Burgettstown defense a treat against Carlynton’s tricks
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Burgettstown’s Cole Shergi picks up yards as Carlynton’s Brandon Jones pursues during Friday’s game.
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Burgettstown’s Shane Kemper holds on to the ball as Carlynton's Will McClendon (2) and Sam Bigham (4) go in for the tackle during Friday's Three River Conference game at Hill Memorial Stadium.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Burgettstown’s Cyle Conley bulls his way past Carlynton’s Kaydin Mulkerrin and Dallas Paolino during Friday’s game at Hill Memorial Stadium.
Burgettstown’s Jake Lounder tries to break the grasp of Carlynton's Pierce Greiner during Friday's game Three Rivers Conference game at Hill Memorial Stadium.
BURGETTSTOWN – Sometimes the toughest team to play can be the team with nothing to lose.
For Burgettstown, that team turned out to be the visiting Carlynton Cougars Friday night.
Carlynton pulled everything out of their playbook, attempting double reverses, double-reverse passes, passes back to the quarterback and more.
Despite trying to pull out every bit of trickery they could think of, the Cougars were still no match for the Blue Devils as Burgettstown stayed undefeated with a 42-7 Three Rivers Conference win at Hill Memorial Stadium.
“It was a convincing win, “said Burgettstown head coach Mark Druga. “They came out and threw everything at us and I’m glad they did. I thought they would try some different things. But we played well, and it was a big win. Carlynton is a good football team despite their record.”
The Blue Devils’ defense flexed its muscles on the game’s opening drive as Carlynton lost 18 yards on three plays. A punt gave Burgettstown (5-0, 6-0) great field position at the Cougars’ 43-yard line and Shane Kemper capped off an eight-play drive with a three-yard touchdown run.
Carlynton (0-4, 1-6) answered, though, capitalizing on a trick play as Will Richardson took a reverse and hit a wide-open Brandon Jones for a 60-yard gain down to the Burgettstown five-yard line.
Burgettstown pushed the Cougars back to the 23, but a facemask penalty on third down extended the drive and Carlynton tied the score at 7-7 on a five-yard touchdown pass from Maclaine Greiner to Christian Ray.
Penalties were a problem all night as Carlynton was flagged 14 times for 150 yards and Burgettstown had 10 penalties for 110 yards.
“It’s tough to get much momentum going when there are so many penalties,” Druga said. “We need to clean that up, but we are an aggressive defense and we fly to the football. You look at all the calls in the NFL now with the roughing the passer calls on Clay Matthews and such. Some of that is starting to trickle down to the high school game.”
While the first half was a sloppy one for both teams, the Blue Devils were able to make more plays.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Burgettstown’s Cole Shergi runs pasted Carlynton’s Christian Ray during a game at Burgettstown on Friday, October 5, 2018.
Cyle Conley hauled in a five-yard touchdown pass from Jake Lounder to give Burgettstown a 14-7 second-quarter lead. The Blue Devils then capitalized on a short field when Gage Monette punched it in from seven yards to give Burgettstown a 21-7 advantage that they carried into the half.
As they have all season, the Blue Devils leaned on their defense. Other than allowing one big play early, the unit was very difficult to move the ball against.
Cole Shergi intercepted a pair of passes for Burgettstown, Seth Phillis intercepted one and the Blue Devils also had had five sacks, two of which came from Conley.
“We played our brand of football,” Druga said. “We made big plays on defense and our defense gave our offense short fields all night. Penalties aside, it was an incredible defensive effort again.”
The Blue Devils put the game away early in the third quarter.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Burgettstown’s Cole Shergi picks up yards against Carlynton during a game at Burgettstown on Friday, October 5, 2018.
After a Shergi interception on the first drive of the second half, Lounder scored from 25-yards to make it 28-7. Lounder finished with 77 rushing yards on 10 carries.
“We don’t have the flashiest of offenses, but what we do have is a great offensive line and that was on display tonight,” said Druga. “We still have some tough teams to play, but I would put our offensive line up there against anyone in Double-A right now. They make it easy for us.”
Conley added another score when he punched it in from five yards to extend the Blue Devils’ lead to 35-7. It was a productive night for Conley on both sides of the ball as he caught a touchdown, ran for one and had two sacks.
Jackson LaRocka capped the Burgettstown scoring with a two-yard touchdown run.
“We’ve got a lot to clean up,” Druga said. “But we will get right to the film and get to work for next week.”