Harbor Creek Utilizes Strong First Quarter In Win Against Slippery Rock

Tagged under: District 10, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

Shane Lux | September 27, 2024

Harbor Creek – Harbor Creek scored 28 first-quarter points en route to a 35-10 victory over Slippery Rock Thursday night at Paul J. Weitz Stadium.

In the first-ever regular season matchup between the two schools, Harbor Creek scored four times in the first ten minutes to rebound nicely from last week’s heartbreaking loss to Mercyhurst Prep.

“We came out hot after a great week of practice,” said Harbor Creek head coach John Angerer. “Our kids were physical up front. We moved the ball around and got some things going early, which benefited the game plan. Coming off of last week against Mercyhurst Prep and how we finished that game. This was huge for our momentum and confidence. We have to persevere. You’re going to face adversity.”

A week ago, the Huskies were victim to the Lakers’ goal-line stand on 4th-and-1 with 19 seconds to play. Thursday night didn’t see any such drama, but it saw its fair share of big plays in the opening minutes.

Harbor Creek and Slippery Rock met in the District 10 playoffs for three consecutive years from 2017-19. The Rockets won the first two contests by 38-14 and 44-3 scores. The Huskies won the 2019 game 26-17.

On Thursday night, Harbor Creek got things going on their second snap of the football when Tyshawn Jones broke to the outside and scored on a 60-yard run at the 9:01 mark of the first quarter.

What was to come had a uniqueness all to its own, as Huskies sophomore Gavin Zillman returned back-to-back punts for touchdowns from 60 and 35 yards, respectively.

https://twitter.com/PFN_Luxy/status/1839442962520158685

“We fired off in the first quarter and came out very strong,” Zillman said. “Those two plays, there was very good blocking, so I didn’t really have to do much but use my speed. Once I saw the open path to the end zone, I just ran for it and scored a couple of touchdowns.”

He also added 18 yards rushing.

“He’s a special type of player,” Angerer said of Zillman. “He’s got some speed and is football smart out there. We’re lucky to have him.”

On the succeeding snap from center, Landon Demarall intercepted Fred Campagna at the Rockets 42-yard line. On the ensuing snap, Jones raced 42 yards for his second touchdown.

Tyshawn Jones rushed for a game-high 139 yards on 14 carries.

“Tyshawn is a special player also, said Angerer. “He’s got that track speed, and he’s done a great job for us the past two years. We try to put him in a position where he can excel. He proved us right tonight with the game plan we put together at the beginning of the week.”

One play after Jones’ touchdown run, Slippery Rock got the scoreboard when Fred Campagna found Owen Long from an 80-yard touchdown pass that helped bring a wild first quarter to an end with Harbor Creek in front 28-7.

https://twitter.com/PFN_Luxy/status/1839449009859219586

“You can never spot a team 28 points in the first quarter, said Slippery Rock head Larry Wendereusz. “We got off the bus, and you could tell we just weren’t there. We worked all week and knew their punt returner was special, and he is. He got two on us. But after the first quarter, I thought our kids played well. That was more about how we wanted to play and what we needed to play like for the rest of the year.”

In the second stanza, the Rockets went on a 14-play, 57-yard drive, which was capped by Zach Lasko’s 36-yard field goal.

The Huskies took over at their 15-yard line with 1:30 to play in the first half. After two rushing plays for 12 yards, Harbor Creek took a timeout with under a minute to play.

The result was a 73-yard touchdown pass from Heath Betza to Cameron Herman with 31 seconds to play in the half. The Huskies only attempted two passes in the second half, both of which fell incomplete.

“Last week, we learned a lot about our team,” Angerer said. “We knew we could put together a two-minute offense. Everyone is improving, from our skilled guys to our boys up front. That’s all you can ask for right now in the second half of the season.”

The second half did not have the same fireworks as the first. The teams played to a scoreless stalemate, and Harbor Creek gained only 59 yards in the half.

The Rockets held an advantage of 97 to 59 in total yards in the second half.

“Our kids need to see that, “Wendereusz concluded. “When you have one senior on the field, many of those young kids don’t understand what it takes to take that step. That was a conversation we had at halftime. You must take those steps to prove you can play at this level.  I thought they did that tonight. We didn’t come out of the gate hot, but the kids played well after this first quarter. Hopefully, this will springboard us moving forward.”

Slippery Rock faired better as they drove deep into the Huskies’ territory twice. This first was a 15-play 68-yard drive that ended on downs at the 12-yard line. The second was a 12-play drive that began at their 31-yard line before a bad snap on 4th down resulted in a 12-yard loss back to the Harbor Creek 35-yard line.

Fred Campagna led Slippery Rock, completing 15-of-32 passes for 186 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Owen Long had five receptions for 99 yards and a score while rushing for a team-high 30 yards.

The Rockets return to action next Friday night when they host Conneaut. Harbor Creek will look to keep the momentum going when they host Girard.

Game Highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCtH857ei-w

Harbor Creek 35 Slippery Rock 10

Score by Quarters

Slippery Rock – 7 3 0 0 – 10

Harbor Creek – 28 7 0 0 – 35

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

HC – Tyshawn Jones 60 yd run, (Heath Betza pat), 9:01 – 2-63

HC – Gavin Zillman 60 yd punt return, (Betza pat), 6:39

HC – Zillman 35 yd punt return, (Betza pat), 2:29

HC – Jones 42 yd run, (Betza pat), 2:07 – 1-42

SR – Owen Long 80 yd pass from Fred Campagna, (Zach Lasko pat), 1:56

Second Quarter

SR – Lasko 36 yd field goal, 1:34 – 14-57

HC – Cameron Herman 73 yd pass from Betza, (Betza pat), 0:31 – 3-85

Individual Stats

Rushing: SR – Long 10-30, Alex Cornelius 7-11, Campagna 11-29, Team 1-(-12). Totals: 29-58. HC – Jones 14-139, Zillman 5-18, Ethan McAdoo 2-29, Brady Gonda 2-9, Tobias Vahey 9-35, Betza 2-(-2), Team 1-(-2). Totals: 35-226.

Receiving: SR – Long 5-99, Doug Popovec 6-46, Cooper Glass 2-37, Logan Schlobohm 1-4, Cornelius 1-0. HC – Herman 1-73, Vahey 1-4, Jones 1-3.

Passing: SR – Campagna 15-for-32, 186 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. HC – Betza 3-for-7, 80 yards, 1 TD.

Interceptions: HC – Landon Demarall.

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