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Rush attack sinks Heights

By Rick Weaver

For The Mirror

PATTON — Remember when thousands of Pittsburgh Steelers rooters became fans of the Philadelphia Eagles on the day of Super Bowl LII?

Cambria Heights football Jarrod Lewis and his players find themselves in a similar situation today. The Highlanders will become Conemaugh Valley fans today after their three-game winning streak ended in a 42-21 loss to Westmont Hilltop in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference football game on Friday night.

The Highlanders (4-6) need a Conemaugh Valley victory against Marion Center this afternoon in Johnstown to make the District 6 Class A playoffs, which begin on Nov. 2.

Lewis said even so, this is an improvement over what his team experienced four weeks ago.

“We’ve become Conemaugh Valley fans (for today),” Lewis said. “(When we started) 1-5, no one gave us much of a chance. But these guys battled back, and they did a great job. So I’m very proud of them.”

Camden Moors rushed for 159 yards and four touchdowns, and became the all-time leading rusher in Westmont Hilltop football history. Tucker Kushner added a pair of scores and 108 rushing yards for the Hilltoppers, who amassed 312 yards, all rushing.

Hilltoppers quarterback Lee Santee never attempted a pass. It’s not that he needed to.

“That’s their game. That’s pretty much what they do,” Lewis said. “(We went) toe-to-toe. We tried a couple of different defenses. But they kept making some plays when they needed to.”

“We gave them a little diffferent wrinkle to start,” Hilltoppers coach Pat Barron said. “Defensively we made some adjustments at halftime. We did a nice job of shutting them out in the second half until the very end.”

Kushner and Tyler Trybus swapped first-quarter touchdowns before Moors got the first of his four scores. Zach Farabaugh tied the score midway through the second period with a 16-yard touchdown run. Kushner restored the Westmont lead with a 10-yard scoring run.

Moors’ three second-half touchdown runs put Westmont Hilltop ahead, 42-14, and led to a mass exodus among the rain-soaked crowd that gathered at Patton Field for Cambria Heights’ senior night. Farabaugh scored his second touchdown with 14.8 seconds left in the final period.

Farabaugh led the Highlanders with 90 yards on 15 attempts. Seth Link contributed 73 yards on 15 attempts. Trybus added 47 rushing yards on 13 attempts.

Link alternated with Ryan Bearer at quarterback. Link did not attempt a pass. Bearer completed 3 of 9 passes for 41 yards.

Westmont Hilltop finishes the regular season with a 6-4 record.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Westmont Hilltop 14 7 7 14 — 42

Cambria Heights 7 7 0 7– 21

Firat Quarter

WH–Kushner 40 run (kick failed), 9:36

CH–Trybus 2 run (Nelen kick), 3:28

WH–Moors 7 run (Moors run), 1:29

Second Quarter

CH–Farabaugh 16 run (Nelen kick), 6:04

WH–Kushner 10 run (Kaesler kick), :23

Third Quarter

WH–Moors 14 run (Kaesler kick), 2:22

Fourth Quarter

WH–Moors, 13 run (Kaesler kick), 11:52

WH–Moors, 10 run (Kaesler kick), 8:32

CH–Farabaugh, 6 run (Nelen kick), :15

TEAM STATISTICS CR CH

First downs 17 17

Total yards 312 273

Rushes-yards 36-312 54-232

Yards passing 0 41

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 0-0-0 3-9-0

Punts-avg. 0-0 3-13.7

Fumbles-lost 1-0 5-1

Penalties-yards 2-20 2-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Westmont Hilltop, Moors 15-159, Kushner 11-108, Muto 5-26, Dean 4-20, TEAM 1-(-1). Cambria Heights, Farabaugh 15-90, Link 15-73, Trybus 13-47, Stockley 5-15, Kozak 3-14, Team 1-(-1), Bearer 2-(-6).

PASSING–Cambria Heights, Bearer, 3-9-0-41

RECEIVING–Cambria Heights, Gray 2-22, Maul 1-5, Farabaugh 0-4.

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