Westinghouse defeats Steel Valley in convincing fashion
Tagged under: District 7, District 8, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs
Andrew Schaffer | December 3, 2022
For the first time in 25 years the Pittsburgh City League will be represented in the PIAA State Championship. Westinghouse relied on was able to get there with a 26-7 win over unbeaten WPIAL champion Steel Valley. “It’s all about the city league, nobody outside of our locker room thought that we would be here today” said Coach Green. “We just trying to change to narrative they think city league can’t compete with the WPIAL and stuff like that, we really proved that today and changed that narrative” said Keyshawn Morsillo.
The game started out slow Steel Valley got the ball and on the first play of the drive Cruce Brookins completed a pass all the way down to the Westinghouse 25 yard line. Later in the drive Steel Valley went for it on fourth down but didn’t convert which gave the ball to Westinghouse.
Westinghouse started their first drive on their own 14 yard line. The drive was quite similar to Steel Valley’s first drive. A pass was completed deep down field all way down to the 12 yard line. But just like Steel Valley’s first drive, Westinghouse ended up turning the ball over on downs.
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That was the story of the first quarter with both teams not being able to finish off drives. “It was a big game, it was the biggest crowd any of my kids have ever played in, we had some of those pregame jitters going but once we settled in, I knew we would be able to operate a lot better” said Coach Green.
It wasn’t until midway through the second quarter when finally Westinghouse scored the first points of the game. It was on a 3 yard run by Keyshawn Morsillo. That made the score 6-0 Westinghouse with 6 minutes in the second quarter.
The dominant theme in the first half was defense by both teams and in particular Westinghouse. “They were hungry man, they were hungry the talk all week we gotta fly around play aggressive and play our brand of football, we executed at a high level” said Coach Green. “The defense played lights out, to hold them to 7 points that was big for our defense, it showed that we could compete” said Keyshawn Morsillo.
Another takeaway from the game was the atmosphere. Both sides were completely pack with an estimated crowd of about 4,000 people. “I had to contain myself, part of me wanted to be in the stands with them, it was great getting the community out here” said Coach Green. “I was nervous but I was confident, this was the biggest we’ve ever been in, both stands were packed we just had to get those jitters out and we got the momentum rolling” said Keyshawn Morsillo. The first ended with a phenomenal interception by Cruce Brookins and that kept the score at 6-0 Westinghouse.
On the opening kickoff of the second half the ball was fumbled and recovered by Steel Valley. They wasted no time taking advantage of it when Cruce Brookins scored on a 6 yard run. That gave Steel Valley a 7-6 lead 14 seconds into the third quarter.
House fumbles the kickoff. Brookins keeps for a TD. PAT good.
SV 7
House 6
11:46, 3rd@3RBroadcasting and @PaFootballNews On Location! pic.twitter.com/TXh7UBGmAx— Alex Fydryszewski 🇵🇱 (@FydSports) December 3, 2022
Toward the end of the quarter is where the defining moment occurred. Westinghouse started a drive on their own 2 yard line. The drive started with a run and a personal foul which put the ball at the 20 yard line. After a big pass and a big run they were into Steel Valley territory. Khalil Taylor finished off the drive on a 20 yard run by Khalil Taylor which gave Westinghouse the lead again at 14-7 with 36 seconds left in the third quarter.
That 98 yard drive was probably the key moment of the game for Westinghouse. “I was excited to see how our offense would respond we really haven’t had to face adversity like that all year, I was excited for the challenge and seeing how our guys would answer” said Coach Green. “I said we gotta pick it up and we did pick it up” said Keyshawn Morsillo.
The fourth quarter was when Westinghouse took control of the game. Keyshawn Morsillo scored on a 1 yard quarterback keeper to make it 20-7 Westinghouse. Before the game ended Westinghouse added one last score making the final 26-7 Westinghouse.
Robinson carries for a TD
House 26
Sv 7
:47 4th@3RBroadcasting and @PaFootballNews On Location! pic.twitter.com/UA1HTRNtod— Alex Fydryszewski 🇵🇱 (@FydSports) December 3, 2022
Next week Westinghouse will play for PIAA 2A Championship when they face powerhouse Southern Columbia. “I’m excited for the challenge next week” said Coach Green.
Our wrap up interview for @3RBroadcasting and @PaFootballNews with @WHCoachGreen pic.twitter.com/ko60HqRpDA
— Alex Fydryszewski 🇵🇱 (@FydSports) December 3, 2022
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