BY MIKE MASTOVICH
Bishop McCort’s defense capitalized on nine turnovers and the Crushers running game accounted for 305 yards in a 40-21 victory over Johnstown on Friday night at Trojan Stadium.
Despite those telling statistical disadvantages, the Trojans used a strong second half to close within 12 points after trailing by 26 at halftime.
“In the first half we were outstanding defensively,” said Bishop McCort coach Ken Salem, whose 7-0 Crushers are ranked third in the state and at the top of the District 6-A.
“I thought the offense took advantage of the mistakes Johnstown made and that cushion was what kept us in the football game. We weren’t as crisp as we usually are running the football and that affected our overall offense. Our guys did a better job of moving the football in the second half but we weren’t able to punch it in and put the football game away.”
Early on, everything bounced McCort’s way. Johnstown (4-3) fumbled away its first two possessions deep in its own territory and the Crushers led 7-0 via Luke James’ 18-yard run and a Dane Domonkos extra point.
McCort defensive lineman Anthony Pioli fell on Johnstown’s next fumble in the end zone after Shane Rugg pressured quarterback John Siciliano. That made it 14-0 with 52 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Josh Seidel’s interception set up the Crushers at their own 48 early in the second quarter.
McCort chewed up 6:41 of clock while moving 52 yards in 11 plays, a drive Seidel capped with an 11-yard burst for a 20-0 lead at 5:12.
Two plays later, Domonkos intercepted a pass and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown to set a 26-0 score that stood at the half.
“You can’t turn the football over against good football teams,” Johnstown coach Kevin Marabito said.
“They’re kids. Those are things that happen in the game. If you take those away – which, naturally, you can’t – and that’s a different football game. Our kids came out in the second half and did what they had to do. That’s all you can ask of them. McCort’s a great football team. You can’t take anything away from them. We just made too many mistakes in the first half.”
Johnstown got the first break of the third quarter as Seidel fumbled the kickoff and Isaiah Haselrig recovered at the McCort 28. Jordan Jefferson’s 19-yard run and Oskar Almgren’s kick put Johnstown on the scoreboard.
McCort answered with a
70-yard drive on five running plays. Chaz Merriman’s 19-yard run made it 33-7.
“The kids were down at the half but they were positive. That (fumble recovery and touchdown) gave us a little bit of a spark,” Marabito said. “You’ve got to be able to go out and stop them on defense. They went back down and scored. That’s part of the game. I thought overall our defense played strong. We put them in some bad positions. They didn’t give up that many points but when we needed some stops we didn’t get them.”
On Johnstown’s ensuing drive Siciliano broke free around the right end for a 66-yard touchdown to close the gap to 33-14 through three quarters.
Johnstown’s LaQuinn Stephens-Howling returned an interception 91 yards with 3:42 left to pull his team within 33-21.
But the Crushers added a Domonkos 1-yard touchdown with 39 seconds remaining to set the final.
“Johnstown gave us a lot to work on. Defensively they had nine guys in the box and they were daring us to throw,” said Salem, whose team lost two interceptions and a fumble. “The passing game didn’t go our way tonight. We need to take from this game the lesson that we have to play for four quarters because Johnstown kept coming at us and kept making it a ballgame.”
McCort’s Seidel rushed for
129 yards on 20 carries and went over 1,000 for the season (1,042). James (71 yards), Merriman (66) and Domonkos (45) also had solid rushing nights as McCort averaged 6.1 yards a carry.
Siciliano gained 57 rushing yards, and Jefferson had 30. Johnstown ran for 97 yards and passed for 36.
“I’m proud of our kids. They played hard. That’s all you can ever ask,” Marabito said. “My hat is off to McCort. They did a great job. That’s a great staff that they have. We just have to bounce back. We go back to work Monday and try to get the job done next week.”
Johnstown travels to Bishop Guilfoyle in Week 8. McCort visits Central Cambria.
