McGuffey outlasts Derry, awaits rematch with Wash High
CLAYSVILLE – The rematch is set.
McGuffey High School’s football team got its rematch against Washington after both teams won its first round games in the WPIAL Class 2A payoffs.
McGuffey outlasted a determined Derry team, 25-13, and Washington crushed Ellwood City.
Last week, Washington came away with a 13-7 victory over the Highlanders to grab the top seed out of the Century Conference.
“Our opponent is nearby and we’re very excited,” said McGuffey head coach Ed Dalton. “Obviously, we thought there was a possibility because of the way the bracket was set up last year. They are a little historical in that they like to pair up conferences and ours did pretty good last year.”
But Dalton was diplomatic in choosing his words about Wash High. There was no use of the letter “W” when describing the Prexies. No reason to give chalk board material so early in the week.
“We’ll play whoever it is,” Dalton said. “Obviously, it’s a short bus ride wherever we go. So let’s play.”
The win over Derry got to be somewhat of a chore after taking a 25-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. Two touchdowns by Derry’s Ahmad Ward was the only scoring in the second half.
“You don’t win too many games when you allow big plays,” Dalton said. “I think we had 29 or 30 more plays than them. We held their top rusher (Ward) to not a lot of yards rushing. So we have to look at it and make some adjustments.”
Derry head coach Mike Arone once played against a Dalton-coached team when he was in high school. Derry went winless the past two seasons and made the playoffs this year.
“I was real proud of our team the way we played in the second half,” said Arone. “I just wished we could have put that effort up in the first half. We made some adjustments and hit a couple big plays. But we spotted them too many points in the first half to come back at them.”
McGuffey was dominant in the first half, taking a 25-0 lead.
The Highlanders scored on four of their first half possessions. Ryan Keith got it started by hauling in a 14-yard pass from quarterback Connor Crowe. The touchdown capped a 7-play, 64-yard drive. Dylan Stewart kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
Dylan Droboj made it 14-0 when he busted over from the one-yard line. The drive covered 68 yards.
McGuffey had its onle drive stopped on the next possession. The Highlanders drove to the Derry 3-yard line. That was where crowe was intercepted in the end zone and returned to the 13-yard line.
Crowe made up for the mistake when he stepped in front of a Mason Beeman pass and returned the interception to the Derry 15. On the next play, Crowe hit Lincoln Johnson with a 15-yard touchdown pass. When the snap was botched for the extra point, Crowe four Brennen Mullins for the two-point conversion pass.
McGuffey’s final points of the half came after Keith intercepted a Beeman pass and returned it to the 9-yard line with seven seconds remaining. Stewart made a 25-yard field goal to make it 25-0.