CLAYSVILLE - Like many quarterbacks, McGuffey senior Matt Czulewicz can make the big play with his arm or his feet. Czulewicz, however, is far from the typical quarterback.
As the Highlanders punter, Czulewicz has mastered the high-arching punt, the type of kick that allows McGuffey's hard-hitting coverage unit to minimize return yards.
Granted, Czulewicz isn't the first quarterback to punt. At the high school level, it's quite common, but how many signalcallers line up in the trenches on the punt coverage team?
And even fewer make as big an impact on special teams as Czulewicz, who provided two key plays for McGuffey during its 20-7 victory over visiting Charleroi Friday night in a critical Class AA Interstate Conference game.
"Matt has a knack for special teams. It's something we noticed last year when he blocked a few extra points and field goals," McGuffey coach Derek Bochna said. "We've tried to expand on it this year. He knows if he sees something, he has the green light to go after it."
After Charleroi opened the third quarter with a 16-play, 80-yard drive to take a 7-6 lead, McGuffey failed to pick up a first down on its first series of the second half.
Czulewicz lined up to punt and remembered an earlier kick to Charleroi sophomore Kyle Shannon, who showed no fear in fielding a bouncing punt deep in Cougars territory with two defenders closing quickly.
"We tried punting away from him the first two times but after I saw that, I though our guys could make a play," Czulewicz said. "I knew we had good receivers going down."
Czulewicz lofted a punt inside the Charleroi 10-yard-line. It glanced off Shannon's fingertips and McGuffey's Colby Crowe recovered at the 8.
McGuffey (4-3, 4-3), without a yard in the third quarter before the punt, scored two plays later when Trenton Bedillion broke through a stack of Charleroi defenders for a six-yard touchdown that put the Highlanders ahead, 12-7, with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter.
"It's what we were just talking about. Every game we play good football but we make a couple mistakes that kill us," Charleroi coach Luke Mollis said. "We keep talking about what we can to do stop them but we've got to look at our numbers. It's a big part of that."
A lack of depth forces Charleroi (2-5, 2-5) to play underclassmen. One freshman, Quinten Briggs, is the cousin of former Cougars great Darrell Harding and Charleroi's feature back. He finished with 91 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, 13 of which came on Charleroi's lone scoring drive.
"They're a very good football team. They're just a couple players short of being a great football team," Bochna said. "The trouble for them is they have to play both ways the entire game. We're fortunate enough that we don't have to."
The Highlanders, who will make the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 1994 if they win their final two games, are also fortunate to have the special teams expertise of Czulewicz.
Early in the fourth quarter, he busted through the Charleroi line on a pun attempt, stuck his hand in the air and McGuffey ended up with the ball at the Cougars' 30.
"It wasn't even a punt block. I just got my hand up and I got lucky," said Czulewicz, who scored the game's first touchdown on a 1-yard run. "I've pretty much had one every game."
According to Bochna, Czulewicz has blocked a kick or punt in every game this year but one.
This one led to a 16-yard touchdown pass from Czulewicz to Jimmy Milligan for a 20-7 lead with 6:02 remaining.
"We brought it up before the game. It's been 14 years and this group wants to be the one to know how it feels to get us back into the playoffs," Bochna said. "We've had some good teams with some great players that just came up a little short. These guys have had their ups and downs here, but they're looking to finish strong."
Bits and pieces - Charleroi quarterback Andrew Sampson was 4 of 13 for 39 yards and three interceptions, two by Bedillion. ... Briggs accounted for 91 of Charleroi's 147 total yards. ... Tyler Kerns led McGuffey with 60 yards rushing, while Czulewicz completed 6 of 11 passes for 72 yards. ... The Highlanders' remaining games are at Waynesburg (Oct. 17) and at Washington (Oct. 24).