McGuffey finishes off Waynesburg
CLAYSVILLE – An nonconference loss to Linsly (W.Va.) last weekend left a sour taste in the mouth of the McGuffey Highlanders. Head coach Ed Dalton liked how his team responded in practice this week and it led to 55-22 win Friday night over Waynesburg in the Class 2A Century Conference.
“We played a pretty good team.” Dalton said. “But I feel if we can keep the right mentality with the challenging schedule that we have played, it will benefit us in the long run.”
That mentality helped McGuffey jumped out to a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter with two rushing touchdowns. The first came from junior fullback Eric Donnelly from two yards, and the second from senior running back Jeremiah Johnson for three yards.
“We came out of the gates just like we did last week,” Dalton said. “I think we played a little bit better defense this week. We needed to sure up some coverage issues but after they hit us with some things our secondary made some nice adjustments and played well.”
McGuffey’s dominance carried over to the second quarter when the Highlanders scored 21 points and again held Waynesburg scoreless. Senior running back Jeremiah Johnson got his second score of the night when he ran in from eight yards out.
“It felt really good to come out and have our offense clicking.” Johnson said. “It felt great seeing the team play so well.”
Johnson ended the night with two scores on six carries for 47 yards. Johnson was also able to contribute in the passing game, adding two catches for 38 yards.
“He had a really nice game tonight.” Dalton said about his senior running back. “He’s playing out of his natural position due to injuries, but he made some big runs for us.”
McGuffey’s fourth score came when junior quarterback Philip McCuen hit senior running back Christian Cipoletti on a 27-yard touchdown pass. McCuen was dynamic all night leading the Highlanders’ offense by racking up 58 yards through the air and 16 yards on two rushes, one of which was a two-yard touchdown.
“I credit my success to my team, my offensive line, my running backs and everyone running their routes and getting open.” McCuen said. “It’s just a beautiful thing when we come together.”
The Highlanders also mixed in freshman quarterback Logan Carlisle into the game and he had an eight-yard scamper to give McGuffey a 35-0 halftime lead.
“I always like to help him out when I can.” Mccuen said about Carlisle “I’m always giving him tips and he is always making plays.”
McGuffey (3-0, 4-3) will now look to stack wins when they travel next weekend to take on Chartiers-Houston in a Century Conference showdown, that has playoff seeding implications written all over it.
Waynesburg entered Friday’s game with some momentum after getting its first conference win last week over Fraizer. Raiders head coach Aaron Giorgi saw his team’s confidence growing throughout the week.
“That was a huge hurdle for this group of young men to get over.” Giorgi said before the game. “We’re going to use that momentum moving forward.”
Waynesburg (1-3, 2-5) struggled to get going offensively. The Raiders tallied three second-half touchdowns but it was too little too late. Running back Breydon Woods was a bright spot, rushing for 114 yards on 14 carries and one score.
The Raiders will have some time to rebuild after this loss. Because of a scheduling gap, Waynesburg’s next game won’t be until Oct. 22nd when they host Chartiers-Houston.