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Rangers jump on Red Devils early in victory

EBENSBURG — Coming out of the gate, Forest Hills needed little time to seemingly put the game away.

After putting up 21 points in the first quarter and another 15 in the second, the second half of the game was played with a running clock and junior varsity players as the Rangers defeated Central Cambria, 49-6, Friday night.

Having a 36-0 lead at half time, Forest Hills coach Don Bailey said a strong performance out of the gate was the difference.

“We played very well in all levels of the game,” Bailey said. “We played well on offense, defense — we didn’t have much to do on special teams, but I’m very pleased with the way we came out and jumped to a big lead early.”

Forest Hills picked up 249 total yards on only 20 plays during the first half.

But early on, the Rangers just avoided disaster after a punt by Central Cambria.

Jake Shope fumbled on the return, and the Red Devils jumped on the ball and seemed to reclaim possession.

An errant whistle, however, kept the ball in Forest Hills’ hands.

It was a lucky break, and from there, the Rangers went to work.

Dylan Fyock broke loose on a 25-yard run just a few plays later, which he took to the house to put the game’s first points on the board.

Fyock, who picked up 108 total yards on the ground with only nine carries, said that although the stats will look good on his end, it was the battles in the trenches that set it up for him.

“Our line did a great job,” Fyock said. “I can’t run the ball without the line blocking for me. I can’t do anything without the line. After I get past there, it’s on me. But that first initial part of my run is all up to them.”

Fyock had three touchdowns in the game. He found a hole and scored on a 60-yard run to open up the second half.

The big guys up front also created time and space for starting quarterback Adam Cecere, who looked comfortable in the pocket and went 7-for-10 with 211 yards and three touchdowns.

“We usually keep our tight ends in, so we had a seven man protection,” Cecere said. “They helped us out a lot. (Central Cambria) didn’t blitz too often, and when they did, we were able to pick it up nicely. I give major credit to those guys in the pocket, because if you give me time, that’s all I can ask for.”

Cecere, who is one of only 55 quarterbacks in the state to have more than 6,000 passing yards on his career, picked up three touchdowns in the air.

He found Jake Delic for touchdown passes of 43 and 12 yards, and Jake Shope for a 15-yard score.

After giving up 407 total yards, Central Cambria fell to 1-5 with the loss.

Coach Shane McGregor said that facing an elite talent like Cecere was a near impossible challenge.

“Forest Hills beat us up front, and that gets amplified when you have an absolute stud back there at quarterback just slinging the rock,” McGregor said. “I love seeing great quarterback play, and that was awesome by him tonight. When you got a guy who can throw dimes like him, as the saying goes, there’s no defense for a perfect pass.”

Nick Knopp picked up the only touchdown for Central Cambria in the fourth quarter after snatching a 26-yard pass out of the air from quarterback Carter Seymour.

Trudging through a tough season, McGregor said his team will continue to fight to make something of this season.

“We’re not going to take a knee and tuck our tails between our legs and hope the score doesn’t get worse,” McGregor said. “I will coach every game until the very last second, because every Friday is way too precious for that.”

Score by Quarter

Central Cambria 0 0 0 6 — 6

Forest Hills 21 15 6 7 — 49

First Quarter

FH–Fyock 25 run (Cecere run), 7:14

FH–Delic 43 pass from Cecere (run failed), 5:42

FH–Delic 22 pass from Cecere (Cecere kick), 2:11

Second Quarter

FH–Fyock 1 run (Cecere run), 7:53

FH–Shope 15 pass from Cecere (Cecere kick), 4:57

Third Quarter

FH–Fyock 60 run (kick failed), 11:32

Fourth Quarter

CC–Knopp 26 pass from Seymour (Pass failed), 9:22

FH–Madigan 49 pass from Myers (Fyock kick), 7:05

Team statistics FH CC

First downs 6 11

Total yards 407 230

Rushing yards 147 48

Passing yards 260 182

Kick returns 2-0 8-69

Interceptions-ret 1-0 0-0

Passing (comp-att-int) 8-11-0 15-30-1

Punts 1-41 5-31

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 2-30 5-60

Individual Statistics

Rushing–Forest Hills, Fyock 9-108, Cecere 2-33, Zangaglia 2-5, Hudson 1-1. Central Cambria, Knopp 11-40, Fryer 2-9, Gauden 1-5, Long 1-1, Seymour 8-(minus 7).

Passing–Forest Hills, Cecere 7-10-0-211, Myers 1-1-0-49. Central Cambria, Seymour 15-28-1-182, Knopp 0-2-0-0.

Receiving–Forest Hills, Shope 2-65, Wolfhope 2-58, Delic 2-55, Madigan 1-49, Fyock 1-37. Central Cambria, Knopp 5-66, Gauden 6-64, Pellegrino 3-26, Long 1-8, Martin 1-5, McBreen 1-1.

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