Noah Cherry’s 4 TDs Difference in Elk County’s Victory Over Bucktail

Tagged under: District 4, District 9, Gameday Hub, News

Phil Myers | September 10, 2022

Cherry, maroon #21 in center, scores first TD.

On a warm evening in St. Marys, a perfect night for high school football, the Crusaders of Elk County Catholic shot down the Bucktail Bucks by a score of 30-16. Noah Cherry led the way offensively for the Crusaders scoring all 4 of his team’s touchdowns to go along with his 187 yards rushing which accounted for 82% of his team’s offense.

Cherry, a junior, scored a touchdown in each quarter on runs of 5, 1, 47, and 32 yards. His 5-yard jaunt in the first essentially tied the game after the two-point conversion. His 1-yard dive in the second gave the Crusaders a lead they never relinquished. The 47-yard sprint to pay dirt in the third came on a 4^th down and two situation, and his 32-yard race down the sidelines with only 2:17 left in the last quarter iced the game for Elk County after Bucktail pulled to within six points.

Bucktail received the kickoff to start the game and scored the first points by driving 74 yards in 9 plays. The drive took over 6 minutes off the clock. On the ninth play, quarterback Brody Pentz kept the ball and rolled to his right. Forty-four yards later he crossed the goal line. Tanner Pettingill ran in the two-point conversion and the Bucks led 8-0 at the 5:47 mark of the initial quarter.

Pentz gets call from sidelines for 2-point conversion play.

E.C.C. answered by going 58 yards to score. The drive was aided by 19 yards in Bucktail penalties. After Cherry scored, quarterback Ben Reynolds tied the game at eight by running in the 2-point try. The Crusaders forced Bucktail into a punting situation near midfield on the Bucks’ next series. This time Elk County travelled 70 yards to score, aided by a 15-yard pass interference penalty on a third down and eleven. Reynolds threw a pass to Isaac Dellaquila for two points following Cherry’s second score to increase the Crusader lead to 16-8 with 3:40 remaining in the first half.

Bucktail moved the ball to Elk County’s 41, but a five-yard loss, a five-yard penalty, and a turnover on a fumble prevented any further scoring in the first half. Bucktail’s head coach, Frank Sutliff said, “with penalties we shot ourselves in the foot too many times. We had some nice drives rolling. We are not a team that’s going to overcome a first and twenty very often. We have to play cleaner. That was the difference in my opinion.” Bucktail was whistled 9 times for 70 yards in penalties, while E.C.C. was only flagged twice for 19 yards.

After a short kickoff and the return to start the second half, the Crusaders began their possession at their own 45. Three plays netted eight yards and Tony Gerg, Elk County’s coach, made the decision to go for it on fourth down. He was confident the offensive line would get a nice push and that Cherry would then get a couple of yards. Cherry got more than a couple as he took the ball out of the single wing formation, broke through the line, and scooted 47 yards to up the Crusader lead to 22-8 after the failed 2-point attempt.

With over nine and a half minutes left in the third quarter, Bucktail embarked on a drive that used up over seven minutes of clock time. Facing a second down and six at the Elk County 14, a four-yard run was negated by a holding penalty. Eventually the Bucks were stopped two yards shy of a first down at the Crusader ten.

Elk County proceeded to get a couple of first downs including one on a fourth and one at their own 19 when Bucktail jumped offsides. Eventually the Bucks did force a punt. Taking over at their 20, Bucktail put together an 80-yard, 8-play drive that culminated in Pentz’s second touchdown, a one-yard run. Pettingill’s second two-point conversion pulled Bucktail to within six at 22-16, with 6:18 left to play.

The Crusaders received a short kickoff again and started in good filed position at their 42. “I was going to onside it, but really thought we could get a three and out. We came close but couldn’t quite get it done,” stated Sutliff. Cherry ran 11 yards on a third and 8, followed that up with another 11-yard run on a second and 11, then broke loose for his fourth TD on a second and 7. That iced the game for the Crusaders as there was only 2:17 left on the clock. Reynolds found Joe Tettis on a pass play for two points which rounded out the scoring for the night and set the final at 30-16.

The full moon was shining down on Elk County (in maroon uniforms).

Elk County’s coach, Tony Gerg, said, “They came out and gave us all we could handle. I think we played okay tonight. I think we can do better too.” Bucktail’s Sutliff said, “Their players are well-coached. I’m proud of our team, that was a great effort tonight.”

Bucktail actually out gained Elk County 288 total yards to 229. Pettingill went over 100 yards rushing for the Bucks with 102 on 15 carries, and Braylon Fantaski chipped in with 91 yards on the ground for Bucktail. He ran the ball 13 times. The only completed pass of the evening was a 5-yarder by the Crusaders. There were 2 turnovers, both by Bucktail. Cherry had a late game interception and Tettis recovered a fumble for E.C.C.

Elk County’s record now stands at 3-0. They host winless Sheffield next week. Bucktail’s record dropped to 1-1. They will battle 2-1 Otto-Eldred at home next week.