JOHNSTOWN —
Greater Johnstown quarterback Gervon Simon didn’t look at home at the onset of Friday’s Ken Lantzy Finest 40 high school football all-star game at Trojan Stadium.
But after settling his nerves, Simon led the South squad’s offensive onslaught, scoring three times as the South routed the North, 44-6.
“It’s great to go out the way I did,” said Simon, who was playing his final game at his home stadium. “I was a little nervous at first and I wasn’t playing my best. But once I settled down, I picked it up and just started having fun.”
The South opened the scoring on a 1-yard run by Windber’s Colin Bryan at the 5:12 mark of the first quarter. The two-point conversion try failed, leaving the South ahead 6-0.
The North seemed to be in a great position at the start the second quarter after the South mishandled a punt snap, handing the North the ball on the South 24. However, on the second play of the ensuing drive, North quarterback Brad Hengst of Chestnut Ridge fumbled a snap right back to the South.
“Football games are a lot about momentum and we made too many mistakes,” said North head coach Ernie Fetzer of Penn Cambria. “We dropped seven passes, including two first downs and a touchdown early on. When you look at those little things and see them add up, it changes the game.”
The South showed its explosiveness on the first play of the following series when Rockwood’s Ben Miller lofted a perfect pass down the middle of the field to Bishop McCort’s Jerqual Wilson, who broke open behind the secondary. Wilson easily covered the 76 yards for the score, giving the South a 14-0 advantage with 14:04 remaining in the second quarter.
“Coaching these kinds of athletes is like playing a video game on your Xbox,” said South co-head coach Brandon Bailey of Richland. “We just tried to design plays that would get the ball into their hands in space and allow them to make plays.”
The North got back into the game when Anthony Unger of Forest Hills scored on an 8-yard run to cut the deficit to 14-6 at 9:37 of the second quarter.
However, the South scored four consecutive touchdowns to pull away.
Simon scored on runs of 4 and 2 yards in the second and third quarters, respectively. Miller followed up Simon’s runs with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Meyersdale’s Brandon Miller, giving the South a 36-6 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Simon added his final touchdown, and the final one of the game, on a 2-yard run with 5:31 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The North’s offense was inconsistent throughout the game and had trouble maintaining long drives. The South’s defense held the North to just 235 yards of total offense.
“Our kids are some really talented athletes,” Bailey said. “Coach (Stacy) Schmitt and the defensive staff had the kids ready to play. They held us in check all week in practice, which actually had me a little concerned about our offense coming into this game.”
High School Sports
Related Photos
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Windber’s Colin Bryan of the South scores a touchdown while being defended by Tussey Mountain’s Joshua White of the North. Todd Berkey
Discussion
South all-stars roll to easy Lantzy victory
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Shade softball thriving on Karl’s watch
Frank Karl coached the majority of the girls who comprise Shade High School’s softball team from the time they played T-ball and coach pitch.
Karl was there when the group, as elementary-school students, once rallied from an 18-run deficit to win a game, and he hoped to be there when the group reached the varsity level. -
MIKE KOVAK| Blending schedules a challenge for athletic directors
Bishop McCort basketball gets it. So does Greater Johnstown basketball.
Go ahead and count Somerset baseball among the mix. The same goes for Ligonier Valley softball and Northern Cambria volleyball.
What is it that these different programs from various locations within The Tribune-Democrat coverage area get exactly? -
CORY ISENBERG| Stakes rise as schedules shrink
There are fewer events on the daily high school sports schedules, but the stakes are going up for area athletes as the spring season heads into its final weeks.
In track and field, the three area conferences will hold their championship meets this week.
In Portage today, the WestPAC athletes will gather for their championships while the Laurel Highlands and Heritage meets will be on Tuesday at Somerset and United, respectively. -
Seven Conemaugh Township athletes make commitments
Dillon Boyer entered Thursday’s scholastic baseball action ranked fourth in the state with a .688 batting average.
Boyer will take those impressive numbers a few miles North on Route 219 when he continues his career at the next level. The Conemaugh Township senior will attend Pitt-Johnstown and play NCAA Division II baseball for coach Todd Williams. -
Four from Richland committed to UPJ
For Sabrina Wingard, the opportunity to play collegiate soccer with her sister, Savanna, was too great an opportunity to skip.
For Bobby Colvin, Curt Colvin and Ismail Ahmad, the idea of playing highly competitive soccer next to their high school campus made for an easy choice. - Local sports in brief 4/4/2013
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Subich, Dell recognized for football
Greater Johnstown High School senior Nick Subich earned the Joe Sarra Community Service Award and took a Scholar Athlete Award at the recent Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete Awards Banquet.
The Joseph D. Sarra Community Service Award is named for the long-time chapter board member and former Penn State assistant football coach. -
Trexler gets his 1,000th point in McCort victory
While much of the Northeast was belted by massive accumulations of snow, the Blizzard Nemo mostly spared the Johnstown area.
Another Nemo created a buzz on Osborne Street on Friday night, though the flurry of points had nothing to do with the winter weather. -
Chestnut Ridge advances in PIAA Class AA team championship
Chestnut Ridge coach Greg Lazor expected District 3 champ Boiling Springs to push his team to the limit in Friday’s PIAA Class AA team wrestling quarterfinals.
And up to the end, it was a close one: Three matches went to overtime and the Lions carried a lead when the weight classes turned to the low end, but the Bubblers won four straight to end the quarterfinal round a winner, 32-25. - Local sports in brief 2/9/2013
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