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PATTON -- Sometimes, a game doesn't open the way you hoped, and some of the time it involves things you haven't done all season.
It took just a minute for top-seed Cambria Heights to give up its first scoring drive at home Friday night in the District 6 Class 2A quarterfinals against No. 8 McCort-Carroll.
Heights fumbled on its first play from scrimmage, and the Crushers recovered.
In the end, the Highlanders' resiliency showed as they rallied from down 14 to move on with the 24-17 triumph at the Cambria Heights Athletic Field, keeping their dreams of a perfect season alive.
They scored 21 unanswered points as part of the comeback.
Play of the game: A pair of Highlander defenders tackled Crusher QB Angelo Gallucci for a loss of 2 yards, ending the Crushers' last chance to tie the game.
Player of the game: Marshall Eckenrode had two touchdowns in the second half, one from 74 yards out that helped put the game away. He finished with 95 yards on seven carries.
Unsung heroes: The stout Highlander defense allowed four first downs for the entire second half.
Clutch passing: Isaac Weiland, on the last drive before the half, had two passes go for 25 yards or more on the way to the score that cut the deficit down to seven at the break.
Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis: "It definitely wasn't how you draw it up. These kids are resilient. We told them this team is going to come out and punch us, we have to counter-punch. We were able to do that tonight.''
McCort-Carroll coach Tom Smith: "They're a 10-0 football team; they haven't had a point scored on them on this field (entering Friday's game). Our kids came in motivated, ready to play. I want to congratulate our kids. They played hard tonight. We lost by a score to what we think is a pretty darn good football team. They played a great game as well.''
Ecken-rode: "We played a pretty bad first half, but it's the first half. We're never out of the game. Isaac threw that pass down to Stephen (Nelen) down near the end zone, and that's the spark that ignited us for the rest of the game.''
Notable: Garrett Farabaugh's first quarter touchdown for McCort-Carroll was the first home score allowed by the Highlanders. ... Both teams made field goals from 34 (McCort-Carroll) and 36 yards (Cambria Heights). ... Jon Delia had 100 yards on the ground for the Crushers on 21 carries. ... Heights didn't commit a penalty until the second half. ... The Crushers were hit with 10 infractions for 81 yards while the Highlanders committed four for 35.
Records: McCort-Carroll (5-6); Cambria Heights (11-0)
Next week: Cambria Heights hosts Bellwood-Anits while McCort-Carroll's season is finished.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
McCort-Carroll 7 10 0 0 - 17
Cambria Heights 3 7 14 0 - 24
First Quarter
MC--Farabaugh 25 run (Conner kick), 11:00.
CH--Abrams 34 FG, 3:56.
Second Quarter
MC--Conner 36 FG, 9:53.
MC--Gallucci 2 run (Conner kick), 2:50.
CH--Nelen 25 pass from Weiland (Abrams kick), :12.
Third Quarter
CH--Eckenrode 5 run (Abrams kick), 4:44.
CH--Eckenrode 74 run (Abrams kick), 1:03.
TEAM STATISTICS MC CH
First downs 15 13
Total yards 322 348
Rushes-yards 41-179 40-221
Yards passing 143 127
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 10-22-1 11-18-1
Punts-avg. 5-37.2 5-32.8
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 10-81 4-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--McCort-Carroll, Farabaugh 4-42, Gallucci 8-23, Delia 21-100, Dugan 4-2, Stevens 1-4, Wiley 2-10, Spontak 1-(-2). Cambria Heights, Weakland 3-2, Trybus 9-17, Nelen 13-69, Eckenrode 7-95, Mulraney 3-9, Lobick 1-(-2), Lewis, 1-17, TEAM 3-(-25).
PASSING--McCort-Carroll, Gallucci 9-21-1-109, Farabaugh 1-1-0-34. Cambria Heights, I. Weilland 11-18-1-127.
RECEIVING--McCort-Carroll, Bainey 2-46, Delia 1-18, Dressick 1-8. Cambria Heights, Ivory 1-8, M. Weiland 1-(-21), Eckenrode 3-33, Jasper 2-64, Trybus 1-5, Nelen 3-38.