Football

Heights dominates Mustangs

PATTON -- Cambria Heights rolled to a 35-0 lead before halftime and went on to complete a 45-0 rout of Portage in a Heritage Conference football game on Friday night at Cambria Heights High School.

Jaxxon Kline's 1-yard touchdown run on the Highlanders' first possession capped off a 12-play possession that set the tone for the evening.

Owen Gouse filled in for the injured Easton Slanoc at quarterback for Portage. Gouse, a talented and versatile senior, completed 1 of 3 passes for 4 yards.

Play of the game: Cambria Heights wide receiver Trey Trybus out-battled two Portage defenders to haul in a 32-yard pass completion by quarterback Isaac Weiland in the first quarter. The first play of the 47-yard drive preceded a 3-yard touchdown run by Stephen Nelen that pushed the Highlanders lead to 28-0.

Player of the game: Trybus rushed for a game-best 117 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught both of Weiland's pass completions for 58 yards.

Unsung heroes: The Cambria Heights offensive line, which includes center Braylon Rydbom, guards Jack Sherwood and Tristan Weakland, and tackles Hayden Leamer and James Holtz.

Most vital statistics: Cambria Heights held the Mustangs to four first downs and 48 total yards. The Highlanders picked up 272 of their 330 yards on the ground. The Highlanders' Garrett Jasper punted twice for an average of 61 yards. His second punt traveled 77 yards before it reached the end zone for a touchback.

Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis: "We just played well. Our focus has been getting better each week. I thought our defense played well tonight. We flew to the football. Offensively, I thought we played well. And we've been pretty good all year on special teams. And that was the same thing tonight."

Lewis on Jasper's second-half punt: "Garrett boomed that punt. I mean, that punt was destroyed."

Portage coach Marty Slanoc on Gouse's effort: "It's a really tough spot for him. He stepped into a bear's den with limited time to get prepared for it. And he did the best he could. And we need to do better in a lot of the other aspects."

More from coach Slanoc: "When you take care of all the little things within a program and kids start owning it and realizing they have to be the leaders of the team, it can't just be coach-led. It has to be led by players. That's when you'll reach your potential. There are flashes of us being really good this year. And there are flashes of us being not so good."

Trybus: "Our offense was great today. I give all the credit to the (offensive) line. If it weren't for the line blocking, we wouldn't have gotten any of those yards."

Jasper: "Honestly, I don't practice (punting) that much. I've always done it since I was in sixth grade. I worked my way up. And (I'm thinking), 'All right. I'm getting pretty good at this.' But I don't really practice it; I just do it."

Notable: Nelen and Trybus scored two touchdowns apiece for Cambria Heights. ... Trybus scored on runs of 3 and 49 yards. ... Weiland attempted only five passes and was not intercepted. ... Nelen's touchdown reception followed a bizarre recovery of what turned out to be an onside kick. The kickoff that followed Kline's touchdown was untouched by a Mustangs player and recovered by Trybus at the Portage 26. ... The entire second half was played on running time. ... Cameron Abrams kicked a 30-yard field goal and second-string quarterback Kaiden Ivory tacked on a 1-yard touchdown run in the second half. ... Isaac Willinsky led the Mustangs with 51 rushing yards. ... Cambria Heights did not commit a turnover, and the defense recovered two fumbles. ... Jasper has punted only nine times, but averages 48.0 yards per attempt after six weeks. ... Ellie Bender was named the 2024 homecoming queen, and tailback/safety Luke Mulraney was crowned the homecoming king.

Team records: Portage (2-4), Cambria Heights (6-0).

Next game: Portage plays host to United Valley, and Cambria Heights visits Conemaugh Township on Friday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Portage 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Cambria Heights 28 7 3 7 -- 45

First Quarter

CH--Kline 1 run (Abrams kick), 7:05

CH--Nelen 26 pass from Weiland (Abrams kick), 6:54.

CH--Trybus 5 run (Abrams kick), 4:04.

CH--Nelen 3 run (Abrams kick), 1:34.

Second Quarter

CH--Trybus 49 run (Abrams kick), 8:21.

Third Quarter

CH--Abrams 30 FG, 5:14.

Fourth Quarter

CH--Ivory 1 run (Kutruff kick), 8:37.

TEAM STATS P CH

First downs 4 16

Total yards 48 330

Rushes-yards 26-44 42-272

Yards passing 4 58

Passes-comp.-int. 1-3-0 2-5-0

Punts-avg. 5-34.0 2-61.0

Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0

Penalties-yards 2-10 2-5

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing--Portage, I.Willinsky 13-52, Smithro 2-5, Gouse 5-0, N.Willinsky 1-0, Shaffer 2-(-1), Gathers 1-(-1), Team 1-(-11). Cambria Heights, Trybus 7-117, Clawson 7-51, Nelen 8-38, Warner 3-17, Kline 4-14, Eckenrode 2-12, Wilkie 3-11, Snyder 1-10, Mulraney 2-5, Ivory 1-1, Team 4-(-4).

Passing--Portage, Gouse 1-3-0-4. Cambria Heights, Weiland 2-5-0-58.

Receiving--Portage, Bobolsky 1-4. Cambria Heights, Trybus 2-58.