Trending
By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
PATTON -- Even though they're both a part of District 6, Cambria Heights and West Branch had never played each other until they clashed Friday night in a District 6 Class A quarterfinal game.
For one half, the fifth-seeded Warriors looked like they might hang with the fourth-seeded Cambria Heights in their first encounter at the Cambria Heights Athletic Facility.
But the Highlanders erupted in the second half, scoring four unanswered touchdowns as they took advantage of penalties and turnovers en route to a 40-6 victory.
"It feels great," Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said. "I thought we had a great week of practice. Any time you come off a loss, you want to have a great week of practice. I'm proud of the boys and proud of the effort we put in today.
"I thought defensively we were really solid. Offensively we were too. We just didn't have the ball enough in the first half. I thought in the second half we made some adjustments. We were able to force some turnovers. Credit West Branch. They're a tough team, but I thought we played really well tonight."
"They're a great team," West Branch coach Michael Nines said. "You're playing playoff football and you're always going to go against good teams. They're definitely one of them. They got a little on us up front and kind of hurt us a little bit. Credit to them for that."
The Highlanders (8-3) will play at top-seeded Northern Cambria next Friday in a semifinal. Heights lost to the rival Colts, 28-11, last week in the regular season finale.
"We weren't looking ahead," Lewis said. "We just went out and took care of business tonight. That's all I wanted to see. I'm proud of our leaders for keep them focused."
"We've got our rivals," junior Trey Trybus said. "We want them back, and we're going to try to get revenge and go to the D6 (championship)."
Sequence of the game: The Highlanders fumbled the second-half kickoff at their own 40. Their defense, though, forced a punt.
On their ensuing series, they reeled off three runs of 11 yards or more, including a Trey Trybus 11-yard TD run to put Heights up by two touchdowns.
Player of the game: Trybus scored on two touchdown runs of 11 and 7 yards, ran for 78 yards on six carries and intercepted two Tyler Biggans passes.
"If it wasn't for the offensive line, I'd have nothing," Trybus said. "They get all the credit."
Unsung heroes: The Heights defense pressured Biggans on almost every pass play, intercepted the 2,500-yard passer four times in the fourth quarter and limited the Warriors to 187 total yards.
"I thought our secondary could have played a little bit better last week," Lewis said. "We got back to some basics this week in practice. Those guys were opportunistic tonight. I thought we had some really good coverage tonight. That quarterback is a good quarterback."
"The D line got pressure on the QB and I just read my guy and got the picks," Trybus said. "I was reading way better in the second half."
Most vital statistic: The Highlanders amassed 310 yards rushing, including a team-high from Jaxxon Kline, who had 109 yards on 14 carries and TD runs of 1 and 5 yards.
Happy coach: "Jaxxon and Luke (Mulraney) are a nice 1-2 punch," Lewis said. "You had Stephen (Nelen) and Trey in there, and they really do a nice job."
Records: West Branch (5-6); Cambria Heights (8-3).
Next week: West Branch is finished. Cambria Heights visits top-seeded Northern Cambria next Friday in a District 6 Class 1A semifinal.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
West Branch 6 0 0 0 -- 6
Cambria Heights 6 6 15 13 -- 40
First Quarter
CH--Kline 1 run (kick failed), 7:25
WB--Biggans 1 run (kick failed), 1:10
Second Quarter
CH--Kline 5 run (run failed), 3:57
Third Quarter
CH--Trybus 11 run (Abrams kick), 8:13
CH--Mulraney 1 run (Jasper run), :10.9
Fourth Quarter
CH--H. Nelen 38 pass from Weiland (kick failed), 8:29
CH--Trybus 7 run (Abrams kick), 7:40
TEAM STATISTICS WB CH
First downs 10 17
Total yards 187 366
Rushes-yards 24-40 44-310
Yards passing 147 56
Passing (comp.-att.-int) 18-32-4 4-8-0
Punts-avg. 4-30.5 2-40.5
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2
Penalties-yards 8-69 7-65
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--West Branch, Vargas 8-37, Biggans 16-3. Cambria Heights, Kline 14-109, Trybus 6-78, S. Nelen 8-68, Warner 6-28, Mulraney 4-14, Weiland 2-5, Lobick 2-5, Jasper 1-4, TEAM 1-(-1).
PASSING--West Branch, Biggans 18-32-4-147. Cambria Heights, Weiland 4-8-0-56.
RECEIVING--West Branch, Vargas 6-64, Schwiderske 6-41, Stavola 2-18, Leskovansky 3-17, Ea. Emigh 1-(-1). Cambria Heights, H. Nelen 1-38, S. Nelen 3-18.