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Sharon Earns Steel Bowl Victory 14-7 Over Farrell

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

| September 22, 2024

Sharon – Sharon overcame a 7-0 halftime deficit to defeat Farrell 14-7 Saturday night at Tigers Stadium.

For the first time since 2008, Sharon won the Steel Bowl, snapping a streak of seven straight losses. The two schools did not play each other from 2014-2021.

“With back-to-back rivalry games, a lot of emotion goes into both of these,” said Sharon head coach Jason McElhaney. “They were more ready to play than us tonight. Through two quarters, we weren’t a very good football team. We hung in long enough. We got going in the second half. The kids put a lot of emotion onto the field the last couple of weeks. These are character-building wins. They aren’t pretty, but we found a way.”

Ironically, the last time Sharon beat Farrell was in 2008, when the Tigers won by an identical score of 14-7.

The game was a defensive slugfest. Both defenses played well, and Farrell gained 200 yards of offense while Sharon managed 187.

For Farrell, entering a football game at 1-3 is unchartered territory. But the Steelers came out ready to play and looked like a much-improved team following their 58-0 rout of Mercer last week.

On their second possession, the Steelers moved 54 yards in seven plays and opened the scoring when Youngstown State recruit Julius Phillips caught a 27-yard touchdown from Aaron Pegues on a 4th-and-9.

Pegues led Farrell and completed 12-of-24 passes for 162 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Juelz Johnson added 42 yards on 14 carries.

The Tigers had two opportunities to crack the scoreboard in the first half. The first ended when Dey’mar Cain intercepted Ethan Engelmore in the end zone late in the first quarter.

The second came after a bad punt snap which gave Sharon possession at the Farrell 31-yard line with 1:56 to play in the first half. Seven plays later, Yousef Kanan’s 32-yard field goal hit the left upright with seconds remaining in the half.

“The message at halftime was telling our guys to relax and not blink just because they were throwing something different at us that we hadn’t seen all week,” McElhaney said. “We went in and made adjustments. We didn’t know if Bryon (Roberson) would play all week. A lot of our two tight ends and heavy sets we didn’t practice all week. So we tweaked that and got that into the football game a little more.”

The momentum shifted to Sharon during the Tigers’ initial drive of the second half after they went three-and-out. On the succeeding punt, the ball bounced and looked like it would be downed. However, a Farrell player touched the ball, with Sharon retaining possession at the Steelers’ 35-yard line.

“A lot of high school games are about momentum,” said Farrell head coach Anthony Pegues. “I’m still not well on that play. We had a kid on punt return who shouldn’t have been out there because he didn’t understand that situation and went for the ball. We were controlling the game up to that point. It’s about momentum. They got that first one in, and we couldn’t recover. As the head coach of this team, that’s my fault.”

Kare’mez Norris ran 25 yards, and two plays later, quarterback Engelmore scrambled and weaved his way for a 15-yard touchdown run, tying the game at seven at the 8:36 mark of the third quarter.

Engelmore ran 22 yards, while Norris added 54 on the ground on only four attempts.

Farrell did respond by putting together their best drive of the second half, moving the football from their 22-yard line to Sharon’s 20 before turning the ball over on downs on a 4th-and-2.

Two drives later, Farrell gambled on 4th down again from their 45-yard line. In the play, Aaron Pegues’s pass was batted at the line and caught by linemen, who was tackled out of bounds for a 3-yard loss.

Sharon took advantage, marching 42 yards in nine plays as Ike Friday scored on a 1-yard run on the opening drive of the fourth quarter. Friday rushed for a game-high 98 yards on 31 carries.

“We were able to lean on guys like Ethan and Ike in the second half,” McElhaney said. “Ethan pulled that ball down and was very decisive to run someone over and score. I think that was a huge spark for our football team. That muffed punt was a big one because we didn’t do too well right out of the half. We got the big break. Kare’mez then made a big play on the reverse, followed by Ethan, and it was a jolt of energy.”

The Tigers’ defense then did what it did best, led by all-state players Brodie Miller and Bryson Roberson and a dominant secondary.

“In 21 years, Brodie is one of the best defensive players I’ve coached,” concluded McElhaney. “There’s a great cast over there, too; they play hard, put pressure on the quarterback. We knew we had to keep coming with the athletes they have over there.”

Miller led the way with a sack, an interception, and several tackles for loss.

“This feels great, Miller said. “We got a good speech at halftime to get our guys motivated. We knew we had to play bigger and stronger in that second half and maintain a positive attitude. Every day, our coaches come over and tell each one of us to do our job and make the big play. It’s the fundamentals that make us a good defense.”

In the closing seconds, Ghafir Lampkins played center field and intercepted Aaron Pegues at the Tigers’ 38-yard line to seal the victory.

Sharon will be in action again next Saturday when they travel to Meadville. Next Friday night, Farrell will host Wilmington in Region 1 play.

“We’re moving on to league play right now, and we’ll get better,” Pegues said. “We had too many miscues tonight.

Game Highlights:

Sharon 14 Farrell 7

Score by Quarters

Farrell – 7 0 0 0 – 7

Sharon – 0 0 7 7 – 14

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

F – Julius Phillips 27 yd pass from Aaron Pegues, (Elijah Jackson pat), 4:48 – 7-54

Third Quarter

S – Ethan Engelmore 15 yd run, (Yousef Kanan pat), 8:46 – 3-35

Fourth Quarter

S – Ike Friday 1 yd run, (Kanan pat), 11:55 – 9-42

Individual Stats

Rushing: F – Juelz Johnson 14-42, Pegues 7-7, Dey’mar Cain 1-(-4), Team 3-(-7). Totals: 25-38. S – Ike Friday 31-98, Kare’mez Norris 4-54, Ethan Engelmore 6-22, Terrian White 1-3, A’anavyon Brown 1-(-4), Team 2-0. Totals: 45-173.

Receiving: F – Phillips 2-36, Jamauri Jones 3-34, Johnson 3-67, Team 1-(-3), Dey’mar Cain 1-6, Dorean Cain 2-22. S – Ra’Keem Hughes 1-(-4), Friday 1-7, Cyliem Smith 1-8, Norris 1-3.

Passing: F – Pegues 12-for-24, 162 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT. S – Engelmore 4-for-10, 14 yards, 1 INT.

Interceptions: F – Dey’mar Cain. S – Brodie Miller, Ghafir Lampkins.

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