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Sharpsville Knocks Off Punxsutawney 45-34

Tagged under: District 10, District 9, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| October 27, 2024

Sharpsville – Sharpsville snapped a 2-game skid with a 45-34 victory over Punxsutawney Saturday night at James McCracken Stadium.

There was no shortage of big plays Saturday, as the Chucks and Blue Devils combined for 79 points and 975  yards of total offense. There were also zero punts.

“I knew we were going to struggle stopping them, and they have a nice team,” said Sharpsville head coach Paul Piccirilli. “But we ran the ball well, better than I thought. We’ve got to stop with the penalties; you can’t get into positions where it is second and thirty or forty. We must clean that up, but I’m very happy for our seniors. Our offensive line did a heckuva job. We’re doing as well as I ever thought we would.”

The victory heading into the playoffs will help Sharpsville after two consecutive defeats to Wilmington and Farrell following their 6-1 start to 2024.

Sharpsville put a trio of rushers over the century mark and gained 568 yards of offense.

On senior night, senior tailback Jaiden White accomplished a personal goal, rushing for 1,000 yards,  which he accomplished needing 110 yards. He rushed for 141 in the first half and broke the milestone on his 70-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

“It’s a blessing; people were doubting us at the beginning of the season, saying we’d be 2-7 and all that,” White said. “I’m proud of my guys. They turned it up. That was one of my goals at the beginning of the season. But all the credit goes to my line. All those guys up front are big and physical.”

White led the Blue Devils in rushing with 185 yards, while freshman Geno Currie added 142, and Haidyn McFeaters gained 110 on the ground.

“That’s incredible. Piccirilli said. “Jaiden and Geno, I know, get a lot of the hoopla during the year, but Haidyn McFeaters blocks well for us, and I’m glad he had a shot to go over 100. He needed a touchdown, and he was the only one who didn’t have a touchdown. Jaiden catches and runs the ball well. We know what he can do. Geno, as a freshman, is phenomenal inside, so we got inside and outside, and that’s what we need to continue doing. We knew coming into the season we’d be running the ball 75-90 percent of the time with some play-action passing. That’s stayed true for us and has helped our defense out.”

Currie’s 28-yard touchdown run tied the game at seven after a quarter-one play after Brian White recovered a fumble.

Defensively, the Blue Devils forced three straight turnovers, two fumbles, and an interception by Caleb Koncar helped build a 21-7 lead.

White capped an 8-play 60-yard drive with an 8-yard run, followed by Haidyn McFeaters’ 33-yard pass from Aiden Cadman.

Punxsutawney, which gained 405 yards, got back within 21-14 when Jordan Rutan, who ran for 125 yards, scored on a 5-yard run.

Rutan’s touchdown would be the first of three in 36 seconds. The next play from scrimmage for either team went the distance as White sprinted 70 yards for the Blue Devils, and Logan Moore caught a 60-yard pass from Zaden Gould.

The Chucks had taken a 7-0 lead when Moore caught a 7-yard touchdown from Gould. Moore caught eight passes for 138 yards, while teammate Beau Thomas hauled in seven passes for 142 yards, including a 45-yard gain to set up the score.

Zaden Gould completed 16-of-28 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns.

Sharpsville then put on an 11-play 82-yard drive, extending their lead to 31-21 at the half on Rylan Piccirilli’s 26-yard field goal.

On the initial drive of the third quarter, Kalvin McMullough picked up a White fumble and raced to the Chucks’ 5-yard line, where Currie scored from a yard out two plays later.

Again, Punxsutawney came right back as Rutan ran 61 yards before Thomas scored on a 5-yard run on the next play.

Early in the fourth quarter, after recovering a fumble, the Chucks pulled to within five points when Moore caught his third touchdown from 17 yards out with 9:16 to play.

The Blue Devils then spent nearly seven minutes on a methodical drive that wasn’t easy due to three offensive penalties, but they still found the end zone on Currie’s 1-yard run with 2:47 to play.

Punxsutawney had one final drive to make it a one-score game, but on 4th-and-goal from the five, Maddox Hetrick was stopped a yard short of the goal line.

“It seems like we play defense when they’re inside the 20,” Piccirilli said. “We wait until a team gets down there to play defense. I was praying they didn’t score at the end because they would onside kick, and who knows what would have happened.”

Sharpsville will now prepare for the District 10 AA playoffs.

“Our teams done well,” he concluded. “They give 100%. Sometimes, they’re too anxious, and that anxiety causes problems for us, but at least they give 110%.

Punxsutawney will play University Prep out of the Pittsburgh City League next weekend.

Game Highlights:

Sharpsville 45 Punxsutawney 34

Score by Quarters

Punxsutawney – 7 14 6 7 – 34

Sharpsville – 7 24 7 7 – 45

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

P – Logan Moore 7 yd pass from Zaden Gould, (Owen Roken pat), 9:38 – 6-59

S – Geno Currie 28 yd run, (Rylan Piccirilli pat), 4:39 – 1-28

Second Quarter

S – Jaiden White 8 yd run, (Piccirilli pat), 11:11 – 8-60

S – Haidyn McFeaters 33 yd Aiden Cadman, (Piccirilli pat), 8:36 – 3-42

P – Jordan Rutan 5 yd run, (Roken pat), 6:35 – 6-45

S – Jaiden White 70 yd run, (Piccirilli pat), 6:13 – 1-70

P – Moore 60 yd pass from Gould, (Roken pat), 5:54 – 1-60

S – Piccirilli 26 yd field goal, 0:17 – 11-82

Third Quarter

S – Currie 1 yd run, (Piccirilli pat), 10:32 – 3-67

P – Beau Thomas 5 yd run, (kick failed), 10:00 – 2-66

Fourth Quarter

P – Moore 17 pass from Gould, (Roken pat), 9:16 – 3-36

S – McFeaters 1 yd run, (Piccirilli pat), 2:47 – 13-86

Individual Stats

Rushing: P – Rutan 13-125, Moore 1-1, Beau Thomas 2-7, Maddox Hetrick 1-(-9), Gould 1-(-3). Totals: 18-121. S – Jaiden White 21-185, Currie 17-142, McFeaters 10-110, Brian White 1-4, Kalvin McMullough 1-3, Cadman 3-2, Team 2-1. Totals: 55-447.

Receiving:  P – Thomas 7-142, Moore 8-138, Maddox Hetrick 1-4. S – Jaiden White 4-68, McFeaters 1-33, Aiden Puskar 3-18, Currie 2-2.

Passing: P – Gould 16-for-28, 284 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, Team 0-for-1. S – Cadman 10-for-11, 121 yards, 1 TD, Team 0-for-1.

Interceptions: S – Caleb Koncar.

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