×

Distractions don’t hinder Golden Tigers

HOLLIDAYSBURG-Considering the week the Hollidaysburg football team had, it was anyone’s guess how the Golden Tigers would respond Friday night in their season opener at home with Yough.

Surviving a team misconduct scandal that depleted Hollidaysburg of players who were either suspended or kicked off the team, coach Homer DeLattre’s club came out and whalloped Yough, 31-6, in both team’s season opener.

DeLattre would not comment on who or how many players were not at the game, but the Mirror learned from someone close to the program who requested anonymity that there were nine players whose names were on a printed roster who were not on the sideline Friday night.

According to the roster, there are 57 players on the 2014 varsity squad. DeLattre would also not comment on how long any player would be away from the team. He did address what his club went through this week and how they responded to being in the spotlight all week long.

“I am extremely proud of what just happened here (tonight),” he said. “These kids overcame a lot this week. They are well deserving of what just happened here. There are things in life that you have to overcome sometimes. It builds character and that is what we are trying to do with this program. We want to build a strong foundation of character, of doing what is right. We want to treat others the way we would want to be treated, both on and off the field.”

On the field, Hollidaysburg ran up and down the Cougars defense at will, amassing 361 yards on 61 carries. Whether it was Colton Ruggery, Zach Kovach, Jake Bickley or Zack Weaver, Yough had a tough time bringing anyone down.

“They did exactly what we thought they would do tonight,” Yough coach Mark Crovak said. “We practiced exactly what they would do and they still did it. You have to hand it to them, they beat us upfront. Our kids did not perform.”

Hollidaysburg jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter, thanks to a 9-yard score from Ruggery and a 3-yard score from Bickley. The defense, meanwhile, was holding Yough to just two first-half first downs and only 26 yards of offense.

“We thought we were better than them upfront, but we had to come out and prove that and I think we did,” DeLattre said.

Weaver wound up the star of the game, rushing for 130 yards on just 9 carries, including touchdown runs of 28 in the second quarter, and 43 in the third, that put Hollidaysburg in front, 25-0, at one point.

“He has great feet, great footwork and when he hits the seam, he just goes,” DeLattre said. “As you could see, he is hard to bring down with just one guy.”

Kovach added a 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth for a 31-0 lead, and then Yough, against Hollidaysburg reserves, mounted a scoring drive with less than 4 minutes to play, scoring on a Tom Sever 9-yard run to set the final.

Despite the final outcome, DeLattre saw room for improvement, especially when you consider his team team was flagged 12 times for 110 yards.

“We have a lot of room for improvement,” he said. “We told our kids at halftime, and at the end, the only time we didn’t move the ball was when he had penalties. There is no way we are satisfied.”

Yough finished with 130 yards of offense, while surrendering 419 on defense. The Cougars also committed three turnovers.

“We had some kids that played their hearts out, that played hard, we just don’t have enough of them,” Crovak said. “When you work all summer, work through thewinter and you get effort from half the team, it is pretty dis-heartening. We have to find 11 kids that want to play.”

Hollidaysburg is at Franklin Regional next Friday night.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Yough0 0 0 6 – 6

Hollidaysburg12 6 7 6 – 31

First quarter

H-Ruggery 9 run, (kick failed), 8:38

H-Bickley 3 run, (kick failed), 2:51

Second quarter

H-Weaver 28 run (kick failed), 8:00

Third quarter

H-Weaver 43 run, 6:46 (E. Miller kick).

Fourth quarter

H-Kovach 5 run (kick failed), 9:18

Y-Sever 9 run (pass failed), 3:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Yough-Baer 11-16, Waldron 7-43, Sweeney 1-(-1), Sever 1-9, Barkovich 2-0, Sommers 1-1, Everly 1-11. Hollidaysburg-Weaver 9-130, Bickley 15-88, Ruggery 12-56, Kovach 14-73, C. Gildea 1-3, T. Miller 2-1, E. Miller 1-4, Long 2-1, Cavalet 2-2, Walters 2-4, TEAM 1-(-1).

PASSING: Yough-Baer 10-29-0-51, Sommers 0-4-1-0, Waldron 0-1-1-0. Hollidaysburg-Bickley 4-8-1-58, Cavalet 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING: Yough-Waldron 3-4, Barkovich 4-23, Sweeney 2-15, Everly 1-9. Hollidaysburg-Adams 1-13, C. Gildea 2-42, Ruggery 1-3.

INTERCEPTIONS: Yough-Baer. Hollidaysburg-C. Gildea, Barnes.

TEAM STATISTICSYH

First downs1116

Rushes-yards24-7961-361

Passing (comp.-att.-int.)10-34-24-9-1

Yards passing5158

Total yards130419

Fumbles-lost2-02-1

Penalties-yards5-4512-110

Punts-avg.8-31.23-31.3

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today