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Summit Academy Ends 17-Game Skid

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

| August 24, 2024

Herman – Summit Academy ended their 17-game losing streak Saturday afternoon with a 20-16 victory over Frazier.

The Knights last tasted victory on September 9th, 2022, with an 18-14 win over Springdale. What followed was a stretch of 17 consecutive defeats, including last year’s 0-10 mark.

“It means a lot; this is my first home win here going into my third year,” said Summit Academy’s head coach, Anthony Becoate. “It’s very challenging because we have a new set of kids each year. But it is a breath of fresh air to start every year with a new core, find our strengths and weaknesses, and execute.”

The Summit Academy football program is far different from most other football programs in Pennsylvania.

“It’s challenging each year, but it is something that I appreciate. I preach to the kids that football isn’t just football. It’s life. We have kids in our program for six months, and those six months don’t always start at the beginning of the season. Sometimes, it may be two or three months before the season, so I may only have a kid for two or three months. We have about 35 kids on our roster, with about 29 in uniform. In a couple of weeks, I may lose two or three kids to discharges where they go home to their home schools. It’s a constant struggle that we have to deal with, but I embrace it,” Becoate said.

Trailing Frazier 16-14 in the fourth quarter, Summit Academy drove 51 yards in six plays, with quarterback Demetris Crosby scoring on a 13-yard run with 4:21 to play. On a critical 4th-and-2, Crosby ran a keeper 29 yards to the Commodores 14-yard line.

“It feels good to win with a team that are like your brothers,” Crosby said. “It’s been a while since they’ve won, so it feels good. I told my teammates that if we got the stop on defense, we could get into the end zone. We got to the stop. Initially, it looked a little shaky, but we got to the end zone.”

On the ensuing drive, Frazier took over at their 24-yard line with 4:13 to play. Dailan McManus ran 14 and 42 yards in the wildcat formation, setting the Commodores up with a 1st-and-goal at the 10-yard line with just over two minutes to play.

Three consecutive runs by Derek Diamond and an offside penalty against the Knights set the stage for a 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line.

Frazier returned to its bread-and-butter play from the goal line with a direct snap to Diamond, which had worked earlier in the game to convert both 2-point conversions.

However, the Knights were ready this time, and Diamond never had a chance. He was stopped for a 3-yard loss with 1:16 to play.

With only one timeout remaining, Summit Academy kneeled out the clock to celebrate the program’s first win in 715 days.

“I told the kids that I don’t care if they get all the way down to the goal line – they’re not in the end zone until they’re in the end zone,” Becoate concluded. “I was happy that they experienced that. They had a big run down the sidelines to get there, and their running back killed us all game. We tried to prepare for that, and they made a big-time stop. To see that out of our players is so rewarding.”

The Knights opened the scoring on their initial drive, marching 81 yards in nine plays, scoring on Andrew Hammond’s 2-yard run. Demetrius Crosby had a 47-yard gain on the drive.

The two schools went back-and-forth after a scoreless opening quarter. Frazier went ahead 8-6 when Diamond scored on a 5-yard run following a 57-yard drive.

Derek Diamond rushed 20 times for 98 yards to lead the Commodores.

Summit Academy took the lead right back when Crosby raced 69 yards for a touchdown. Demetrius Crosby rushed 13 times for 169 yards and two touchdowns while completing 3-of-10 passes for 23 yards.

“I just know that sometimes you must be a big player,” Crosby said. “There might be some plays where everyone slacks and the coaches encourage you to take the game over. So that’s what I did, and we got the win.”

Frazier took the lead into the locker room when Brady Secrest tossed a 44-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Bandish. Secrest completed 8-of-16 passes for 117 yards.

The Commodores will look to rebound next Friday night when they host Mapletown. Next Saturday at 12:30, Summit Academy plays host to New Brighton.

Game Highlights:

Summit Academy 20 Frazier 16

Score by Quarters

Frazier – 0 16 0 0 – 16

Summit Academy – 0 14 0 6 – 20

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

SA – Anthony Hammond 2 yd run, (rush failed), 11:54 – 9-81

F – Derek Diamond 5 yd run, (Diamond rush), 9:07 – 5-57

SA – Demetris Crosby 69 yd run, (Demonte Smith-Wiggins from Crosby), 8:40 – 2-69

F – Andrew Bandish 44 yd pass from Brady Secrest, (Diamond rush), 3:54 – 3-49

Fourth Quarter

SA – Crosby 13 yd run, (pass failed), 4:21 – 6-51

Individual Stats

Rushing: F – Diamond 20-98, Brandon Gardner 4-6, Bandish 1-1, McManus 2-56, Secrest 4-(-18). Totals: 18-57. SA – Hammond 9-34, Crosby 13-169, Smith-Wiggins 1-(-2), Sharif 1-0. Totals: 15-156.

Receiving: F – Bandish 1-44, Dailan McManus 2-16, Noah Bachinski 1-32, Chris Petruska 3-21, Jacob Fabus 1-4. SA – Mubarak Sharif 3-23.

Passing: F – Secrest 8-for-16, 117 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. SA – Crosby 3-for-10, 23 yards.

Interceptions: SA – Smith-Wiggins.

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