Farrell dominates OLSH, advances to Hershey

Tagged under: District 10, District 7, News

Pa Football News | December 1, 2018

Shane Lux

Prior to Friday night, Farrell head coach Jarrett Samuels had never beaten the WPIAL in the PIAA Class A semifinals.

Well, you can’t say that anymore.

While Samuels coached from the sideline, he watched his Steelers do what they’ve done all season and dominate from start to finish as Farrell rolled to Hershey up a 41-10 victory over WPIAL Champ Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

“It’s the whole WPIAL things,” said Samuels. “I’ve only had a losing record against the WPIAL, they’ve bullied us in past years. Being a player in the WPIAL I told our guys they’re going to have a lot of swagger and we need to run right at them. I knew we could break through.”

Farrell rode an unstoppable rushing attack led by senior Christian Lewis who ripped off 187 yards on 21 carries and scored three times to get to Hershey. The Steelers rushed for 332 yards in the game.

Lewis was held to just 45 yards on 13 attempts in the first half but exploded for 142 yards on eight rushes in the second half. Lewis ripped off monster second-half touchdown runs of 69 and 56 yards that all but wrapped the game.

“It just feels great to be playing in Hershey, I feel very blessed,” said Lewis. “I have to give all the credit to my line. They opened up holes all night long that I was able to run through.”

Lewis would also add a 5-yard run to kick start a 21-0 second-quarter run that put the Steelers up 28-3 by halftime.

Jourdan Townsend raced 13 yards to give Farrell a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter.

Following Lewis’s first score, quarterback Kyi Wright scored on runs of one and two yards to close out the first half.

Wright rushed for 89 yards on 14 carriers with two touchdowns.

“Christian Lewis and Kyi Wright, we’ve been saving them all year for these moments,” said Samuels. “These two have been our money guys, and have been carrying the load for us.”

Farrell’s second touchdown came after OLSH elected to attempt a fake punt down 7-3 late in the first quarter from their 39-yard line that failed.

“I don’t regret the decision,” said OLSH head coach Dan Bradley. “With the way, we figured they were going to score. We felt we needed to keep the ball. Obviously in hindsight maybe we should have punted. But we weren’t going to stop what they were doing tonight.”

OLSH did get into the end zone for the only time in the game to begin the second half. Chargers running back Jay Pearson ran for about a yard, then fumbled – after being bobbled by Farrell, Andrew Schnarre picked up the ball and took it in for a touchdown.

Pearson led OLSH with 13 carries for 71 yards.

Ryan Gehring provided the other score for the Chargers with a 25-yard goal in the first quarter.

“It was a great season for our kids, and we’ve come a long in three years,” said Bradley. “We had a lot of great moments we beat some tradition-rich teams in Rochester and Clairton. We had a great season, but just came up short tonight.”

For Farrell, it’s on to the state championship where they’ll meet Lackawanna Trail, a 24-14 winner over Juniata Valley.

“I knew coming into the week that we were ready,” said Samuels. “Our guys came out, and this was just a total team effort. I’m so proud of these guys.”

Game Highlights:

Gallery Ed Thompson  https://hyxposure.smugmug.com/

Farrell 41 OLSH 10

Score by Quarters

OLSH – 3 0 7 0 – 10

Farrell – 7 21 7 6 – 41

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

O – Ryan Gehring 25 yd field goal, 7:15

F – Jourdan Townsend 13 yd run (Brian Hilton pat), 2:49

Second Quarter

F – Christian Lewis 5 yd run (Hilton pat), 11:54

F – Kyi Wright 1 yd run (Hilton pat), 5:54

F – Wright 2 yd run (Hilton pat), 1:35

Third Quarter

O – Andrew Schnarre 5 yd fumble return (Gehring pat), 8:33

F – Lewis 69 yd run (Hilton pat), 2:41

Fourth Quarter

F – Lewis 56 yd run (kick blocked), 10:58

Individual Stats

Rushing: OLSH – Austin Wigley 6-5, Jay Pearson 13-71, Richard Banks 1-6, #23 1-0, Tyler Bradley 4-(-21). Totals: 25-61. Farrell – Lewis 21-187, Wright 14-89, Townsend 4-32, Jaden Harrison 7-20, Christian Hartley 1-6, Tony Stallworth 1-(-2). Totals: 48-332.

Passing: OLSH – Bradley 9-for-20, 85 yards, 1 interception, Schnarre 0-for-1. Farrell – Wright 2-for-3, 15 yards.

Receiving: OLSH – Wigley 1-18, Schnarre 3-23, Banks 3-12, Pearson 1-4, Ricco Tate 1-40. Farrell – Townsend 2-15.

Interceptions: Farrell – Elijah Harper.

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