Zuzak goes for 439 yards, 7 TDs as California sets up showdown
CALIFORNIA — California running back Jaeden Zuzak had a season in the first half Friday night against Jefferson-Morgan.
A 5-10, 206-pound senior, Zuzak rushed 11 times for 314 yards and scored six touchdowns.
Then, they started the second half.
And Zuzak added one more long touchdown run in the third quarter as he finished with 439 yards and seven touchdowns, leading undefeated California to a 65-22 victory in the Class A Tr-County South Conference.
Zuzak scored on runs of 63, 72, 43, 94, one and four yards in the first half and tacked on a 42-yarder in the third quarter before calling it a night.
The win improves California to 4-0 in the conference and 4-0 overall. It also sets up a showdown for first place in the Tri-County South next Saturday night at Carmichaels (5-0, 5-0). The Mikes received a forfeit Friday when Monessen could not field enough healthy players.
It didn’t take long for Zuzak to make an impact on the California contest as the bolted 63 yards up the middle on the game’s first offensive play, giving the Trojans a 6-0 lead.
Jefferson-Morgan (2-3, 2-3), which had its two-game winning streak snapped, took the enusing kickoff and Kevin Teagarden returned it all the way to the California 25, setting up Jonathan Wolfe’s 17-yard run that tied the score at 6-6.
It all was California from there as the Trojans reeled off 40 unanswered points. Zuzak ripped off two more TD runs in the first quarter to make it 18-6. Then, after J-M turned the ball over on downs at the California six, Zuzak bolted 94 yards for his fourth TD. Zuzak added two more TD runs around Damani Stafford’s 53-yard scoring jaunt.
J-M’s Colt Fowler threw a touchdown pass to Owen Maddich and the two hooked up on a two-point conversion in the final minute of the first half, which ended with California leading 46-14. Fowler scampered 10 yards for a TD in the third quarter, but California’s Ethan Fike crossed the goal line on a one-yard plunge and Zuzak scored his seventh TD to make it 59-22.
Spencer Petrucci capped the scoring with a five-yard run in the fourth quarter. Petrucci had set up the scoring drive by intercepting a J-M pass. The Trojans’ defense picked off three passes.