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Simmons Leads Meadville to Back-to-Back District 10 Titles

Tagged under: District 10, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs

| November 5, 2022

Simmons Leads Meadville to Back-to-Back District 10 Titles 

In what has become a running theme for Meadville, Khalon Simmons found plenty of ways to score in the Bulldog’s convincing 62-14 victory over the Corry Beavers in the District 10 Class 4A title game in Franklin. His six total touchdowns lead Meadville to a commanding victory.

But, in the first quarter, it didn’t look like it would be an easy game. Corry came ready to play, utilizing short out routes to spread the field and keep the Bulldog defensive backs on their heels. 

“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Meadville coach Ray Collins said after the game. “Corry’s season was on the line, and they came out swinging and played a great first half of football…They came in with an awesome game plan and executed it very well.”

After Meadville’s five-play opening drive that ended with a touchdown run by Amari Lewis, Corry answered with a touchdown of its own on a 9-yard quarterback keeper by Nolan Carey. 

Simmons showed off his speed on the next drive, weaving through traffic for a 49-yard touchdown to extend Meadville’s lead to 14-7 midway through the 1st quarter. 

Although the Bulldogs had a few chances to blow the game wide open early, penalties and miscues on defense kept the Beavers in the game. But halfway through the second quarter, Meadville made key adjustments on both sides of the ball. 

“We were making a ton of mistakes and penalties early,” said Collins. “And we were a bit uninspired in the first quarter.”

The Bulldogs decided to switch to the spread, and as a result, Simmons sliced through Corry’s defense for a 10-yard touchdown.

“After the first quarter, we wanted to spread the offense out a bit,” Simmons said. “We could tell they were boxing us in, so we opened it up, and things began clicking.”

And while Corry’s short outs confused Meadville’s defense early, the backs began sitting on the routes, highlighted by interceptions by Tahlir McClure and Brighton Anderson. 

With the Bulldog defense locked in, the offense went off to the races. After Corry cut the lead to 21-14, Meadville answered with three straight touchdowns in the final six minutes of the 2nd quarter, heading into the locker room with a 42-14 lead. 

“Our offense is really working well for us right now by mixing the two schemes,” Collins said. “With the Wing-T we want to pound the ball and play physical, and then we are going to spread you out a bit and get our speed out there in space. Our offense is tough to defend.”

Simmons led the Bulldog offense with four rushing touchdowns and one passing in the first half, along with 139 rushing yards and 75 passing. 

The second half was more of the same, with Simmons adding another touchdown on a shifty 65-yard punt return. Brady Walker also got in on the action with two rushing touchdowns of his own. 

With the victory, Meadville has won back-to-back District 10 titles. 

“What a great legacy for our guys,” Coach Collins said. 

Simmons echoed the sentiment. “It feels really good. Being a senior, it’s a great feeling, and it makes me happy we are walking off this field and still playing football next week.”

With the victory, Meadville will play University Prep out of District 8 in a sub-regional matchup at Couples Stadium at 1 PM in Pittsburgh.

 

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