McKeesport catches Trinity by surprise
McKeesport coach Matt Miller wanted to finish it.
With his team leading 21-0 in the second quarter, McKeesport was kicking off.
Everybody at Hiller Field was either expecting a standard kickoff, or wasn’t paying attention enough to know what was going on.
Nobody expected an onside kick.
Everybody was surprised.
McKeesport went onside, recovered it, and proceeded to push its lead to 28-0.
Miller said he wanted to get a 35-point lead ASAP to put the Mercy Rule in affect.
“I wanted to get out of here,” Miller said. “It’s a long drive. You know, this isn’t a fun place to come to. It’s a pain to come down here, and the first chance I get to get 35 and get out of here is my goal. And they were leaving early, and we knew we wanted to try to get the ball and try to put more points on the board.”
McKeesport scored on the ensuing possession to make it 28-0, but Miller didn’t accomplish his goal of putting the 35-point mercy rule in affect.
Nonetheless, McKeesport improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Class 4A Big Seven Conference with a 35-7 win over Trinity (3-2, 1-1).
McKeesport scored its last touchdown with less than a minute left in the game on a seven-yard run by Kalaun Walker. Some in attendance might have noticed that Miller channeled Penn State coach James Franklin, who had his offense try and successfully score in the last minute of the team’s 38-15 Week 1 win over West Virginia.
“We had second and third-string guys in running our stuff” Miller said. “We hadn’t been running it well. So it wasn’t anything. We were just running our stuff and running the clock down.”
Trinity coach Dan Knause said he feels both the onside kick and late score are examples of “today’s football.”
“They scored a touchdown when they could have taken a knee,” he said. “It’s just how things are done now. I’m used to it, to be honest with you. That’s what people do now.”
Trinity turned the ball over four times, and Knause knows that’s no recipe for beating any team, let alone one of McKeesport’s caliber.
“You can’t have fumbles recovered for touchdowns, turnovers. We were our own worst enemy. We outgained them. At times, we were more physical then them. We just have to learn to win games like that. It starts with myself and our staff.”
Trinity had a chance to take the lead on the game’s first possession, driving near McKeesport’s red zone. But McKeesport’s Kemon Spell intercepted a halfback pass.
The Tigers then got to work, ending their first drive on an 8-yard QB keeper by Garrett Tarker. Trinity got the ball back and again drove near McKeesport territory. But quarterback Jonah Williamson fumbled, and there was Spell to run it in from 48 yards. McKeesport added on in the second quarter with Keith Spell running it in from a yard out. After making it 21-0, McKeesport ran an onside kick. Kemon Spell soon finished the drive with a 6-yard run.
For good measure, Spell added another pick early in the second half with Trinity driving near the McKeesport red zone.
Trinity finally scored more than midway through the third quarter on a short run by Williamson. But it proved to be too little, too late. Afourth-down sack of Williamson by McKeesport’s Ja’Vere Bray effectively put Trinity to bed.
Miller summed up the night as a tale of two halves.
“We played real well in the first half,” he said. “Then in the second half, we played real ugly. They (Trinity) made a lot of changes, did a great job defensively and caused come problems. We never really got our foot back on the gas.
For Knause, it’s onward and upward.
“We have great kids that work hard,” he said. “Just a frustrating night.”