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Meadville pulls away from Titusville

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

| September 14, 2023

Titusville – Meadville scored 25 unanswered points en route to a 33-6 victory over Titusville Thursday night at Carter Field.

The Bulldogs rushed for 371 yards and nearly sent three rushers over the century mark as Meadville improved to 3-1 on the season.

“For the most part, our offense was effective tonight,” said Meadville head coach Ray Collins. “The running was what we expected; the kids ran hard, but we had some turnovers that killed drives. But I’ll tell you, Titusville is a much-improved football team from last year. I thought in the first half, we got pushed around by them. I wasn’t happy with our effort in the first half because we weren’t playing at that typical high level of football. We were not playing fast and physically, and they took it to us. They had a great game plan.”

Junior tailback Bradyn Miller rushed for a game-high 120 yards on 16 carries while scoring four touchdowns. Sophomores Jordan Lawerence and Jacoby Thompson rushed for 73 and 85 yards, respectively.

“He’s been playing well for us all season,” Collins said of Miller. “Last week, he had 11 carries for nearly 250 yards. He’s running the ball well and making the most of his opportunities. He was a junior varsity running back last year, but we always knew he was talented. He ran hard with great vision and cuts. He and Brighton Anderson compliment each other, the block for one another, and could care less who gets the glory. Then Jordan Lawerence, only a sophomore, pounds it up inside for us well. The chemistry of our backfield right now is nice. Those guys are all playing real nice football for us.”

Senior Brighton Anderson chipped in with 93 yards on ten attempts while intercepting a pass on defense.

Meadville opened the scoring on their initial drive, moving 50 yards in eight plays capped with Miller’s 2-yard run at the 3:32 mark of the first quarter.

Titusville pulled to within 8-6 early in the second stanza when quarterback Ian McDonald scored on a 1-yard sneak following a 65-yard drive. McDonald rushed for nine yards on 16 carries and completed 5-of-14 passes for 81 yards with two interceptions.

 

“Week after week, these guys have been getting better in every phase of the game,” said Titusville head coach Mike Reynolds. “A couple of weeks ago, we had problems on defense. We have since done better with that. We forced some turnover and had guys playing hard on both sides of the ball, so we’re real proud of that.”

Following a recovered fumble, the Rockets appeared in great shape, forcing a turnover after their touchdown. However, the Bulldogs’ defense rose up and forced a three-and-out, giving them the ball back in plus territory at the 45-yard line.

On the ensuing snap from scrimmage, Jacoby Thompson ran a quarterback keeper 45 yards to the end zone.

 

“That was a big momentum play for us, said Collins. “Titusville pushed us around a little, but we got the ball back. Jacoby is only a sophomore, and he’s going to be great. He’s a great open-field runner and is still learning that quarterback position. When he ripped that off, I thought, wow, that’s what we needed. I was happy with the way that spread package was working tonight.”

Following up one touchdown drive with another, Meadville marched 45 yards on seven plays as Miller scored his touchdown from three yards out with 4:09 to play in the first half.

Meadville led 20-6 at halftime.

Succeeding a recovered fumble to begin the second half, Titusville drove from their 30-yard line into the red zone. The drive was abruptly halted as Brighton Anderson intercepted a McDonald pass, returning it to the 23-yard line.

“When we get into that red zone area, we need to do what we do,” Reynolds said. “That’s one as a coach to get these guys in a good position to be successful. We moved the ball well. We just have to finish drives.”

The Bulldogs then went on the night’s drive, taking the football 77 yards in ten plays as Miller scored from a yard out in the closing seconds of the third quarter.

“That was the turning point in the game,” said Collins. “I felt that turnover was a back-breaker for them. They were down at our 9-yard line. We had good coverage on their receivers and forced a bad throw by their quarterback. At that moment, our guys realized the sense of urgency we needed to play with. We went straight ground-and-pound; we were going to run left, right, and squeak it up the middle until we put the ball in the end zone, and that’s what the kids did.”

From there, the Meadville defense took over, allowing on one first down for the remainder of the game.

“When Titusville was moving the ball efficiently, our defense was able to make big plays,” Collins said. “Whether it was sacks or interceptions, our defense rose to the occasion. It was bend but don’t break tonight, and I was happy about that.”

Meadville added some insurance later in the game, as Bradyn Miller scored his fourth touchdown on a 13-yard run with 1:52 to play.

The Bulldogs are now 3-1 on the year and will host Conneaut next Friday before having back-to-back showdowns with Oil City and McDowell.

“Moving forward, I’d like to see fewer mistakes,” concluded Collins. “Whether it’s turnovers or a missed block on a crucial play. It’s a lot of little mistakes that need to be cleaned up. We will play a rivalry game against Conneaut next week when we look down the road – it’s Oil City and McDowell back-to-back. It doesn’t get any easier, so we have to quit with the mistakes.”

Titusville will look to rebound next Friday when they travel to Seneca.

“The big thing now is we want to continue to improve our speed and play fast,” Reynolds said in conclusion. “Getting the right guys involved at the right times will be key moving forward. But I’m proud of how this team has improved each game.”

Game Highlights:

 

Meadville 33 Titusville 6

Score by Quarters

Meadville – 8 12 7 6 – 33

Titusville – 0 6 0 0 – 6

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

M – Bradyn Miller 2 yd run, (Damian Jenkins from Tate Reichel), 3:32 – 8-50

Second Quarter

T – Ian McDonald 1 yd run, (pass failed), 11:41 – 9-65

M – Jacoby Thompson 45 yd run, (kick failed), 8:00 – 1-45

M – Miller 3 yd run, (rush failed), 4:09 – 7-45

Third Quarter

M – Miller 1 yd run, (Geovani Vincik pat), 0:12 – 10-77

Fourth Quarter

M – Miller 13 yd run, (kick failed), 1:52 – 5-69

Individual Stats

Rushing: M – Miller 16-120, Jordan Lawerence 11-73, Thompson 8-85, Brighton Anderson 10-93, Team 1-0. Totals: 46-371. T – McDonald 16-9, Jaxon Covell 11-55, Kameron Mong 3-9, Nathaniel Stearns 1-15. Totals: 31-88.

Receiving: M – Anderson 2-52, Tahlir McClure 1-0. T – Covell 3-46, Mong 1-15, Johnathan Miller 1-20.

Passing: M- Thompson 3-for-4, 52 yards. T – McDonald 5-for-14, 81 yards, 2 INT.

Interceptions: M -Ryan Reichel, Anderson.

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