn't want our season to end either," Meadville head coach Ray Collins said. "There were times throughout (Saturday) where we bent a lot but we didn't break and I attribute that to the tenacity of our kids."

On the opening drive of the game, Meadville kept the ball on the ground and methodically worked down the field. Senior running back Brady Walker capped off the drive with a goal line dive play.

Meadville scored again early in the second quarter when Khalon Simmons dove for the pylon on a sweep. Rain impacted the extra-point unit as both attempts were no good.

University Prep answered with a touchdown drive of its own to cut into the lead and trail 12-6.

"The first half was tough. They came out and played like we knew they would. They were athletic, they were physical, they were fast off the ball and it was giving us some problems," Collins said. "It was everything we thought we'd get from them to start that game off."

Meadville went to its spread scheme but due to weather conditions it was not effective. University Prep secured an interception and was set up in Meadville territory.

The 'Dogs defense held strong on a fourth-and-three inside the red zone to takeover on downs and keep University Prep from tying the game. With less than two minutes remaining in the half, the Bulldogs drove the length of the field and had a shot to score but ran out of time. Meadville went into the break with a 12-6 lead.

"We were able to get into the half with a lead and we were able to settle them down, talk some things through and make some quick adjustments, not anything crazy," Collins said. "It was more ratcheting up our physicality and not panicking. That's what the kids did when we came out in the second half. They really did a heck of a job."

Out of the break, Walker scored from 10 yards out to put the Bulldogs up 18-6. On the next drive, a University Prep punt went off the side of punter's foot and did not get back to the line of scrimmage. Because the ball didn't reach the LOS, it was a live ball.

A University Prep player scooped the loose ball and ran about 60 yards for a touchdown.

"That was a crazy play. They punted the ball, it went straight up in the air and never cleared the line of scrimmage, live ball. I'll be honest with you, I don't think we've ever practiced against that and we got burned on it," Collins said. "Heads up on their part, they ran it 70-some yards for a touchdown and made us look silly — but here's the thing. We got refocused and that's all we could do at that point in time."

Following the bizarre play, Meadville's offense stuck to its bread and butter, the Wing T. The rushing attack was potent and the 'Dogs pulled away in the fourth quarter.

Walker finished with 202 rushing yards and three touchdowns while Simmons ran for 199 and two scores. Amarri Lewis ran for 65 yards.

"That's the beauty of having both those schemes. We went to the spread scheme on the third or fourth possession and the snaps were bad, we had no grip on the football and what we usually like to do out of that wasn't going to work," Collins said. "We were able to fall back on our ground and pound game in our Wing T set and it delivered."

Defensively, Meadville intercepted two passes. Brighton Anderson picked a pass off early in the second half and Nic Williams returned an interception for a touchdown with about five minutes left to play. Williams and Ty Tidball each recovered a fumble for the 'Dogs.

Penalties that have afflicted Meadville all season like false starts and offsides did not rear their ugly head on Saturday.

"That was an emphasis all week long to eliminate the penalties and clean up the sloppiness and the undisciplined stuff we were doing. I thought we really looked good today," Collins said. "We didn't have any offsides and no false starts, so that was good. With the weather the way it was, I was really happy the way we retained the ball and didn't have any turnovers except for the couple times we threw the ball. It was a nasty, cold, sloppy day and shame on me for getting greedy and wanting to throw the football."

With the win, Meadville advances to the first round of the state playoffs. The Bulldogs will play District 6 champion Juniata Saturday at Bald Eagle High School at 5 p.m.

The Bulldogs beat Juniata 34-27 in last year's state playoffs.

Alex Topor can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at atopor@meadvilletribune.com.