Unbeaten Highlanders rule in 2A
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After winning the District 6 football championship in Class 1A last year, Cambria Heights moved up to the Class 2A level this season and the Highlanders faced many naysayers who doubted that they could win another title at the higher classification.
Cambria Heights spent Friday night emphatically proving all of its doubters wrong.
The unbeaten Highlanders (13-0) controlled the second half of their District 6 Class 2A title game against Richland at Mansion Park, using a ground-and-pound rushing game behind solid offensive line play to break open the game in the second half, en route to a 42-21 district gold-medal victory.
The win earns Heights a berth in next week's PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals against unbeaten Central Clarion (12-0) at a site and time to be determined. Central Clarion, the District 9 champion, advanced with a 41-6 drubbing of Farrell in a PIAA Class 2A first-round playoff game Friday night.
"We've been a second-half team all year, and we forced our will on them in the second half tonight,'' said Heights coach Jarrod Lewis, whose team used its powerful rushing attack to break out of a 14-14 halftime tie. "Our offense stepped up great in the second half, and our defense was fantastic tonight.
"I'm really proud of our kids,'' Lewis added. "When we won in (Class 1A) last year and moved up to (Class 2A), there were people out there who thought that we couldn't win a championship again. But this is a credit to our kids and their professionalism. We have great kids on this team who have great parents. Our seniors have been great, and our underclassmen have improved all year.''
Heights took the lead for good, 21-14, on senior running back Steven Nelen's 59-yard touchdown bolt up the middle of the field less than two minutes into the third quarter, and the Highlanders just kept rolling from there.
"It was a zone read, and I took it right up the middle of the field,'' Nelen said of his game-changing run. "We knew that we had to run the ball effectively, and we did our job in the second half. Our offensive line is a veteran group, and we couldn't have done this without them.
"It's awesome to win another championship,'' Nelen added. "We've worked so hard for this since this past summer. This was one of our goals at the beginning of the season.''
With Nelen rushing for 129 yards on 16 carries and his touchdown, senior back Trey Trybus rushing for 106 yards on 16 carries and two scores, and another senior back, Marshall Eckenrode, rambling for 94 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns, Heights amassed 365 of its 449 total yards via the run.
"Our offensive diversity makes us a tough team to defend,'' Lewis said. "We have so many guys touching the ball.''
Heights came up with a big defensive play late in the third quarter that paved the way for the Highlanders to take a 28-14 lead. Junior Carson Lobick stripped the ball from a Richland player and Eckenrode recovered it from his linebacker spot on defense at the Richland 19.
Five plays later, Trybus ran 8 yards for a touchdown to give Heights some much-needed breathing room.
"We went into the locker room at halftime and we planned out what we were going to do,'' Trybus said. "We all came out and did our jobs in the second half. This is the best offensive line I have ever played with.''
The Highlanders' offensive front includes senior center Braylon Rydbom, senior guard Tristan Weakland and sophomore guard Jack Sherwood, junior tackles James Houtz and Hayden Leamer, and senior tight end Garrett Jasper.
"It was a whole team effort tonight,'' Rydbom said. "Our line was very impressive, and our running backs hit the holes.
"There were people saying that we were going to get destroyed after we moved up to 2A,'' Rydbom said. "I think that we proved those people wrong, and this feels amazing.''
Trybus added a 4-yard touchdown run and Eckenrode broke off left tackle for a 41-yard TD scamper, both in the fourth quarter, as Heights won going away.
"There has been continuous improvement on this team throughout this season,'' Lewis said. "The players on this team are never satisfied. Tonight was a total team effort.''
Play of the game: On offense, Nelen's big third-quarter touchdown run turned the momentum in Heights' favor. The strip by Lobick and fumble recovery by Eckenrode was a huge defensive play that helped Heights gain a strong upper hand.
Players of the game: Very tough to name just one. Nelen, Trybus and Eckenrode all deserve to take a bow.
Unsung heroes: The Heights offensive line helped open up the Highlanders' running game in the second half.
Most vital statistic: Heights rolled up 449 yards, with 365 coming via the rush, as the Highlanders dominated the second half.
Richland coach Brandon Bailey: "Our kids played hard in the first half, but we didn't execute on our first offensive drive in the second half, and they did. Then things kind of piled up on us from there. Cambria Heights is a good football team. We just didn't make the plays that we needed to make, and they did.''
Notable: Freshman quarterback Jake Regan threw for 174 yards and two touchdowns for Richland, hitting senior wideout Austin Yarnick with a 34-yard scoring pass to open the scoring in the first quarter and connecting with sophomore wideout Jamere Christian on a 4-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter. Christian made nine catches totaling 113 yards for Richland, which also got a 3-yard touchdown run from Joe Mcaneny in the second quarter ... Heights scored its first touchdown on a middle screen pass from quarterback Isaac Weiland to back Luke Mulraney that covered 19 yards in the second quarter, when Eckenrode also scored his first touchdown on a 4-yard run.
Records: Richland (10-2); Cambria Heights (12-0).
Next week: Cambria Heights faces unbeaten Central Clarion in a PIAA quarterfinal-round game at a site and time to be determined. Richland's season is complete.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Richland 7 7 0 7--21
Cambria Heights 0 14 7 21--42
First Quarter
R--Yarnick 34 pass from Regan (Ritko kick), 11:01.
Second Quarter
CH--Mulraney 19 pass from Weiland (Abrams kick), 8:02.
R--Mcaneny 3 run (Ritko kick), 4:14.
CH--Eckenrode 4 run (Abrams kick), 0:43.
Third Quarter
CH--Nelen 59 run (Abrams kick), 10:16.
Fourth Quarter
CH--Trybus 8 run (Abrams kick), 10:15.
CH--Trybus 4 run (Abrams kick), 5:59.
R--Christian 4 pass from Regan (Ritko kick), 4:30.
CH--Eckenrode 41 run (Abrams kick), 2:58.
TEAM STATISTICS R CH
First downs 13 23
Rushes-yards 25-98 57-365
Yards passing 174 84
Total yards 272 449
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 15-28-0 7-10-0
Punts/avg. 2-43.5 1-42
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-30 6-72
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Richland, Mcaneny 11-47, Yeager 8-39, Regan 3-6, Christian 2-4, A Mugwera 1-2. Cambria Heights, Nelen 16-129, Trybus 16-106, Eckenrode 11-94, Mulraney 7-23, Kline 1-12, Jasper 2-9, Clawson 1-2, Weiland 3-(-10).
PASSING--Richland, Regan 15-28-0-174. Cambria Heights, Weiland 7-10-0-84.
RECEIVING--Richland, Christian 9-113, Yarnick 3-44, J. Mugerwa 1-10, Mcaneny 1-7, Yeager 1-0. Cambria Heights, Eckenrode 4-17, Trybus 2-48, Mulraney 1-19.