Game of the Week: Cougars explode in second half to down Mohawk, 42-13
Ed Thompson
Charleroi无毛视频檚 Hunter Perry sprints down the sideline for a 64-yard touchdown against Mohawk after catching a pass from Geno Pellegrini during the third quarter of Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal game at Moon High School无毛视频檚 Tiger Stadium. The score put the Cougars ahead, 14-13, and they went on to a 42-13 victory.
Ed Thompson
Charleroi quarterback Geno Pellegrini scores on a 9-yard touchdown run against Mohawk early in the second quarter of last Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal game at Moon High School无毛视频檚 Tiger Stadium. Pellegrini threw for 167 yards and one touchdown and ran for 70 yards and two more scores in the Cougars无毛视频� 42-13 win. Charleroi plays South Side Beaver in the semifinals today at Canon-McMillan High School无毛视频檚 Big Mac Stadium in Canonsburg.
Ed Thompson
Charleroi无毛视频檚 Marty Foster (76) sacks Mohawk quarterback Nick Wheeler for an 8-yard loss in the third quarter during Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal game at Moon High School无毛视频檚 Tiger Stadium. The Cougars sacked Wheeler twice and intercepted him twice in rolling to a 42-13 victory.
Ed Thompson
Charleroi无毛视频檚 Hunter Perry (23) puts a juke on Mohawk无毛视频檚 Brian Cline (20) while picking up some of his 107 rushing yards during Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal game at Moon High School无毛视频檚 Tiger Stadium. Perry scored four touchdowns in the 42-13 win to move into second place in the 无毛视频-Standard Touchdown Club standings with 124 points.
CORAOPOLIS 无毛视频� Lance Getsy wanted to find out what kind of team he was taking over when he began his first football training camp with Charleroi this season.
无毛视频淚 really pushed them hard in camp,无毛视频� Getsy said. 无毛视频淚 wanted to see what they were made of.无毛视频�
They showed that on Friday night.
The Cougars rebounded from a 13-7 halftime deficit by reeling off 35 consecutive points in the final two quarters in exploding to a 42-13 victory over Mohawk in a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal playoff game at Moon High School无毛视频檚 Tiger Stadium.
Hunter Perry, switching from his usual H-back position to the running back spot after 1,000-yard rusher Brayden Mahalcin was unable to play due to injury, scored four of Charleroi无毛视频檚 five second-half touchdowns.
无毛视频淏rayden went down so I had to step up,无毛视频� Perry said.
Perry rushed for 107 yards on 23 carries and had two receptions for 74 yards to help the fourth-seeded Cougars (10-1) advance to next week无毛视频檚 semifinals against South Side Beaver, which upset top-seeded Shady Side Academy, 32-16.聽
无毛视频淭hese kids deserve it,无毛视频滸etsy said. 无毛视频淭hey work so hard for us.
无毛视频淲e challenged them from day one. I really wanted to test them. I made them wake up and be there by 6 a.m., we stayed till 8:30-9 at night. I wanted to put them in some adversity and see how they reacted.
无毛视频淎nd that helped prepare them for this time of year.无毛视频�
Perry faced adversity on Charleroi无毛视频檚 first possession. After Dom Pellegrini recovered a Mohawk fumble at the Warriors 35 the Cougars seemed poised to strike first, but Perry fumbled on the Mohawk 11 with Hunter Faulk recovering.
Perry quickly put the miscue behind him.
无毛视频淚 knew it was a mistake,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淭he hand-off hit my leg and kind of bounced off. I didn无毛视频檛 think of it as anyone无毛视频檚 fault.无毛视频�
Charleroi finally broke through early in the second quarter, taking advantage of a short field after Brian Cline无毛视频檚 26-yard punt was returned eight yards by Legend Davis to the Mohawk 35.
Perry无毛视频檚 16-yard run set up Geno Pellegrini无毛视频檚 nine-yard touchdown scamper through the middle of the Warriors defense. Joe Caruso无毛视频檚 first of six extra-point kicks made it 7-0.
Mohawk answered quickly. Nick Wheeler found Dmitry Pendro open deep down the right sideline for a 65-yard gain on third and 18 to the Cougars 16. Braydon Cameron covered that in two runs, the second from five yards out for the score. Dylan Lloyd无毛视频檚 extra point was wide, leaving the fifth-seeded Warriors (9-3) down 7-6 with 8:44 left in the half.
Cameron wound up with 104 rushing yards on 22 attempts and one reception for 15 yards.
Mohawk marched 48 yards in seven plays to take the lead, 13-7, with 3:14 left in the second quarter on Wheeler无毛视频檚 13-yard touchdown run, and it carried that advantage into halftime.
Getsy had a simple and familiar message for his team in the locker room.聽
无毛视频淚 told them to play our game,无毛视频� Getsy said. 无毛视频淚 thought they out-hit us and out-tackled us in the first half and in the second half I thought those roles were reversed.无毛视频�
无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 always saying, 无毛视频極ut-hit, out-tackle, that无毛视频檚 the team that wins,'无毛视频� Perry said of his coach.
The Cougars took the lead for good, 14-13, on the third play of the third quarter when Geno Pellegrini hit Perry with a short pass and the fleet-footed senior race down the left sideline for a 64-yard touchdown.
无毛视频淲e came out in trips left and it was a swing pass,无毛视频� Perry said. 无毛视频淭hey sent a couple blitzers so Geno checked down to me, and I knew all the flow was going to go left so I cut in a bit and then right up the seam. It was wide open.无毛视频�
Charleroi struck again with a two-play drive on its next possession as Perry pulled in a 10-yard pass from Pellegrini then ran 22 yards for a touchdown for a 21-13 lead.
Pellegrini made it a two-score game when he danced into the end zone for a five-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter after faking a pass for a 28-13 advantage.
无毛视频淲e work on that and Geno is great with that,无毛视频� Getsy said of the pump-and-run score. 无毛视频淵ou无毛视频檝e got to worry about the pass with him. It all depends on what the defense is giving us and that was open.无毛视频�
Pellegrini, who connected on just two of nine passes for 28 yards in the first half, ended the game 7 of 16 for 167 yards and one TD. He also ran 12 times for 70 yards and two scores.
无毛视频淕eno无毛视频檚 a fighter,无毛视频� Getsy said. 无毛视频淚 have no worries when he misses a couple passes.无毛视频�
Charleroi无毛视频檚 Dakota Romantino pulled in four receptions for 62 yards and Davis had one catch for 31 yards.
Perry added a one-yard touchdown plunge with 9:31 left and capped the game无毛视频檚 scoring with a six-yard TD run with 1:31 remaining.
Perry无毛视频檚 stellar performance didn无毛视频檛 surprise Getsy.
无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 just an unselfish football player,无毛视频� Getsy said. 无毛视频淲hatever role we asked him to play, he did. As an H(-back) he blocked and he无毛视频檚 a great receiver. I knew what kind of running back he was.
无毛视频淗aving all these weapons, trying to get everybody the ball isn无毛视频檛 always the easiest thing, but I knew whoever无毛视频檚 number we called was going to step up and play big for us.无毛视频�
Charleroi dominated the game in all three phases, especially in the second half.
Whether it was Pellegrini punting out of the shotgun on fourth down and pinning Mohawk inside its own 10, as he did twice, or getting solid kick returns from Davis or minimizing the Warriors无毛视频� return game, the Cougars shined on special teams.聽
Defensively, Charleroi forced four turnovers, including three on Mohawk无毛视频檚 first three possessions of the fourth quarter with a fumble recovery by Colton Linn and interceptions by Dom Pellegrini and Romantino.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 very proud of the defense, special teams and the offense,无毛视频� Getsy said. 无毛视频淭o come out in the second half and get all the turnovers they got and give us great field position, that was huge. I was very confident in the game plan we had defensively.无毛视频�
Wheeler completed just 5 of 19 passes for 140 yards and was sacked twice. He misfired on his final seven passes with five incompletions and the two interceptions. Pendro had two catches for 113 yards.
The Cougars were clearly the more disciplined team as they were hit with four penalties for 40 yards while the Warriors were flagged 11 times for 83 yards, including five pre-snap penalties on offense.
Mohawk hadn无毛视频檛 given up 35 points in a game all season, let alone in one half.
Charleroi now has a combined record of 19-3 over the past two years.
Next Friday无毛视频檚 semifinal winners will advance to the WPIAL championship game at Robert Morris University无毛视频檚 Joe Walton Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 24 at noon.
WPIAL Football Sums
Class AA聽Quarterfinals
at Moon High School
Mohawk聽 聽 0-13-0-0 无毛视频� 13
Charleroi聽 0-7-14-21 无毛视频� 42
Second Quarter
C: Geno Pellegrini 9 run (Joe Caruso kick), 10:38
M: Braydon Cameron 5 run (kick failed), 8:44
M: Nick Wheeler 13 run (Dylan Lloyd kick), 3:14
Third Quarter
C: Hunter Perry 64 pass from Geno Pellegrini (Joe Caruso kick), 10:48
C: Hunter Perry 22 run (Joe Caruso kick), 7:33
Fourth Quarter
C: Geno Pellegrini 5 run (Joe Caruso kick), 11:14
C: Hunter Perry 1 run (Joe Caruso kick), 9:31
C: Hunter Perry 6 run (Joe Caruso kick), 1:31
Records: Mohawk (9-3), Charleroi (10-1)