BY RYAN GEORGE
JOHNSTOWN — Richland made school history Saturday night, walloping Huntingdon 52-21 at Herlinger Field in District 6-AA quarterfinal football playoff action.
The win marks the Rams first playoff win since 1986 in their first home playoff game.
“What tonight’s game means to us is we get to play for another week,” Richland head coach Brandon Bailey said.
The Rams will now meet unbeaten and top-seeded Forest Hills in a D-6 semifinal.
Despite the 52-point effort, the Rams defense shouldn’t be overlooked. Huntingdon got two of its three scores on special teams.
“I think, most importantly, our defense only gave up seven points,” Bailey said. “That can get lost in the mix.”
Rams quarterback Gino Ramires mixed a series of runs with completions on an 84-yard scoring drive that ended with a 13-yard power run by Jordan Cinko, who complemented his touchdown with the 2-point run.
In the second quarter, Richland slowly and methodically marched down the field, draining the clock and Bearcat defense along with it.
Ramires again mixed a series of quarterback keepers and completions downfield to Rozich.
Cinko ran through Huntingdon tacklers down the near sideline for a 17-yard run, setting up John Rizzo’s 2-yard touchdown plunge.
John George added the extra point and Richland led 15-0 for the moment.
On the ensuing kickoff, Nathan Mykut dashed 94 yards for the first of two special-teams touchdowns. Hallahan kicked the extra point and Richland’s lead was cut to eight with 1:42 left in the half.
The Rams, however, seemed unfazed by Mykut’s athleticism. The Rams again mounted a clock-eating drive to score with just 2.6 ticks before half. Ramires went to the sure-handed Sylvia for a 10-yard TD toss just as the Ram faithful sat and voiced their hopes for a field goal attempt. Richland failed to add the point, going into the half up 21-7.
In the opening moments of the third quarter, Huntingdon quarterback Nathan Butts hit Sean Houck in the middle of the Richland secondary to the Ram 44. Houck was stripped of the ball by Craig Harris. Immediately, Richland connected on a 39-yard pass play from Adam Ludwig to Sylvia. Moments later, Cinko scored from 10 yards out and George added the extra point for the 28-7 lead.
Huntingdon’s lone offensive touchdown followed, as Scott Minor scored for the Bearcats from 10 yards out. Betts’ 34-yard pass to Michael Sellers set up the score. Hallahan kicked the extra point, making it 28-14 with 6:22 left in the third quarter.
Richland countered with another scoring drive. This time, George kicked an 18-yard field goal for the 31-14 lead.
Moments into the fourth, Ramires tossed a perfect pass to Sylvia for a 59-yard pass-and-catch down the near sideline and the touchdown. George kicked the point-after and the Rams extended their lead to 38-14 with 11:12 left in the contes.
Travis Gelles got in on the Ram scoring brigade, scoring from 11 yards out on the ground with 5:41 left in the contest. The extra point attempt failed.
Mykut's second kickoff return for a touchdown followed, as the speedster dashed 80 yards this time. Hallahan again kicked the extra point, making it a 44-21 game.
Andrew Mihalik stepped in as the Rams quarterback and fired a pass to a wide-open Ian Hunter for a 30-yard TD with less than two minutes remaining in the game. George ran the two-point conversion to conclude the scoring.
