HOLLIDAYSBURG - The Hollidaysburg football team moved to 2-0 on Friday night, thanks to its dominating play at the line of scrimmage.
The Golden Tigers rushed for 285 yards on 53 carries, and then held Greensburg Salem to a total of 158 yards en route to a 24-0 Greater Allegheny Conference victory over a team that beat the Tigers 62-6 a year ago.
"Defensively, we could not get off the field, and that is to their credit," Greensburg coach Casey Cavanaugh said. "They moved the chains and we could not stop them."
Article Photos
Mirror photo by J.D. Cavrich
Hollidaysburg’s Reid Miller (right) is congratulated by Zane Brunner after scoring a TD.
Hollidaysburg sophomore Reid Miller was the biggest member of that "chain gang" as he totaled 127 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns. It was much different than last week's opener in which quarterback Brian Urban carried the workload for the Tigers.
"We knew that we needed our other backs to do things. We felt last week was Reid's first game and it was a matter of time before he got the ball," Hollidaysburg coach John Barton said. "We wanted him to get comfortable. He looked comfortable."
The Tigers' first drive of the game was a 10-play, 67-yard effort that ended with an Eric Miller, 27-yard field goal, good for a 3-0 lead. The Lions' three possessions in the first quarter ended in two punts and a turnover.
Defensive lineman Pat Ollinger, along with Matt Barton, Zach Simpson, Reid Brinkoff, Eric Grassmyer, Nik Sell and Greg Dinges made it tough up front for the likes of Tyler Shook, who was coming off a 148-yard opening-night effort a week ago.
"We came off the ball hard. We were physical and we got lower than them," said Ollinger, who helped hold Shook to 30 yards on 12 carries, and the Lions to 93 yards on 28 carries. "If their offensive line can't move our defensive line, speed doesn't really mean anything."
Hollidaysburg's first scoring drive of the second quarter was kept alive twice, once by a fake punt where Reid Miller went 12 yards for a first down, and a roughing-the-punter penalty on the Lions that kept the Tigers' offense on the field.
Reid Miller scored from 5 yards out with 5:13 to go, and despite a blocked PAT, the Tigers led, 9-0.
"I thought No. 2 [Urban] would run more, but No. 21 [Miller] was very good running laterally," Cavanaugh said.
A fumble caused by Ollinger got the Tigers the ball back, and with 40 seconds to go in the half, Reid Miller scored from 12 yards out for a 17-0 halftime lead.
"I thought our offensive line was physical last week and they were physical again tonight," said coach Barton of Ollinger, Grassmyer, Brinkhoff, Simpson and Matt Barton.
Dinges, a fullback for the Tigers, finished off the scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. He had eight carries for 68 yards on a drive that went 10 plays and 85 yards.
"It was time to pound the big boy ... that's all that was," coach Barton said.
Getting a shutout against a team that scored 109 points against the Tigers in 2011 and 2012 combined was a big deal for coach Barton and his squad.
"I was thinking about it. I thought we could get it," Ollinger said.
The Tiger defense forced two fumbles and also picked off a pass against a team that totaled nearly 300 yards of offense a week ago.
"Our defensive line ate up blockers, they made tackles, they allowed our linebackers to make tackles. We got to the ball and we finished," coach Barton said.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Greensburg-Salem0 0 0 0 - 0
Hollidaysburg3 14 7 0 - 24
First quarter
H-E. Miller, 25 FG, 5:13
Second quarter
H. R. Miller 5 run (kick failed), 5:13
H-R. Miller 12 run (Springer pass from Urban), :40
Third quarter
H-Dinges 19 run (E. Miller kick), :48
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Greensburg-Salem-Shock 12-30, Sweeney 5-23, McKinley 3-18, Hann 5-9, Walter 3-13. Hollidaysburg-Urban 10-46, R. Miller 23-127, Dinges 8-68, Brunner 1-0, Hargis 1-0, Weaver 2-8, T. Miller 2-23, Stern 1-2, Parnell 1-1, TEAM 2-(-7).
PASSING: Greensburg-Salem-Sweeney 4-9-1-23, Walters 3-6-0-42. Hollidaysburg-.Urban 3-8-0-20.
RECEIVING: Greensburg-Salem-Ramsey 2-19, McKinley 1-5, Shook 1-3, Jackson 3-38. Hollidaysburg-R. Miller 2-13, Hargis 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS: Hollidaysburg-Urban.
TEAM STATISTICSGSH
First downs1122
Rushing-yards28-9353-285
Passing (comp.-att.-int.)7-15-13-8-0
Yards passing6520
Total yards158305
Fumbles-lost4-23-2
Penalties-yards5-555-45
Punts-avg.2-30.01-4.0
