A short week of practice did not bother Johnstown High’s offense on Thursday at Trojan Stadium.
Quarterback Gervon Simon completed 11 of 15 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns. He ran for another score as the Trojans beat Westmont Hilltop 42-10 in a rare Thursday night contest.
Johnstown is 3-0. Westmont is winless.
“In our spread offense we’re going to take what you give us,” Johnstown coach Tony Penna Jr. said. “They came out and were blitzing up the middle. We ran our seven-man protection and Gervon made the reads.
“The receivers’ talent speaks for itself.”
Defensively, the Trojans’ first team held Hilltop without a touchdown. Westmont scored in the closing minutes after an errant snap on a Johnstown punt attempt by the reserve unit.
“That whole group, they just take such pride,” Penna said, praising his defensive coordinator, Neil Cobaugh.
Johnstown opened a 35-3 first-half advantage as Simon completed 9 of 13 passes for 230 yards. Simon was part of four first-half touchdowns, including his 10-yard score.
Halfback Tyler Arsenault’s 44-yard run set up his own
3-yard touchdown dash.
The Trojans produced 13 first downs in the opening half and moved the sticks 18 times in the game.
Johnstown opened the scoring on Mark Watson's 76-yard touchdown reception on a screen from Simon. Michael Brooks booted the first of his seven extra-points.
“We had been a little disappointed because that rocket screen is what we’ve hung our hat on and we haven’t been running it real well,” Penna said.
“We worked real hard this week in practice. Mark is a tremendous athlete. It takes a lot of timing from the receivers and the linemen getting downfield and blocking. When we watch the tape, there will probably be seven, eight, nine guys responsible for that play.”
Westmont anticipated the play.
“That screen is something we’ve worked on (defending) all week,” Westmont coach Matt Glennon said. “We got a little too much penetration and were too aggressive at first.”
Simon’s touchdown run made it 14-0.
Hilltop got on the board via Braden Junker’s 28-yard field goal.
Arsenault closed the first quarter with his short scoring run.
Simon found Alkwan Williams for a 29-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, and he teamed with Calvin Anderson from 33 yards out with only 8 seconds remaining in the opening half.
Simon found a wide-open Williams in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 7:19 showing in the third quarter. Brooks’ extra point made it 42-3 and put a running clock into motion.
The junior quarterback benefited from excellent protection on both throws.
“The line comes to work hard and they don’t get a lot of credit,” Penna said. “They have one guy back (from last season).
“They have a chip on their shoulders.”
The game, played in a second-half downpour, had been switched to Thursday at Westmont’s request due to the Yom Kippur holiday beginning at sunset tonight.
Johnstown’s defense limited Hilltop to a net 69 rushing yards on 21 carries, with Alex Intihar gaining 44. Quarterback Joe Glennon passed for
62 yards.
Trojans defender Calvin Anderson had two of his team’s three interceptions.
“They hit us with big plays,” coach Glennon said. “We wanted to run the ball more, but we were down 21-3 and that took us out of our game. They did a great job. They’re great athletes.
“We obviously didn’t match up with them well speed-wise, and they took advantage of it.”
Westmont’s Daniel Glennon recovered the errant punt snap and ran 21 yards for Westmont’s lone touchdown at 3:45 of the fourth.
“Our young kids did a nice job on the punt – scooping up the ball and scoring,” coach Glennon said. “That was one of the few positives – seeing those kids out there with energy and going hard.”
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