Stockley, Cambria Heights rise up to put away Homer-Center

Nov. 5—PATTON — Showing some rust after sitting out the past two and a half games with an ankle injury, Cambria Heights quarterback Ty Stockley threw a couple of interceptions that helped sixth-seeded Homer-Center hang with his third-seeded Highlanders going into the fourth quarter.

When the opportunity arose to atone, Stockley's ankle responded, and so did he.

Stockley's interception set up his own 1-yard touchdown plunge as Cambria Heights set up a rematch at archrival Northern Cambria with a 21-7 victory against Homer-Center in a District 6 Class 1A quarterfinal on Friday night.

"It was great to get out there with my family. It felt good to play with them. The team played great," Stockley said. "We were very disappointed last year being the top seed and getting beat at home. For the seniors, knowing there was a good chance this might be our last game at home, we wanted to go out with a win."

Coming off two losses in their past three games, the Highlanders (8-3), who scored on their first two possessions, rushed for 204 yards and held the Wildcats (5-6) to just 90 yards, beating Homer-Center for the second time this season.

"We wanted to get out of here with a win. We knew they were big, we knew they were strong, we knew they were physical. I'm proud of the way we responded," Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said.

"I'm happy with the way our offensive line played, especially early and our defense, which has struggled at times the last couple of weeks, played really well."

Tanner Trybus was the big beneficiary of the early effort up front and finished with 114 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. He also caught three passes for 48 yards and intercepted a pair of passes in the second half to help ice the win.

"All that was on our mind was winning this game and making history," Trybus said. "It all started with our offensive line. Everybody did their assignments. We had the best week of practice and we came in here ready."

Still, the Wildcats hung in and only were down seven when Stockley made the play of the game with 1:53 left in the third quarter, picking off Riley Clevenger and running it back to the Homer-Center 13.

Four running plays — three by Stockley — got the Highlanders on the doorstep, and then he finished off the short drive himself to make it a two-score margin.

"I had two interceptions of my own. Those were my fault — bad passes I shouldn't have even thrown. I knew I had to make up for it," Stockley said.

"We knew they were throwing hitches all night. I just got in my lane like Coach (Lewis) was teaching me to do and I was just in the right place at the right time."

Homer-Center got a first down on its ensuing possession before Cambria Heights sophomore Jaxxon Kline made back-to-back tackles in the Wildcat backfield, and an incomplete pass forced a punt.

"The defense stepped up and that helped us win the game," Kline said.

Cambria Heights outgained Homer-Center 205-41 in the first half and had 11 first downs to the Wildcats' one. However, the interceptions allowed the Wildcats to stay in it, only down 14-7 at the intermission.

"Sometimes the other team is a little bit better," Homer-Center coach Greg Page said. "The kids really, truly believed this week. We played them so much better than we did four weeks ago (in a 31-12 Cambria Heights win)."

The Highlanders set the tone on the very first series, when they went 62 yards on 14 plays before Trybus motioned in and took a direct snap 21 yards through the Wildcats to the end zone on a drive on which Cambria Heights even overcame two holding penalties.

The march exhausted the first 8:01 off the clock.

Cambria Heights only went 75 yards the next time it went the ball, Trybus covering the last 10 on a toss to the left that he cut back up inside. Trybus had 103 yards on 15 first-half carries and also caught two passes for 51 yards.

Homer-Center made the most of its limited opportunities when Michael Krejocic returned the first of his two first-half interceptions 59 yards inside the Highlanders 10. Landon Hill jogged in from the 6 on the very next snap.