Perfection: Burgettstown completes undefeated regular season
BURGETTSTOWN – For the Blue Devils of Burgettstown High School and the Gladiators of South Allegheny, there were varying factors for wanting to win Friday night’s Class 2A Three Rivers Conference matchup.
Burgettstown sought to do something not done in school history since 1974 – maintain a perfect regular-season record. The Blue Devils had already clinched the conference title, so their playoff positioning was locked in.
Not so for South Allegheny, which entered the game sitting in fifth place. There were several scenarios that allowed the Gladiators to qualify for the postseason, but a victory over the undefeated Blue Devils would help immensely.
In the end, it was history being achieved as Burgettstown dominated the line of scrimmage, using its varied rushing attack to roll to a 39-6 victory at Hill Memorial Stadium and earn that perfect 9-0 regular-season record, the school’s first since consecutive 9-0 seasons in 1973 and 1974.
“Last year we crept into the playoffs,” said Burgettstown head coach Mark Druga. “We wanted momentum going in. On top of that, 1974 being the last time. We wanted that as well as that conference title.”
The Blue Devils (7-0, 9-0) wasted no time with most of their scoring drives. Four of their five first-half possessions, which all ended in touchdowns, took two plays or less. Some short starting field position at times helped matters, but Burgettstown showed a big-play capability throughout the contest.
Everyone got in on the act for Burgettstown, starting with Shane Kemper going 57 yards on the first play from scrimmage and then 11 yards for the game’s opening touchdown. Jake Lounder’s 1-yard scoring plunge doubled the lead to 12-0 late in the first quarter.
Ethan Brothers recovered a fumble to set up the Blue Devils inside South Allegheny (3-4, 4-6) territory. Cyle Conley’s 35-yard run set up Kemper’s second 11-yard touchdown run of the half.
Then it was Gage Monette’s turn. The senior running back raced 56 yards down the sideline midway through the second quarter, and the home side’s lead swelled to 26-0.
“We executed nicely tonight,” Druga said. “We’re a smashmouth football team, but we do have that ability to break things. Whenever those creases open up, our tailbacks know how to read that and they take off.”
The Gladiators got on the board with a nice 55-yard drive, breaking Burgettstown’s bid for its fifth shutout of the season, when Austin Matzak bounced to the outside and barreled into the end zone from 4 yards out with 50 seconds left in the half.
Any momentum South Allegheny might have gained was short-lived. Cole Shergi took the ensuing kickoff 86 yards to set up the Blue Devils with a first and goal at the 3, and Conley easily scored on the next play to give Burgettstown a 32-6 halftime lead.
“Cole Shergi has been a phenom as a sophomore this year,” said Druga.
“We weren’t happy with those six points. I’m not going to lie. We wanted that goose egg.”
The Shane Kemper show continued in the third quarter as he crossed the 100-yard rushing mark with runs of 24 yards and then his third touchdown of the game from 22 yards out. He finished with 130 yards on just six carries.
Together with the contributions of Conley (64 yards) and Monette (68) the Blue Devils ran for 268 yards.
Defensively, Burgettstown didn’t have much chance to feast on freshman starting quarterback Jett Jones, as the Gladiators stuck to the ground game, using the wildcat formation frequently. South Allegheny gained 163 yards of total offense, most coming in the first half.
“Our defense had to make adjustments at halftime because they were hitting us hard,” said Druga.
“Second half was a totally different football game.”