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CRESSON -- It took a little bit of time for the Penn Cambria offense to get going Friday night against Central Cambria.
The good news for the Panthers is their defense came out firing and bought them just enough time before they pulled away in the second half.
Penn Cambria, powered by a strong special teams play and key takeaway early in the second half, pulled away for a 36-0 shutout over the Red Devils on homecoming in Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference action at the Penn Cambria Athletic Field.
Play of the game: Penn Cambria's Gavin Harrold returned the opening kick of the second half 50 yards to the Red Devil 35. That helped set up a short drive, capped off by a Mason Mento touchdown less than 2 minutes into the third quarter.
Player of the game: Marcus Eckenrode registered five catches for 76 yards and had two interceptions, which helped set up a pair of Panther touchdowns.
Unsung heroes: The Panther defense didn't allow a single first down for the entire second half.
Take the money and run: Penn Cambria's defensive success resulted in four turnovers -- three interceptions and one fumble recovery.
Penn Cambria coach Nick Felus: "Defense did a good job. We gave up some yards, but that's not the stat the matters. The stat that matters is that I felt like we did stop the run. We got stops when we needed to get stops. In the second half, I thought our guys played lights out. We were a little upset at halftime. We weren't playing to our capabilities, and we like the result that we got.''
Central Cambria coach Don Fyfe: "We just can't seem to get a break. We're struggling to make a break, and sometimes you got to make your own luck. We're going to get there. That's what I told the guys one of these days we're going to come out here, everything is going to go the way it's supposed to go. Once it happens, we're going to win some football games.''
Eckenrode on Panther D success: "Getting the edge on them, and then our secondary did a fantastic job defending them. They had a couple of passes here and there, nothing deep. We were able to stop them on the run.''
Felus on Eckenrode: "He played an excellent game on both sides. Not only at corner, but on offense he caught some passes. He was uncovered, made a play. That was the first game on offense we got him going. It's nice to see; he's a hard worker.''
Notable: Gabby Lynch was crowned homecoming queen. ... This is the fifth year in a row the Panthers have captured the Goal Post Trophy. ... Penn Cambria held Central Cambria to 113 yards of total offense while generating 344 yards of their own. ... The Panthers did have issues with penalties as they were called for seven infractions for 80 yards compared to the Red Devils' three for 25.
Records: Central Cambria (0-5), Penn Cambria (5-0).
Next week: Central Cambria hosts Chestnut Ridge, while Penn Cambria travels to Westmont Hilltop
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central Cambria 0 0 0 0 - 0
Penn Cambria 8 0 16 12 - 36
First Quarter
PC--Plunkett 8 run (Harrold run), :06.
Third Quarter
PC--Mento 2 run (Jones run), 10:22.
PC--Jones 6 run (Vinglish pass from Jones), 5:35.
Fourth Quarter
PC--Plunkett 14 run (kick failed), 8:23.
PC--Shall 6 pass from Davison (kick failed), 3:33.
TEAM STATISTICS CC PC
First downs 9 15
Total yards 113 344
Rushes-yards 25-44 35-205
Yards passing 69 139
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 7-19-3 12-17-0
Punts-avg. 3-44 1-40
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 3-25 7-80
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Central Cambria, Snyder 9-32, Pittsinger 11-11, R. Chappell 2-4, A. Chappell 1-0, Galli, 1-(-1), Ray 1-(-2). Penn Cambria, Plunkett 12-63, B. Jones 17-115, Mento 2-18, Harrold 1-10, Davison 1-3, N. Jones 1-1.
PASSING--Central Cambria, Pittsinger 7-17-3-69, Ray 0-2-0-0. Penn Cambria, B. Jones 10-13-0-100, Davison 2-4-0-39.
RECEIVING--Central Cambria, Burkett 6-66, Galli 1-3. Penn Cambria, Harrold 5-24, Eckenrode 5-76, Beck 1-34, Shall 1-6.