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Highlanders slay Dragons to remain unbeaten

PATTON — Still undefeated.

Cambria Heights clinched its first unbeaten varsity football regular season since the creation of the school district with a 48-14 victory against Purchase Line in the Heritage Conference finale on Friday night.

The Highlanders rolled through their first season in the Heritage Conference by staying consistent. This held true with their approach on game nights and in each week that preceded the game.

“I know it’s a cliche, but we try to be 1-0 each week. We go week to week and try to win that week,” Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said.

“Lewis always preaches week to week. And that’s what we’ve been focusing on,” Cambria Heights quarterback Ty Stockley said. “We keep going to week to week and just focus on the next game.”

Cambria Heights honored its nine senior players, plus the senior cheerleaders and band members, on a soggy evening at Cambria Heights High School.

The Highlanders ran 52 plays from scrimmage, all but four of which were rushing attempts. Stockley attempted only four passes, with one completion.

Cambria Heights’ finest football season in school history continues on Oct. 30 when the Highlanders play Windber in the Appalachian Bowl at Penns Manor High School.

“There’s a lot of history behind this team,” Cambria Heights senior Tanner Hite said, “and I think it really keeps the guys happy, and it gives us a lot of momentum for next week.”

Play of the game: Purchase Line senior Mello Sanchez answered the Highlanders’ second touchdown with an 84-yard kickoff return touchdown.

Players of the game: Hite rushed for a game-high 132 yards and three touchdowns. Stockley, meanwhile, rushed for 118 yards and two scores.

Unsung heroes: Joseph Snedden and Stockley sacked Purchase Line quarterback John Elick on successive plays in the first quarter. Bailey Horvath added a second-quarter sack.

Most vital statistics: Cambria Heights picked up 365 total yards, 358 rushing. The Highlanders registered 19 first downs and limited Purchase Line to seven first downs and 135 total yards.

Coach Lewis on the nine seniors who were honored in pregame ceremonies: “I’m proud of the way they represented this program. They’re great student-athletes and they’re great football players. But they’re even better people. I’m so proud of them in what they’ve been able to accomplish here.”

Stockley on the Highlanders’ conference championship: “It feels amazing. We knew from the beginning we wanted to make our mark in the Heritage in our first year coming in. It felt good (for us) to go undefeated in the Heritage.”

Hite: “We knew (Purchase Line was physical (and) their line outsizes us. But we brought our physicality, and we do what high school football does.”

Purchase Line coach Matt Falisec: “I think it was a good test to see where we fall. I don’t think the score represents (the closeness of) the game. I thought it was a pretty close game, a pretty physical game. And that’s a good team over there. And I thought our kids played 48 minutes of pretty good football.”

Notable: The Highlanders held Purchase Line to 18 rushing yards in the first half. … Lucas Storm rushed for a fourth-period touchdown. … Ryan Haluska gained 43 yards on 11 rushing attempts, with a long of 12. … The Senior Night ceremonies resulted in a 14-minute delay to the start of the game. … Horvath launched a 70-yard punt late in the first quarter. … Sanchez added a 52-yard pass reception and an 8-yard touchdown catch. “We were hoping we would get single coverage on him. We should have hit him a couple more times. But then they started doubling, and they shut him down,” Falisec said…. Purchase Line has lost four consecutive games after a 4-1 start.

Records: Purchase Line (4-5, 4-4 conference), Cambria Heights (9-0, 8-0).

Next week: Cambria Heights plays Windber on Oct. 30. Purchase Line hosts Conemaugh Township in a Heritage-WestPAC crossover game on Friday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Purchase Line 0 14 0 0 — 14

Cambria Heights 6 20 8 14 — 48

First quarter

CH–Hite 28 run (pass failed), 5:51.

Second quarter

CH–Haluska 3 run (Stockley run), 11:55.

PL–Sanchez 84 kickoff return (pass failed), 11:39.

CH–Stockley 1 run (run failed), 9:31.

PL–Sanchez 8 pass from Elick (Syster run), 7:23.

CH–Stockley 10 run (run failed), 1:01.

Third quarter

CH–Hite 29 run (Stockley run), 8:43.

Fourth quarter

CH–Hite 29 run (Scott kick), 11:51.

CH–Storm 26 (Scott kick), 2:23.

TEAM STATISTICS PL CH

First downs 7 19

Total yards 135 365

Rushes-yards 27-54 48-358

Yards passing 81 7

Passing (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 6-16-1 1-4-0

Punts-avg. 4-40.5 2-56.0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0

Penalties-yards 4-37 1-5

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Purchase Line, Syster 11-25, Sanchez 2-19, Lamer 3-9, Brooks 2-7, Chambers 1-0, Elick 6-(-2), Small 2-(-4). Cambria Heights, Hite 8-132, Stockley 19-118, Haluska 11-43, Storm 4-34, Trybus 3-15, Blake 2-13, Westrick 1-3.

PASSING–Purchase Line, Elick 6-15-1-81, Mountain 0-1-0-0. Cambria Heights, Stockley 1-4-0-7.

RECEIVING–Purchase Line, Sanchez 3-60, Brooks 2-9, Chambers 1-6, Syster 1-6. Cambria Heights, Trybus 1-7.

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