LORETTO - Forest Hills football coach Don Bailey knows that Shareef Blough is capable of making big plays.
But he probably didn't expect the speedy sophomore to do it before either offense had a chance to take the field Friday night at St. Francis University's DeGol Field.
Blough took the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to help lead the Rangers to a 27-0 victory over Bishop Carroll in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference Section 1 opener.
"We knew he was capable of making a big play," Bailey said, "and running that opening kickoff for a touchdown was certainly setting a tone."
And it wasn't the only big return for Forest Hills.
Jared Shope had two huge punt returns - for 33 and 56 yards, respectively - that set up the Rangers with great field position which led to two scores.
"Special teams killed us today," BC coach Greg Snyder said. "Three big returns, three touchdowns off of those returns. It hurts."
Turnovers played a major part in the Huskies' struggles in the first half.
On its opening possession, Bishop Carroll was able to drive 44 yards to the Forest Hills 31 before stalling and giving the ball away on downs.
In the second quarter, one play after quarterback Joe Donoughe gave the Rangers a 12-0 lead with a 2-yard touchdown, Huskies running back Marty Lessard coughed up the ball at the Bishop Carroll 49.
Donoughe connected with Doltyn Snedden for a 26-yard score just four plays later, and the conversion gave Forest Hills a 20-0 advantage.
It didn't end there - David Maruca threw an interception on the Huskies' next series - but fortunately the half did before the Rangers could sink the dagger.
Bishop Carroll (0-3, 0-1 LHAC Section 1) was able to move the ball, though, prior to its drives fizzling, and that was a positive Snyder will gladly accept.
"I was extremely happy with how physical we played," he said. "I'm extremely happy with how we moved the ball. We got better as a team today. We're getting better every week.
"Couple plays here and there - we didn't finish and we needed to."
Marty Lessard had 15 carries for 60 yards, while the Huskies offense had 141 total yards, most of which came in the first half.
Maruca finished with 67 yards on 9-of-17 passing. Jesse Switzer, Brody Shuty and Alex Repko each hauled in three passes.
"It just got to the point where we did become somewhat one-dimensional and they started putting a six-man front on us," Snyder said. "They started stopping us here and there."
"We played well offensively and defensively," Bailey said. "I thought at times we bent, but we never really broke. They've got nice size and ran the football pretty well. Second half, we pretty much shut that down. We put a six-man front in instead of five."
Donoughe finished the night completing 13 of his 16 passes - including a stretch of eight consecutive completions - for 184 yards.
The Rangers (2-1, 1-0) had 297 yards of offense, including 217 through the air.
Ian Wieczorek capped the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter.
"We got some skill players, but we're lacking linemen. We're going to throw it around," Bailey said. "That's what we have to do.
"Joe's off to a real good start. He made a couple of miscues last week [against Bishop McCort], but this week he worked hard in practice. He had a good game tonight throwing the football."
Forest Hills hosts Bishop Guilfoyle, while Bishop Carroll travels to Penn Cambria next week.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Forest Hills6 14 7 0 - 27
Bishop Carroll0 0 0 0 - 0
First quarter
FH-Blough 88 kickoff return (kick failed), 11:46.
Second quarter
FH-Donoughe 2 run (pass failed), 6:53.
FH-Snedden 26 pass from Donoughe (Snedden pass from Donoughe), 5:55.
Third quarter
FH-Wieczorek 6 run (Donoughe kick), 8:22.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Forest Hills-Wieczorek 8-38, Donoughe 7-27, Dell 8-12, Ohler 3-7, Shima 4-6, Pinkas 2-2, Shugars 1-(-1), TEAM 2-(-11). Bishop Carroll-Lessard 15-60, Repko 6-8, Lesney 5-7, Frederick 1-1, Maruca 7-(-2).
PASSING: Forest Hills-Donoughe 13-16-0-184, Shima 3-5-0-33. Bishop Carroll-Maruca 9-17-1-67.
RECEIVING: Forest Hills-Shope 5-57, Snedden 3-78, Dell 3-21, Blough 2-28, Madison 2-19, Wieczorek 1-14. Bishop Carroll-Switzer 3-27, Shuty 3-20, Repko 3-20.
INTERCEPTIONS: Forest Hills-Snedden.
TEAM STATISTICSFHBC
First downs1610
Rushes-yards35-8034-74
Passing (comp.-att.-int.)16-21-09-17-1
Yards passing21767
Total yards297141
Fumbles-lost1-02-1
Penalties-yards5-604-35
Punts-avg.2-18.54-13.2
