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Explosive first quarter leads Woodland Hills to rout of Shaler

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| September 30, 2023

Glenshaw – Woodland Hills scored 42 points in the first quarter and never looked back during a 56-14 victory over Shaler Saturday afternoon. 

In a game that saw eight touchdowns in the first quarter, Woodland Hills accounted for six as the Wolverines built a 42-14 lead after the first quarter.

“That first quarter was wild,” said Woodland Hills head coach Brian Tarrant. “It wasn’t in our favor the whole way. They had control of it for the first six or eight minutes. We were able to make some adjustments and respond. Our school record is 60 points. We thought we might have a shot at it today. So it was good to see.”

The Wolverines wasted no scoring on the game’s first play as quarterback Cam Walter threw a 66-yard bomb to Scoop Smith, giving Woodland Hills the lead 21 seconds into the contest. 

Despite being small in stature, Smith continued to make huge plays for Woodland Hills as he ran a kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown, immediately succeeding Shaler’s game-tying score where Brandon London caught a 14-yard touchdown from Keegan Smetanka following a 54-yard drive.

“Scoop is lightning in a bottle,” said Tarrant. “He’s not the biggest guy; I believe he’s the best wide receiver in the WPIAL. He’s always big on the stat sheet. We’ll continue to get the ball in hands because he can make things happen, being hard to tackle in space.”

Scoop Smith caught four passes for a game-high 125 yards and a touchdown while adding an interception on defense.

The back-and-forth continued as Nathan Rozzo scored on a 3-yard run for the Titans, giving Shaler a brief 14-13 lead with 7:49 to play in the first quarter. The drive’s big play was Smetanka’s 63-yard completion to Joey Desabato. 

 

Keegan Smetanka completed 13-of-26 passes for 154 yards with a touchdown but four interceptions, limited to only 1-yard passing in the second half. 

Filling in for an injured Brandon Jones, Zykir Moore rushed for a team-high 80 yards on 11 carries and scored on a 3-yard run, giving the Wolverines the lead back at 21-14, capping a 6-play 68-yard drive.

“It’s Woodland Hills,” Tarrant said. “We pretty much grow the runningbacks on the trees over here. We always have a guy to throw in there, but they’re not as good as Brandon – Brandon is the guy that gets our offense started. We’re looking forward to getting him back next week. But make no mistake, kudos to those other guys for stepping up.”

Woodland Hills began to pull away as Jayden Estes intercepted a Smetanka pass on Shaler’s first play of their next possession, returning it four yards for a touchdown.

Zykir Moore then went beast mode, catching a screen pass and shaking off several Titan defenders on his way to a 57-yard touchdown.

Shaler then fumbled the ensuing kickoff at their 20-yard line yard, leading to Moore’s 11-yard run three plays later as Woodland Hills led 42-14 with 1:50 to play in the first quarter.

Shaler drove twice into the red zone in the second stanza, only to see both drives end with Andre Smith and Scoop Smith interceptions.

The Titans turned the ball over seven times, including six in the first half.

“They’re a dynamic offense with Smetanka at quarterback,” said Tarrant. “He’s a real good player, and to minimize his statistics was huge. The guys lined up and followed the adjustments we made. It happened to lead to turnover after turnover, and I’m proud of the response from our guys.”

Andre Smith scored on a 17-yard run to put the mercy rule into effect with 6:22 to play in the third quarter. Andre Smith rushed for 37 yards on two carries.

The Wolverines added one final score early in the fourth quarter when Cam Walter tossed a 7-yard touchdown to Cymeon McCoy with 10:56 to play.

 

Cam Walter threw for 200 yards on 9-of-18 passing with a pair of touchdowns.

Woodland Hills has won their third straight game since a 1-2 start and will look to keep things rolling when they travel to Highlands next Friday night.

“I love the direction this team is going in right now,” concluded Tarrant. “We opened the season with a tough one against Central Catholic, but even since then, we’ve been in every fight. We’re coming together at the right time for that late-season push to the playoffs. I’m happy with this team right now.” 

Shaler, which has now lost back-to-back games, will look to get back to their winning ways when they host North Hills this upcoming Friday night. 

Both teams are now 4-2 on the season.

Game Highlights:

 

Woodland Hills 56 Shaler 14

Score by Quarters

Woodland Hills – 42 0 7 7 – 56
Shaler  – 14 0 0 0 – 14

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

WH – Scoop Smith 66 yd pass from Cam Walter, (Jacob Mroz pat), 11:39 – 1-66

S – Brandon London 14 yd pass from Keegan Smetanka, (Riley Douglas pat), 9:25 – 8-54

WH – Scoop Smith 98 yd kickoff return, (rush failed), 9:10

S – Nathan Rozzo 3 yd run, (Douglas pat), 7:49 – 4-84

WH – Zykir Moore 1 yd run, (Moore rush, 5:12 – 6-68

WH – Jayden Estes 4 yd interception, (Mroz pat), 5:05

WH – Moore 57 yd pass from Walter, (Mroz pat), 2:26 – 2-45

WH – Moore 11 yd run, (Mroz pat), 1:50 – 3-20

Third Quarter

WH – Andre Smith 17 yd run, (Mroz pat), 6:22 – 4-56

Fourth Quarter

WH – Cymeon McCoy 7 yd pass from Walter, (Mroz pat), 10:56 – 7-59

Individual Stats

Rushing: WH – Moore 11-80, Elijah Nesby 9-27, Andre Smith 2-37, George Hill 1-12, Atkins 1-11, #41 2-(-2). Totals: 26-165. S – Rozzo 9-66, Smetanka 11-80, Sami Tapu 1-0, Isaac McKay 2-12, Braylon Ronel 4-7, Wiley 1-1, Braedyn Witkowski 1-12, Team 1-(-17), Luke Glaser 2-1, Totals: 32-162.

Receiving: WH – Scoop Smith 4-125, Moore 1-57, Amere Brown 1-14, Cordae Weems 1-(-1), Nesby 1-(-2), McCoy 1-7. S – London 2-24, Kaden Orga 5-45, Joey Desabato 4-89, Rozzo 1-(-5), Peyton Planz 1-1, Glaser 1-6.

Passing: WH – Walter 9-for-18, 200 yards, 2 TD, Landon Atkins 0-for-1. S – Smetanka 13-for-26, 154 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT, Max Wiley 1-for-1, 6 yards, Aaron Aversa 0-for-1.

Interceptions: WH – Estes, Scoop Smith, Andre Smith (2).

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