Nothing was going to stop Westmont Hilltop’s Mike Valcheff from scoring.
Not the weather.
Not even two would-be Greater Johnstown tacklers.
Valcheff hauled in a slant pass and bowled over a pair of Trojans on his way to the end zone in the Hilltoppers’ 6-0 Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference victory on a rainy Friday night at Trojan Stadium.
“You’ve got to give Westmont credit, I think they wanted it a little bit more than we did,” Trojans coach Kevin Marabito said.
Westmont senior quarterback Josh Swick, who was 10 of 20 passing for 152 yards, found Valcheff open across the middle and the 6-foot-3, 250-pound tight end did the rest, scoring from the 44 with 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter and handing Matt Glennon his first win as coach.
“We were just looking for someone to step up,” Glennon said. “We talked at halftime that one play was probably going to win the game. And Mike Valcheff is one of our guys that makes plays, and he came through for us.”
Valcheff deflected all the attention of scoring the game-winner to his teammates and his coaches.
“That’s not my touchdown, that’s my team’s touchdown,” Valcheff said. “That was a team effort.”
Westmont (1-2) tried to establish a running game, but it was the Hilltoppers’ size advantage at receiver that did in the Trojans (1-2). The Trojans held the Hilltoppers to 22 yards rushing.
“Earlier in the game we saw we had a mismatch on the outside with Mike (Valcheff) on a little cornerback and we took advantage of it,” said Glennon, who is the fourth coach in eight seasons at Westmont. “It drew the safety out a little bit, which opened the middle.”
Valcheff emphasized that it was a goal-line stand that was key to victory.
“That’s a whole different ballgame if they score there,” said Valcheff, who caught eight passes for 100 yards. “It was a big stand by us.”
Johnstown had first-and-goal at Westmont’s 5 at the end of the third quarter. Back-to-back 1-yard runs by Quadir Christian and Quatrell Rose’s 2-yard gain had the Trojans at the 1. But Westmont’s defensive front stuffed Christian (20 carries, 88 yards) for no gain on fourth-and-goal.
“We had all the confidence in the offensive line to push it in,” said Marabito, who is in his second season guiding the Trojans.
Johnstown had an earlier shot at points midway through the second quarter but senior Jon Maurizio missed a 30-yard field goal wide right.
Johnstown’s Daveon Simms blocked a Stephan Chessa 26-yard field goal with 2:08 left in the fourth quarter to keep the game scoreless.
Westmont has beaten Johnstown three of the past four games and leads the series 5-3, dating to 2001.
Johnstown travels to Richland next Friday for a LHAC Section II tilt while Westmont hosts Somerset on Sept. 20.
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Related Photos
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Westmont Hilltop’s Josh Swick looks for running room amid a sea of Greater Johnstown defenders on Friday night during the Hilltoppers’ 6-0 victory. John Rucosky
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Westmont's T.J. Keklak looks to avoid the pressure of Eric Salazar. John Rucosky
Discussion
Westmont TD the lone score in win over Johnstown
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