GAME OF THE WEEK: Warriors overwhelm Vikings, 55-13
Lori C. Padilla
Elizabeth Forward quarterback Zach Benedek (16) picks up a first down before being tackled by Mount Pleasant无毛视频檚 Alex Kadylak (11) and Asher O无毛视频機onnor (1) during Friday night无毛视频檚 game at Mount Pleasant. Benedek rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown and threw for 104 yards and another score in the Warriors无毛视频� 55-13 victory.
Lori C. Padilla
Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 Nathan Sullivan brings down Mount Pleasant无毛视频檚 Hunter Tate (17) after a short gain during Friday night无毛视频檚 game at Mount Pleasant.
Lori C. Padilla
Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 Dontae Gilbert (3) temporarily wards off Mount Pleasant kicker Bradley Tait (9) on a second-quarter kickoff return during Friday night无毛视频檚 game at Mount Pleasant. Gilbert returned the kickoff 87 yards but Tait recovered to make the tackle from behind at the three-yard line.
MOUNT PLEASANT 无毛视频� Rather than drill his team extra hard after it suffered its first loss of the season last week, Elizabeth Forward coach Mike Collodi took a different approach.
He gave his Warriors a break in an attempt to have them recharged and ready to go for the stretch run.
That strategy worked wonders as the Warriors rolled past shorthanded Mount Pleasant, 55-13, in a Class AAA Big East game on Friday night.
Evan Lewis ran back the opening kickoff 88 yard for a touchdown and EF (6-1, 5-1) never looked back as it maintained a share of first place with Derry and North Catholic, which beat the Warriors 27-0 in Week Six.
Quarterback Zach Benedek led the way for Elizabeth Forward, rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown and passing for 104 yards and another score.
无毛视频淚 think our team really bounced back from that 27-0 loss,无毛视频� Benedek said. 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 hard on anyone. But we came back, put it in the rear view mirror.无毛视频�
Collodi was pleased with the way his players responded.
无毛视频淚 felt the team just needed to get away for 48 hours, get away from football, just be kids for a weekend,无毛视频� Collodi said. 无毛视频淭hen we refocused on Monday, had a great week of practice and obviously tonight it paid off.无毛视频�
The Warriors can clinch at least a share of their second consecutive conference crown with wins over Uniontown and Yough.
无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 our focus, to win out,无毛视频� Benedek said. 无毛视频淭ake one game at a time, don无毛视频檛 take anyone lightly and hopefully we无毛视频檒l end up with another conference title.无毛视频�
EF无毛视频檚 offense was back on track one week after being shutout and showed its versatility on its first two drives.
Up 7-0, the Warriors went 83 yards in 15 plays and took 6:08 off the clock with a methodical march capped by Benedek无毛视频檚 one-yard touchdown plunge to go up 14-0.
The next time it touched the ball, EF showed its explosiveness with a two-play drive as Benedek broke a 27-yard run, then hit Chase Whatton with a 40-yard touchdown pass. Andrew Smith, who converted on seven of eight extra-point kicks, made it 21-0.
After going three-and-out on their first two possessions, the Vikings (1-7, 1-5) got on the board on the final play of the opening quarter when Jake Johnson followed a 45-yard run with a four-yard touchdown burst to make it 21-6.
The Warriors无毛视频� special teams came up big again on the ensuing kickoff with Dontae Gilbert returning it 87 yards to the Mount Pleasant three-yard line, with kicker Bradley Tait saving the touchdown. Lewis scored three plays later for a 28-6 advantage.
Gilbert scored on a two-yard TD run with 2:17 left in the second quarter to put EF up 35-6, then Nathan Alberts intercepted Mount Pleasant quarterback Lucas Pieszak无毛视频檚 pass in the end zone with 16 seconds left to keep the halftime lead at 29.
The Warriors got third-quarter touchdown runs of one yard by Christopher Makosey and four yards by Nico Mrvos to build their advantage to 48-6.
Johnson scored his second touchdown for the Vikings on a 55-yard pass from Pieszak on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 48-13.
Johnson was a bright spot for Mount Pleasant with 49 yards rushing and five receptions for 118 yards, accounting for all but 21 of his teams 188 total yards.
Pieszak completed six of 15 passes for 128 yards.
EF无毛视频檚 Jacob Prah finished the game无毛视频檚 scoring with a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:23 left.
无毛视频淎ll three phases of the game went really well for us,无毛视频� Collodi said.
Whatton also had an interception for Elizabeth Forward.
EF had 403 total yards with 299 on the ground in a balanced running attack. Mrvos ran for 64 yards, Makosey added 54 yards, Lewis had 41 yards and Gilbert rushed for 33 yards.
Alberts had two receptions for 38 yards.
The Vikings, who have been ravaged by injuries this season with more than 20 players going down, lost a couple more players on Friday night.
无毛视频淲e would always count on depth at our key positions,无毛视频� MP coach Jason Fazekas said. 无毛视频淲e lost all that depth with all the injuries. It无毛视频檚 a good team over there. So it无毛视频檚 hard to match-up all the time.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e doing what we can and we无毛视频檙e not making excuses, but sometimes you无毛视频檙e playing kids that aren无毛视频檛 ready and kids that should be playing on Saturdays. We无毛视频檝e got to put them out there. We无毛视频檙e trying to manage it the best we can and try to be as competitive as we can.无毛视频�
The Warriors无毛视频� program has emerged as one of the area无毛视频檚 best under Collodi, who is in his fourth year as coach at EF, but he deflected praise to his players.
无毛视频淚 give all the credit to the kids,无毛视频� Collodi said. 无毛视频淲hen you have players like Zach Benedek and Nathan Homa and A.J. Ackerman, Nate Alberts, R.J. Buchina and a host of other kids, and even last year players like Gavin Martek and Tyler Ocilka, they helped change the culture. That无毛视频檚 what we had to do.
无毛视频淲hen you have kids that buy in to the offseason weight program and really become dedicated, good things happen.无毛视频�
Big East Conference (AAA)
Elizabeth Forward聽 21-14-13-7 无毛视频� 55
Mount Pleasant聽聽聽聽 6-0-0-7 无毛视频� 13
First Quarter
EF: Evan Lewis 88 kickoff return (Andrew Smith kick), 11:43
EF: Zach Benedek 1 run (Andrew Smith kick), 3:59
EF: Chase Whatton 40 pass from Zach Benedek (Andrew Smith kick), 0:54
MP: Jake Johnson 4 run (kick blocked), 0:00
Second Quarter
EF: Evan Lewis 1 run (Andrew Smith kick), 10:33
EF: Dontae Gilbert 2 run (Andrew Smith kick), 2:17
Third Quarter
EF: Chris Makosey 1 run (Andrew Smith kick), 11:21
EF: Nico Mrvos 4 run (kick failed), 2:30
Fourth Quarter
MP: Jake Johnson 55 pass from Lucas Pieszak (Bradley Tait kick), 11:34
EF: Jacob Prah 20 interception return (Andrew Smith kick), 1:23
Records: Elizabeth Forward (6-1, 5-1), Mount Pleasant (1-7, 1-5).