McGuffey uses 41 point first half to beat Charleroi 41-0 @McguffeyFB @McGuffeyHS @McGSportsNet @CharleroiCougar @CharleroiSD

Tagged under: District 7, Game Photos, Gameday Hub

David Burnworth | September 18, 2021

Last night I drove from Buckeye Lake, Ohio to Claysville, Pa to watch my favorite team in Pennsylvania battle Charleroi, in a battle of 1-2 teams. Watching the teams warm-up the first thing I noticed was the Highlanders had a lot more players and there seemed to be a giddy-up in their step. The Cougars had some bigger players overall though I felt this was going to be a wear them down and beat them up type of game.

On the first play from scrimmage, Phillip McCuen mishandled the snap from center, and pouncing on the ball for the Cougars was Josh Rodbaugh. Little did the large crowd know that this would be about the only thing that would go right for the visiting team. On the ensuing drive, the Cougars faced a fourth and two and rolled the dice. The dice came up snake eyes when quarterback Brendan Harps was sacked by Eric Donnelly for a loss of 9-yards.

McGuffey would face a fourth and eight on their next drive with McCuen using his feet to pick up 23-yards. Kyle (la Bestia) Brookman went up the gut for 13-yards. The Brookman show was just getting started with his next run going for 9-yards and a score. Ethan Dietrich nailed the point after to give the home team a 7-0 lead, with 5:16 left in the quarter.

The Highlanders would tally another score before the quarter ended with Nate Romestan busted free for the 78-yard score, after another point after kick we had a 14-0 game. At this point of the game, I think most of the large crowd knew this was fixin’ to get ugly. And it quickly did.

Brookman busted free for a gain of twenty-nine but the drive would net zero points with the Cougars defense showing a sign of life. On the next Cougars drive, the Highlanders got a nice play from Ethan Brookman as he got to Joshua Blatnik for a short loss after a catch on a screen pass.

Kyle Brookman would make this a 20-0 game when he broke off a 61-yard run, the point after kick from Dietrich was true making this a 21-0 game, with 4:22 left in the half. The Highlanders defense would get a pick-six by Donnelly from about 33-yards out just seventeen seconds after their last score making this a 28-0 game.

A Logan Carlisle to Dietrich 19-yard completion set up Kyle Brookman’s 23-yard touchdown run to make this a 28-0 game, after the point after kick was true. The half came to a close with Kyle Brookman making a catch then breaking six tackles to score on a masterful 43-yard catch and run to make this a 41-0 game. The Highlanders took a knee on the point-after play.

The third quarter, as well as the fourth, would fly by with the running clock rule put into play. Christian Cipoletti would register a sack for the home side. Logan Collins made a fumble recovery for the road dogs. Tyler Berick made a nice defensive play for the Cougars when he got to Morgan Shrivers for a short loss. The last big play of the quarter came from Kyle Brookman who recovered a fumble.

The fourth quarter would see Noah Fletcher, a Freshman for the Cougars recover two Highlanders fumbles. McGuffey rotated player after player in the final frame, with the result be zero points and two fumbles. The coaching staff for the Highlanders did their best to win this one with class and to me they accomplished this in a gigantic way.

UNOFFICIAL STATS

COUGARS

48 PLAYS

79 YARDS

PASSING 7-17 1 INT

HIGHLANDERS

51 PLAYS 400 YARDS

PASSING 3-6 1 TD.

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