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Quick start propels 5-1 Penn Cambria Panthers past Westmont Hilltop

By Brad Rosemas 4 min read

CRESSON -- Penn Cambria's high-powered offense once again lived up to its reputation in Friday's Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference matchup against Westmont Hilltop.

The Panthers found the end zone twice within the game's first six minutes on the way to scoring on all six of their offensive possessions in the first half, as Penn Cambria cruised to a 56-14 victory.

"We did what we needed to do," Penn Cambria coach Jason Grassi said. "We talked about playing fast. That's been our motto for the last couple weeks, to come out of the gates and jump on our opponent. I was very proud of that effort we showed in the first half."

Play of the game: Penn Cambria senior Blake Lilly forced and recovered a fumble on Westmont Hilltop's first offensive play.

Quarterback Brady Jones then opened the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run and the Panthers never looked back.

Corbin Vinglish scored twice and Evan Latterner added a touchdown run to put Penn Cambria ahead 29-7 through one quarter. Jones also gave the Panthers a safety after sacking Hilltoppers quarterback Justin Ray in the end zone.

Player of the game: Vinglish headlined the Panthers offense by compiling 162 rushing yards on just seven carries to go along with his two scores.

Most vital statistic: The Penn Cambria defense forced four turnovers in the first half, including picking off three passes on three consecutive Westmont Hilltop drives in the second quarter.

Lilly intercepted two passes during the stretch, returning the second interception 28 yards for a touchdown to put Penn Cambria ahead 49-7 at the half.

Grassi: "The leadership of these upperclassmen has been so crucial in these games. They were in big games last year. They've won a lot of football games. We lean on them for their experience and the ability to help carry us through the grind of the season."

Westmont Hilltop coach Josh Rearck: "I thought we did some good things offensively. We put together a couple nice drives, but if you're going to beat a team the quality of Penn Cambria, you have got to take care of the football. If you give them the ball four times in the first half, they're going to put points on the board, which they did."

Lilly: "Our line up front played a great game on both sides of the ball. Defensively, I dropped a couple easy picks last week, but I'm glad I was able to get those back tonight. It was nice for all of us to have a good defensive game."

Notable: Penn Cambria has now won three consecutive games by a combined 127-24 score after a come-from-behind loss to Forest Hills in Week 3 ... Westmont Hilltop has lost 21 straight games dating back to 2023.

Records: Westmont Hilltop (0-6), Penn Cambria (5-1).

Next week: Westmont Hilltop hosts Bishop McCort-Carroll, Penn Cambria takes on Chestnut Ridge.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Westmont Hilltop 7 0 0 7 -- 14

Penn Cambria 29 20 0 7 -- 56

First Quarter

PC--Jones 2 run (Conversion failed), 9:00.

PC--Safety, 7:30.

PC--Vinglish 14 run (Jones run), 6:18.

PC--Latterner 13 run (Kick blocked), 3:00.

WH--Gartner 27 pass from Ray (Brownlee kick), 1:18.

PC--Vinglish 60 run (Jones kick), 0:53.

Second Quarter

PC--Nadolsky 31 pass from Jones (Kick blocked), 8:29.

PC--Beck 10 run (Golden kick), 2:23.

PC--Lilly 28 interception return (Golden kick), 2:07.

Fourth Quarter

PC--Maybush 4 run (Golden kick), 3:21.

WH--Gartner 55 pass from Ward (Brownlee kick), 0:47.

TEAM STATISTICS WH PC

First downs 11 19

Total yards 214 435

Rushes-yards 19-42 44-382

Yards passing 172 53

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 10-24-3 3-6-0

Punts-avg. 1-34 0-0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-0

Penalties-yards 9-65 9-88

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Westmont Hilltop, Johnson 2-3, Ray 5-6, Torquato 2-9, Goodman 10-27. Penn Cambria, Lilly 3-23, Jones 5-31, Vinglish 7-162, Beck 10-66, Latterner 4-29, Kalwasinski 5-24, Shall 1-4, Maybush 6-38, Roudybush 1-0, Gray 1-5.

PASSING--Westmont Hilltop, Ray 9-22-117-1-3, Ward 1-2-55-1-0. Penn Cambria, Jones 3-6-53-1-0.

RECEIVING--Westmont Hilltop, Gartner 4-103, Galiote 1-22, Surloff 2-17, Valente 2-20, Goodman 1-10. Penn Cambria, Lilly 1-23, Nadolsky 2-30.

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