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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
PITTSBURGH -- Hollidaysburg Area football coach Homer DeLattre was worried about two things going into Friday's game against Taylor Allderdice at George K. Cupples Stadium.
He felt the Dragons would come out inspired after honoring their late coach, Jerry Haslett, who died about a month ago at 59 on his way to one of Allderdice's 7-on-7 matchups, and he didn't think the Golden Tigers would be able to make many big plays due to Allderdice's speed.
One out of two isn't bad.
Hollidaysburg struggled in the first quarter and fumbled three times, losing one, but finally broke out in the second quarter and hit the Dragons with one splash play after another in a 42-0 victory.
"Our speed surprised me tonight," DeLattre said. "They looked very fast on video, and I thought our defense looked very fast tonight and did a good job containing their athleticism."
Play of the game: Leading by only two scores and backed up deep in his own territory facing a third-and-13, Hollidaysburg quarterback Maddox Bainey rolled out to his right and found Brady Steiner, who made a defender miss and went 78 yards for a touchdown that made it 21-0 and started the rout.
Player of the game: Bainey went 10-of-17 and threw for 229 yards and four touchdown passes.
Star defensive plays: Cristian White had two sacks and forced an intentional grounding that resulted in a 20-yard loss. Aidan Bilek had a sack and several tackles for losses, and Robbie Mullen broke up a deep pass that looked on target from Allderdice quarterback Trecyn Ford.
Most vital statistic: The Golden Tigers held Allderdice to just 94 total yards.
Unsung hero: Mitchell Baronner had 14 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown. While the passing numbers jump off the page, DeLattre said it was Baronner's effort, along with the offensive line, that led to those plays happening.
"There's a lot of talent there, and when you can mix the run and the pass with our offensive line, it's dangerous," DeLattre said. "We didn't call that many pass plays tonight, but we threw for a lot of yards."
Coach DeLattre: "We had some snap errors the first two drives of the game. We were moving the ball then too. Other than that, I was really proud of our offensive line. We mixed the run and pass, and Maddox made some great decisions. When we do that, run the ball, everything else works. It was a great team effort."
Allderdice coach Mark Matson: "It was great we were able to honor (Coach Haslett) and have his family here. I think that helped us get through the first quarter a little bit. It kind of fell apart from there. They stepped on the gas, and we couldn't. They have a really good team."
Steiner: "Maddox just put the ball right where I needed it, and I got some great blocks downfield and just wide open grass in front of me. We can be very dangerous between all of our receivers. We all have great hands, run great routes and block for each other after the catch. We can be a dangerous group."
Honoring Haslett: Allderdice, which defeated Fox Chapel in its first game without Haslett last week, paid tribute to their former coach before the game in a ceremony attended by family members and friends, including Jerry's brother, Jim, who was a coach in the NFL. Jerry Haslett coached Allderdice for the past 15 seasons and led the Dragons to Pittsburgh City League titles in 2017, 2018 and 2021.
"It's heartbreaking for any family to have to go through that," DeLattre said. "Football coaches are a pretty tight-knit community, and it was great to see them honor him tonight. It was well deserved."
Notable: The game was delayed 25 minutes due to a thunderstorm that rolled through the area just before pregame warmups. ... Gavin Bell continued his big season with a 28-yard touchdown catch that started the scoring and his second interception of the year. ... In addition to his 78-yard score, Steiner had another 5-yard touchdown catch and finished with five catches for 115 yards. ... Cole DeLattre's 23-yard touchdown catch with 4:54 left in the third quarter started a running clock. ... Carter Muth added a tough 44-yard touchdown run to close out the scoring.
Records: Hollidaysburg (2-0); Allderdice (1-1).
Next week: The Golden Tigers host Allegany, Md. at 7 p.m. next Friday, and Taylor Allderdice hosts Perry Academy.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Hollidaysburg 0 28 7 7 -- 42
Taylor Allderdice 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Second Quarter
H--Bell 28 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 10:56.
H--Baronner 10 run (Wedel kick), 8:47.
H--Steiner 78 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 5:00.
H--Steiner 5 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 1:21.
Third Quarter
H--DeLattre 23 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 4:54.
Fourth Quarter
H--Muth 44 run (Wedel kick), 8:33.
TEAM STATISTICS H A
First downs 14 9
Total yards 343 94
Rushes-yards 26-114 27-48
Yards passing 229 46
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 10-17-0 8-14-1
Punts-avg. 2-36.5 6-29
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 6-35 8-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Hollidaysburg, Baronner 14-69, Muth 3-50, Bainey 4-9, White 1-(-1), Morningstar 2-(-1), Kordish 1-(-3), TEAM 1-(-9). Allderdice, Lee 1-17, Scott 13-11, Simms 4-11, Butler 2-6, Ford 7-3.
PASSING--Hollidaysburg, Bainey 10-17-0-229. Allderdice, Ford 6-12-1-35, Butler 2-2-0-11.
RECEIVING--Hollidaysburg, Steiner 5-115, Bell 2-67, Albarano 2-24, DeLattre 1-23. Allderdice, Beechum 4-22, Stead 2-21, Ayre 1-3, Scott 1-1.