Michael Henwood

Hickory’s Michael Henwood breaks free for a 69-yard touchdown run against Sharpsville during Friday's game at McCracken Field.

Hickory High’s Bill Dungee picked up his first head coaching win on Friday as his Hornets beat Sharpsville, 14-6, in a thriller as the 2019 high school football season got underway.

Anthony Pegues made his debut as Farrell High head coach, but the Steelers suffered a tough 14-12 loss to University Prep of the Pittsburgh City League.

Also Friday, Grove City beat Ft. LeBoeuf, 16-3, at Edinboro University; Reynolds routed Union City, 41-0; Greenville defeated Northwestern, 21-0; Slippery Rock beat Gen. McLane, 34-21, and Lakeview fell to Maplewood, 40-0.

West Middlesex and Mercer are in action today. The Big Reds visit Eisenhower for a 1 p.m. kickoff while the Mustangs host Cochranton at 7 p.m.

Following are staff reports: 

• Hickory 14, Sharpsville 6 – At the Pines in Sharpsville in an inter-region clash, first-year head coach Bill Dungee picked up his initial win as the Hornets taskmaster. But it didn’t come without late-game nail-biting for Dungee and Hickory fans.

And it took a late game defensive stand to pull it out.

“The defense was phenomenal,” said Dungee. “We practiced that situation Thursday night, having to stop an offense inside the 5-yard line. And sure enough it happened in the game.

“We try to think of everything with a young team. But they gutted it out.

“It feels great (to get the first coaching win). But the main thing is for the kids to get that confidence and justify all that hard work they put in since March. I told the kids before the game: ‘You’ve been punching the clock without getting paid.’ Tonight they got paid!”

Hickory jumped ahead in the first quarter on a 69-yard burst by speedster/quarterback Michael Henwood and the first of 2 PAT kicks by Braedon Allen. 

The Hornets used another explosive play to expand the lead to 14-0 when Henwood connected with sophomore Ramarion Whitehead on a 59-yard aerial.

The score held until halftime. While Hickory was clicking on big plays, the defense was dominating the Blue Devils. In the first two quarters, Sharpsville was held to only 28 yards of offense while Hickory wracked up 144 yards, most coming on the two TD plays.

Whitehead made his name known on defense as well as he picked off a pass on the first play of the second half to put Hickory in good field position. However, Sharpsville stopped the threat and regained possession.

From there, the Blue Devils drove for their first score of the game with a 72-yard sustained march, aided by a first down on a fake-punt run by Danny Henwood. The tally came on a 2-yard run by Chayse Stevens-Luchey. However, the PAT kick went wide and Hickory maintained a 14-6 margin.

However, Sharpsville maintained the momentum throughout the rest of the period and into the final frame. And the Devils drove to a first down at the Hickory 5 midway through the fourth quarter. 

But the Hickory defense rose to the occasion, holding the Blue Devils short of the goal for three plays then recovering a fumble on a fourth-down play to halt the drive with 4:55 remaining.

Sharpsville took over inside the Hickory 30 a short time later to set up an exciting finish to which Dungee referred. The Devils had several chances, aided by two pass-interference penalties, but again the Hornet defense came through and took over on downs inside the final minute of play. – Statistics by Herald correspondent Ryan Briggs.

• University Prep 14, Farrell 12 – At Farrell, the Steelers suffered their first loss since the 2017 playoffs as the visiting Pittsburgh area club spoiled the head coaching debut of Anthony Pegues.

Farrell jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first half on a 7-yard pass from Christian Hartley to Jaden Harrison. But the PAT failed, which proved to be costly.

Prep notched 14 straight points in the second half. 

The Steelers got on the board again in the final frame on a 1-yard run by Hartley, but the extra points try for two failed and the defending state Class A champs went down to defeat.

Anthony Stallworth had a big ground game for Farrell, gaining 192 yards on 20 carries. 

Both teams had 3 turnovers – Farrell 2 fumbles and an interception; Prep 2 interceptions and a fumble.

• Grove City 16, Ft. LeBoeuf 3 – At Edinboro’s Sox Harrison Stadium, the Eagles won their 19th straight regular season contest and 13th in a row on the road with the win over the Bison.

After the Ft. LeBoeuf defense stonewalled Grove City on its opening possession at the 1-yard line, Grove City linebacker Curtis Hovis knifed through Bison line to drop quarterback Alex Blose in the endzone for a safety on the very next play.

The Eagles pushed their lead to 10-0 when Kendel Hollen went around left end for a 9-yard score. Junior quarterback Logan Breese hooked up with senior receiver Daiveon Say for the 2-point conversion.

Fort LeBoeuf opened the second half scoring when Adam Scarpino booted a 24-yard field goal, but Grove City countered immediately with a 7-yard scoring strike from Breese to Say.

Senior running back Colby Nelson led all rushers with 151 yards on 25 carries, while Curtis Hovis seconded him with 57 yards on the ground. Breese passed for 114 yards on 11-of-18 passing, while Say hauled in 4 passes for 55 yards.

Hovis led the GC defense 9 tackles (3 for loss) and a sack, while senior Jake Reddick tacked on 10 tackles.

The Bison managed just 160 yards against the Grove City defense with Jack Rimpa accounting for 82 yards rushing.

The game was moved to Edinboro after renovation’s to Fort LeBoeuf’s Carm Bonito Field were delayed this summer – Information submitted by Herald Sports Correspondent Corey J. Corbin.

• Reynolds 41, Union City 0 – At Transfer, Coach Josh Mull’s Raiders rolled past Union City in the season opener.

Reynolds took a 6-0 lead on a 10-yard TD run by Cole Toy.

The Raiders pulled away in the 2nd quarter by outscoring the Bears 28-0. Sean O’Hara had a pair of TD runs (10 and 4 yards), Toy scored on a 5-yard run and Marketis Stevens hauled in a 47-yard touchdown pass from Bryce McCloskey.

Aidan Mull added a 5-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter to extend the Raiders’ lead to 41-0.

O’Hara converted 3 extra-point kicks while Nate Miller caught a 2-point conversion pass from McCloskey.

O’Hara rushed for 86 yards on 10 carries while Toy had 86 yards on a dozen totes. McCloskey was a perfect 4-for-4 for 130 yards. 

Last season, Reynolds opened the season at Union City and won 44-28.

• Greenville 21, Northwestern 0 – At Greenville, the host Trojans of Coach Brian Herrick won their opener with a solid all-around performance.

Levi Swartz, Blair Paxton and Jon King all notched TDs for the Trojans, while Justin Stuyvesant booted 3 PAT kicks. Swartz led the ground game with 92 yards on 14 totes.

Defensively, the Trojans allowed only 102 yards to the Wildcats.

• Maplewood 40, Lakeview 0 – At Maplewood, the host Tigers rolled to the mercy rule victory after leading 40-0 in the third quarter.

J.D. McFadden scored 3 touchdowns for the Tigers, Clay Cox 2 and Kaleb Donor 1 for the victors.

• Slippery Rock 34, Gen. McLane 21 – At Slippery Rock, Nathan Hyatt rushed for 103 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Rockets past the Lancers.

Hyatt had a pair of 3-yard touchdown runs and broke loose for a 57-yard scoring run. Rockets’ quarterback Vito Pilosi threw a 35-yard TD pass to Ethan Plesakov and Nathanial Willison booted a pair of field goals (22 and 25 yards) and converted 4 extra-point attempts.

For Gen. McLane, Tyler Myers scored on a 70-yard touchdown run, Nate Jones hauled in a 35-yard scoring strike from QB Matt Leehan and Jaxon Scrutchins scooped up a fumble and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown.

Hyatt led Slippery Rock in rushing, Pilosi went 11-of-12 for 189 yards and David Duffalo grabbed 6 passes for 98 yards.

Ben Howe-Jones rushed for 100 yards for McLane and caught 2 passes for 49 yards and Leehan went 8-of-17 for 153 yards.

––––––

HICKORY          14   0   0   0   14

SHARPSVILLE     0    0   6   0    6

Scoring plays

H — M. Henwood, 69 run (Allen kick)

H — Whitehead, 59 pass from Henwood (Allen kick)

S — Stevens-Luchey, 2 run (kick failed)

Team stats

HICKORY                SHARPSVILLE

4     First downs             14

90     Rushing yards          142

84     Passing yards           12

14-6-0     Att-comp-int           11-5-1

174     Total yards             154

2-0     Fumbles-lost            1-1

7-80      Penalties-yards lost     6-47

Individual stats

Rushing: HICKORY — Henwood 8-59, Fisher 9-23, Stoots 5-8; SHARPSVILLE — Stevens-Luchey 27-118, Henwood 12-25, Besser 9-9, Tarnoci 2-1.

Passing: HICKORY — Henwood 6-13-0-84, Cannone 0-1-0-0; SHARPSVILLE — Henwood 5-11-1-12.

Receiving: HICKORY — Whitehead 2-64, Cannone 2-10, Pryts 1-8, Richards 1-2; SHARPSVILLE — Stevens-Luchey 2-(-5), Besser 1-7, Gorichky 1-5, Ja. Townsend 1-5.

––––––

UNIV. PREP     0   0   14   0   14

FARRELL         0   6   0    6   12

Scoring plays

F — Harrison, 7 pass from Hartley (PAT failed)

UP — no names submitted

UP — no names submitted

F — Hartley, 1 run (PAT failed)

Team stats

UNIV. PREP                   FARRELL

n/a    First downs             14

n/a     Rushing yards         274

n/a     Passing yards          72

n/a     Att-comp-int        20-10-1

n/a     Total yards             346

1-1     Fumbles-lost            2-2

n/a     Penalties-yards lost        n/a

Individual stats

Rushing: UNIVERSITY PREP — n/a; FARRELL — Stallworth 20-192, Jackson 4-30, Hartley 5-12, Harrison 4-40.

Passing: UNIVERSITY PREP — n/a; FARRELL — Hartley 10-20-1-72.

Receiving: UNIVERSITY PREP — n/a; FARRELL — Hilton 2-12, Harrison 5-38, Raver 1-12, Jackson 1-13.

––––––

GROVE CITY       2   8   6   0   16

FT LEBOEUF       0   0   3   0    3

Scoring plays

GC — Safety

GC — Hollen, 9 run (D. Say pass from Breese)

FTL — Scarpino, 24 field goal

GC — D. Say, 7 pass from Breese (kick blocked)

Team stats

GROVE CITY              FT. LeBOEUF

17     First downs                 8

235     Rushing yards           136

114     Passing yards            24

18-11-1     Att-comp-int           7-2-1

349     Total yards              160

0-0     Fumbles-lost            3-3

7-50      Penalties-yards lost     6-55

Individual stats

Rushing: GROVE CITY — Nelson 25-152, Hovis 12-57, Breese 7-16, Hollen 4-11; FT. LEBOEUF — Rimpa 12-82, Turi 9-37, Harris 6-33, Blose 3-(-6), Daum 2- (-10).

Passing: GROVE CITY — Breese 11-18-1 114; FORT LEBOEUF — Blose 2-6-0 24, Daum 0-1-0 0. 

Receiving: GROVE CITY — D. Say 4-55, Martin 2-29, Reddick 2-18, Nelson 2-6, Pereira 1-6; FORT LEBOEUF — Rimpa 2-24.

———

UNION CITY       0   0    0   0    0

REYNOLDS        6   28   7   0   41

Scoring plays

R — Toy, 10 run (kick failed)

R — O’Hara, 10 run (O’Hara kick)

R — O’Hara, 4 run (kick failed)

R — Toy, 5 run (Miller catch)

R — Stevens, 47 pass from McCloskey (O’Hara kick)

R — Mull, 5 run (O’Hara kick)

Team stats

UNION CITY          REYNOLDS

7     First downs              17

134     Rushing yards          243

0     Passing yards          130

3-0-0     Att-comp-int           4-4-0

134     Total yards             373

7-2     Fumbles-lost            0-0

5-25      Penalties-yards lost     1-15

Individual stats

Rushing: UNION CITY — Kesselring 15-63, Henry 7-31, Stull 5-24, Jaquith 10-16, Ruckman 1-0; REYNOLDS — O’Hara 10-86, Toy 12-86, McCloskey 5-35, Mull 3-32, Livingston 3-4.

Passing: UNION CITY — Jaquith 3-0-0-0; REYNOLDS — McCloskey 4-4-0-130.

Receiving: UNION CITY — none; REYNOLDS — Stevens 1-47, Mull 1-45, O’Hara 2-38.

———

N’WESTERN      0    0    0   0   0

GREENVILLE      0   21   0   0   0

Scoring plays

G — Swartz, 1 run (Stuyvesant kick)

G — Paxton, 15 pass from King (Stuyvesant kick)

G — King, 47 run (Stuyvesant kick) 

Team stats

N’WESTERN               GREENVILLE

5     First downs              15

53     Rushing yards         233

49    Passing yards         104

14-7-0     Att-comp-int          13-8-0

102     Total yards            337

n/a     Fumbles-lost           n/a

1-5      Penalties-yards lost      7-73

Individual stats

Rushing: NORTHWESTERN — 10-35, Albert 10-14, Valletta 1-3, Fenster 1-1; GREENVILLE — King 3-59, Swartz 14-92, Sasala 22-61, Loutzenhiser 6-10, Achuff 2-11.

Passing: NORTHWESTERN — Albert 7-14-0-49; GREENVILLE — King 8-13-0-104.

Receiving: NORTHWESTERN — Wienc 2-27, Glasl 2-15, Friend 1-5; GREENVILLE — Paxton 6-90, Achuff 1-0, Swartz 1-14.

———

LAKEVIEW         0    0    0   0   0

MAPLEWOOD     22   12   6   0   40

Scoring plays

M — McFadden, 1 run (McFadden run)

M — Donor, 3 run (run failed)

M — Cox, 78 pass from McFadden (Donor run)

M — McFadden, 2 run (run failed)

M — Cox, 25 run (run failed)

M — McFadden, 34 int. ret. (kick failed)

Team stats

LAKEVIEW               MAPLEWOOD

4     First downs             15

30     Rushing yards         228

40     Passing yards         118

12-3-1     Att-comp-int          13-7-0

70    Total yards             346

2-1     Fumbles-lost            3-1

5-40      Penalties-yards lost     8-75

Individual stats

Rushing: LAKEVIEW — Crocker 6-35, Kerr 1-3, Murdock 20-2, L. McFadden 2-(-4), Leonard 2-(-6); MAPLEWOOD — Wright 11-81, J.D. McFadden 10-70, Donor 6-47, Cox 2-27, Giliberto 4-16, Gross 1-(-13)

Passing: LAKEVIEW — Murdock 3-12-1-40; MAPLEWOOD — McFadden 7-13-0-118.

Receiving: LAKEVIEW — Kerr 1-27, Guthrie 1-14, Cocker 1-(-1); MAPLEWOOD — Cox 4-97, Palmiero 1-15, Parker 2-6.

 

———

GEN. McLANE   7  0    0    14   21

SLIPP. ROCK    7   3   10   14   34

Scoring plays

GM — Myers, 70 run (Wismer kick)

SR — Hyatt, 3 run (Willison kick)

SR — Willison, 22 field goal

SR — Willison, 25 field goal

SR — Hyatt, 3 run (Willison kick)

GM — Jones, 35 pass from Leehan (Wismer kick)

SR — Plesakov, 43 pass from Pilosi (Willison kick)

SR — Hyatt, 57 run (Willison kick)

GM — Scrutchins, 43 fumble recovery (Wismer kick) 

Team stats

GEN. McLANE                  S.ROCK

13     First downs            12

198     Rushing yards         217

153     Passing yards          189

17-8-0     Att-comp-int         12-11-0

351     Total yards             406

1-1     Fumbles-lost            1-1

6-40      Penalties-yards lost     4-50

Individual stats

Rushing: GEN. McLANE — Howe-Jones 16-100, Myers 2-61, Campbell 4-23, Leehan 8-10, Scrutchins 3-4; SLIPPERY ROCK — Hyatt 20-103, Pilosi 13-73, Duffalo 13-41.

Passing: GEN. McLANE — Leehan 17-8-0-153; SLIPPERY ROCK — Pilosi 12-11-0-189.

Receiving: GEN. McLANE — Jones 2-49, Campbell 2-34, Myers 1-29, Howe-Jones 1-20, Lipinski 1-15, Scrutchins 1-6; SLIPPERY ROCK — Duffalo 6-98, Plesakov 1-43, Hyatt 3-24, Yakimicki 1-22.

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