High school football roundup:
Christian Clutter ran for three touchdowns and caught a TD pass Friday night as McGuffey clinched a Class 2A playoff berth with a 34-9 victory over Brownsville in the Interstate Conference.
McGuffey (5-0, 7-0) remained in first place in the conference set up a showdown next Friday at second-place Charleroi.
Clutter scored on a 55-yard touchdown run in the first quarter but a field goal pulled Brownsville (0-4, 0-7) to within 7-3 in the second half. Marshall Whipkey threw a 27-yard TD pass to C.J. Cole to give the Highlanders a 14-3 halftime lead.
The Highlanders broke the game open in the third quarter, when Clutter scored on runs of eight and four yards to make it 28-3. Clutter led the McGuffey rushing attack with 153 yards on 12 carries. McKinley Whipkey added 125 yards on 15 attempts as the Highlanders rushed for 381 yards.
Marshall Whipkey hooked up with Clutter for a five-yard scoring toss in the fourth quarter to make it 34-3.
Washington 65, Carmichaels 0
Washington scored on all six possessions in the first half on the way to a 65-0 victory over Carmichaels in a Class AA Interstate Conference game.
Wash High moves to 6-1 overall, 3-1 in the conference. Carmichaels fell to 0-6, including 0-4 in the conference.
Zack Swartz completed 8 of 15 passes for 145 yards and four touchdowns. Dylan Asbury rushed for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns and Dan Walker caught TD passes of 12 and 19 yards.
Also scoring for Wash High were Isaiah Walton, Zahmere Robinson, Ian McNaught, Micheal Allen and Tyrell Dunn.
Bentworth 42, Avella 15
Bentworth led 14-7 at halftime, then exploded to score 28 second-half points to secure a 42-15 triumph over Avella in Tri-County South Conference action.
Owen Petrisek rushed for 176 yards on 17 carries and added four touchdown runs of 5, 2, 35 and 28 for the Bearcats (3-2, 4-3).
Trent Cavanaugh also had a steady game on the ground for the visitors with 15 rushes for 142 yards and a pair of scoring runs (34, 51).
Owen English garnered a 66-yard touchdown run for the Eagles (0-4, 1-6) in the second quarter, and Noah Taylor went 8-for-22 through the air for 173 yards and a 35-yard scoring toss to Justin Dryer in the second half.
South Fayette 35, Knoch 14
Mike Trimbur and Jamie Diven combined for three touchdown passes as South Fayette emerged from a slow start to take a 35-14 victory over Knoch in a Class 4A Northwest Eight Conference game.
South Fayette moved to 6-1, 4-0 in the conference. Knoch fell to 2-5, 2-4 in the conference.
Trimbur and Diven connected from 16, 51 and 74 yards, all in the second quarter. Trimbur finished with 6 catches for 159 yards. Charley Rossi caught scoring pass of 21 and 9 yards from Diven, who completed 12 of 19 passes for 232 yards and the 5 TDs.
Knoch controlled the ball for 14 of the game’s first 16 minutes but missed two field goals.
Belle Vernon 54, Trinity 0
Belle Vernon, led by a dynamic rushing attack, was a 54-0 winner over Trinity in the Big Eight Conference.
Mason Pascoe led the offense with 111 yards on 16 carries and a 52-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for the Leopards (4-1, 5-1).
Larry Callaway had scoring runs of 2, 5 and 4 yards. Jared Hartman added three rushing touchdowns (2, 9, and 9 yards) and tossed a 22-yard TD pass to Nolan Labuda.
The loss drops Trinity to 1-5 in the conference and overall.
Monessen 46, Chartiers-Houston 12
Monessen stayed in the thick of the battle for first place in the Tri-County South Conference with a 46-12 victory over visiting Chartiers-Houston.
Monessen (4-1, 5-1) moved to within a half-game of first place by scoring 40 first-half points. Justin Towler ran for touchdowns of 11 and nine yards, Kobby Martin ran for 157 yards and one touchdown, and Isaiah beltram had 124 yards on the ground and 53-yard TD run.
C-H’s Tyler Blumen caught a 52-yard TD pass from Anthony lento in the third quarter, and the Bucs had a 94-yard fumble return for a score. The name of the player whyo had the return was not provided.
Monessen held C-H to minus-48 rushing yards.
Quaker Valley 46, Waynesburg 14
Defending state champion Quaker Valley scored 26 unanswered points and defeated Waynesburg, 46-14, in Tri-County West Conference play.
Trailing 20-0, Waynesburg (0-5, 1-6) garnered two quick scores to make things tight. Luke Robinson had a 5-yard scoring run, followed by a 60-yard sprint to the end zone by Caleb Shriver that cut Quaker valley’s lead to 20-14 in the second quarter.
Shriver finished with 25 carries for 186 yards.
The Quakers (3-2, 3-3) bounced back with a touchdown just before halftime and then collected 20 straight points in the final 24 minutes of action.
Ethan Moore accounted for five touchdowns, three on the ground and two through the air, and was 21 of 33 for 303.
Greensburg CC 43, Mapletown 6
Max Pisula passed for 184 yards and two touchdowns, ran for another score and Greensburg Central Catholic defeated visiting Mapletown 43-6 in a nonconference game.
GCC (5-2) led 35-0 at halftime and kept Mapletown (0-7) winless. The Maples scored in the fourth quarter on a 73-yard pass from lance Stevenson to Brandon Donley.
Pisula completed five of six passes, including a 37-yard TD to Ben Lacarte less than three minutes into the game. The duo hooked up for a 43-yard TD that made it 21-0.
LH 52, Ringgold 13
Ringgold had a 13-12 lead in the second quarter, but Laurel Highlands rolled away with the final 40 points for a 52-13 win in Big Eight Conference action.
Conner Basinger was the offensive catalyst for the Mustangs (1-3, 3-4) with six rushing touchdowns and a 10-yard halfback pass to Ryan Fike in the third quarter.
The Rams (0-4, 0-7) took an early 7-0 lead in the opening frame with a 36-yard touchdown run by Tyler Buzalka.
Ringgold took a 13-12 lead after a 12-yard TD pass to Michael Vasquez from Jacob Duncan.
In other games
Beth-Center, Fort Cherry and Jefferson-Morgan each lost a nonconference game on the road. B-C fell 37-20 at East Allegheny, Neshannock was a 40-14 winner over Fort Cherry and Riverview got its first win of the season by stopping J-M, 19-8. No game details were made available to the Observer-Reporter by presstime.