
Shenango Downs Carmichaels 31-13 @PaBackyard
Tagged under: District 7, News
Nate Grella | November 6, 2021
By Colin C. Rhodes
For Pennsylvania Football News
Playoff high school football in Pennsylvania is a sight to behold. Two teams battling it out on the gridiron to make it to the next round. The threat of frostbite and hypothermia looming on any unsuspecting spectator.
Such threats were of no concern to both the Shenango Wildcats and the Carmichaels Mighty Mikes in the first round of the WPIAL 1A playoffs. Carmichaels was 8-2 going into this, while Shenango was 3-6. Yet it seemed like the two teams had the opposite records of each other in this game.
After several minutes in the first quarter with no scoring, Shenango got on the board with a 21-yard touchdown pass by freshman quarterback Sam Patton to senior wide receiver Dalton Peters. The missed extra point attempt kept the game at 6-0.
The Wildcats scored again after the start of the second quarter, as junior running back CJ Miller found the endzone on a two-yard run. The score would stay 12-0 after the failed 2pt conversion.
Carmichaels struggled early on to find their rhythm, but they marched down the field after Miller’s touchdown to answer back with one of their own, a 24-yard dime to senior running back Michael Stewart from senior quarterback Trenton Carter. The extra point narrowed the lead with a score of 12-7.
It wouldn’t last for long as Miller found the endzone a second time this game, this time from three yards out. With another failed extra point attempt, Shenango’s lead was increased by six to make it 18-7.
The Wildcats found themselves in a position to score after recovering a rare Carmichael’s fumble and 39-yard run from Miller to put them in range. Patton found Peters again in the endzone, but a fourth failure to convert the extra point left the score at 24-7 entering halftime.
After strong defensive outings in the third quarter by both teams, Miller would break the silence with his third rushing touchdown of the day, a 17-yard run. Finally breaking the streak of failed PATs, the Wildcats would kick the ball through the uprights to make it 31-7.
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