Game of the Week: Cougars explode in second half to down Mohawk, 42-13
Ed Thompson
Charleroi鈥檚 Hunter Perry sprints down the sideline for a 64-yard touchdown against Mohawk after catching a pass from Geno Pellegrini during the third quarter of Friday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal game at Moon High School鈥檚 Tiger Stadium. The score put the Cougars ahead, 14-13, and they went on to a 42-13 victory.
Ed Thompson
Charleroi quarterback Geno Pellegrini scores on a 9-yard touchdown run against Mohawk early in the second quarter of last Friday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal game at Moon High School鈥檚 Tiger Stadium. Pellegrini threw for 167 yards and one touchdown and ran for 70 yards and two more scores in the Cougars鈥� 42-13 win. Charleroi plays South Side Beaver in the semifinals today at Canon-McMillan High School鈥檚 Big Mac Stadium in Canonsburg.
Ed Thompson
Charleroi鈥檚 Marty Foster (76) sacks Mohawk quarterback Nick Wheeler for an 8-yard loss in the third quarter during Friday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal game at Moon High School鈥檚 Tiger Stadium. The Cougars sacked Wheeler twice and intercepted him twice in rolling to a 42-13 victory.
Ed Thompson
Charleroi鈥檚 Hunter Perry (23) puts a juke on Mohawk鈥檚 Brian Cline (20) while picking up some of his 107 rushing yards during Friday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal game at Moon High School鈥檚 Tiger Stadium. Perry scored four touchdowns in the 42-13 win to move into second place in the 缅北禁地 Touchdown Club standings with 124 points.
CORAOPOLIS 鈥� Lance Getsy wanted to find out what kind of team he was taking over when he began his first football training camp with Charleroi this season.
鈥淚 really pushed them hard in camp,鈥� Getsy said. 鈥淚 wanted to see what they were made of.鈥�
They showed that on Friday night.
The Cougars rebounded from a 13-7 halftime deficit by reeling off 35 consecutive points in the final two quarters in exploding to a 42-13 victory over Mohawk in a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal playoff game at Moon High School鈥檚 Tiger Stadium.
Hunter Perry, switching from his usual H-back position to the running back spot after 1,000-yard rusher Brayden Mahalcin was unable to play due to injury, scored four of Charleroi鈥檚 five second-half touchdowns.
鈥淏rayden went down so I had to step up,鈥� Perry said.
Perry rushed for 107 yards on 23 carries and had two receptions for 74 yards to help the fourth-seeded Cougars (10-1) advance to next week鈥檚 semifinals against South Side Beaver, which upset top-seeded Shady Side Academy, 32-16.聽
鈥淭hese kids deserve it,鈥滸etsy said. 鈥淭hey work so hard for us.
鈥淲e challenged them from day one. I really wanted to test them. I made them wake up and be there by 6 a.m., we stayed till 8:30-9 at night. I wanted to put them in some adversity and see how they reacted.
鈥淎nd that helped prepare them for this time of year.鈥�
Perry faced adversity on Charleroi鈥檚 first possession. After Dom Pellegrini recovered a Mohawk fumble at the Warriors 35 the Cougars seemed poised to strike first, but Perry fumbled on the Mohawk 11 with Hunter Faulk recovering.
Perry quickly put the miscue behind him.
鈥淚 knew it was a mistake,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he hand-off hit my leg and kind of bounced off. I didn鈥檛 think of it as anyone鈥檚 fault.鈥�
Charleroi finally broke through early in the second quarter, taking advantage of a short field after Brian Cline鈥檚 26-yard punt was returned eight yards by Legend Davis to the Mohawk 35.
Perry鈥檚 16-yard run set up Geno Pellegrini鈥檚 nine-yard touchdown scamper through the middle of the Warriors defense. Joe Caruso鈥檚 first of six extra-point kicks made it 7-0.
Mohawk answered quickly. Nick Wheeler found Dmitry Pendro open deep down the right sideline for a 65-yard gain on third and 18 to the Cougars 16. Braydon Cameron covered that in two runs, the second from five yards out for the score. Dylan Lloyd鈥檚 extra point was wide, leaving the fifth-seeded Warriors (9-3) down 7-6 with 8:44 left in the half.
Cameron wound up with 104 rushing yards on 22 attempts and one reception for 15 yards.
Mohawk marched 48 yards in seven plays to take the lead, 13-7, with 3:14 left in the second quarter on Wheeler鈥檚 13-yard touchdown run, and it carried that advantage into halftime.
Getsy had a simple and familiar message for his team in the locker room.聽
鈥淚 told them to play our game,鈥� Getsy said. 鈥淚 thought they out-hit us and out-tackled us in the first half and in the second half I thought those roles were reversed.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 always saying, 鈥極ut-hit, out-tackle, that鈥檚 the team that wins,'鈥� Perry said of his coach.
The Cougars took the lead for good, 14-13, on the third play of the third quarter when Geno Pellegrini hit Perry with a short pass and the fleet-footed senior race down the left sideline for a 64-yard touchdown.
鈥淲e came out in trips left and it was a swing pass,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淭hey sent a couple blitzers so Geno checked down to me, and I knew all the flow was going to go left so I cut in a bit and then right up the seam. It was wide open.鈥�
Charleroi struck again with a two-play drive on its next possession as Perry pulled in a 10-yard pass from Pellegrini then ran 22 yards for a touchdown for a 21-13 lead.
Pellegrini made it a two-score game when he danced into the end zone for a five-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter after faking a pass for a 28-13 advantage.
鈥淲e work on that and Geno is great with that,鈥� Getsy said of the pump-and-run score. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to worry about the pass with him. It all depends on what the defense is giving us and that was open.鈥�
Pellegrini, who connected on just two of nine passes for 28 yards in the first half, ended the game 7 of 16 for 167 yards and one TD. He also ran 12 times for 70 yards and two scores.
鈥淕eno鈥檚 a fighter,鈥� Getsy said. 鈥淚 have no worries when he misses a couple passes.鈥�
Charleroi鈥檚 Dakota Romantino pulled in four receptions for 62 yards and Davis had one catch for 31 yards.
Perry added a one-yard touchdown plunge with 9:31 left and capped the game鈥檚 scoring with a six-yard TD run with 1:31 remaining.
Perry鈥檚 stellar performance didn鈥檛 surprise Getsy.
鈥淗e鈥檚 just an unselfish football player,鈥� Getsy said. 鈥淲hatever role we asked him to play, he did. As an H(-back) he blocked and he鈥檚 a great receiver. I knew what kind of running back he was.
鈥淗aving all these weapons, trying to get everybody the ball isn鈥檛 always the easiest thing, but I knew whoever鈥檚 number we called was going to step up and play big for us.鈥�
Charleroi dominated the game in all three phases, especially in the second half.
Whether it was Pellegrini punting out of the shotgun on fourth down and pinning Mohawk inside its own 10, as he did twice, or getting solid kick returns from Davis or minimizing the Warriors鈥� return game, the Cougars shined on special teams.聽
Defensively, Charleroi forced four turnovers, including three on Mohawk鈥檚 first three possessions of the fourth quarter with a fumble recovery by Colton Linn and interceptions by Dom Pellegrini and Romantino.
鈥淚鈥檓 very proud of the defense, special teams and the offense,鈥� Getsy said. 鈥淭o come out in the second half and get all the turnovers they got and give us great field position, that was huge. I was very confident in the game plan we had defensively.鈥�
Wheeler completed just 5 of 19 passes for 140 yards and was sacked twice. He misfired on his final seven passes with five incompletions and the two interceptions. Pendro had two catches for 113 yards.
The Cougars were clearly the more disciplined team as they were hit with four penalties for 40 yards while the Warriors were flagged 11 times for 83 yards, including five pre-snap penalties on offense.
Mohawk hadn鈥檛 given up 35 points in a game all season, let alone in one half.
Charleroi now has a combined record of 19-3 over the past two years.
Next Friday鈥檚 semifinal winners will advance to the WPIAL championship game at Robert Morris University鈥檚 Joe Walton Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 24 at noon.
WPIAL Football Sums
Class AA聽Quarterfinals
at Moon High School
Mohawk聽 聽 0-13-0-0 鈥� 13
Charleroi聽 0-7-14-21 鈥� 42
Second Quarter
C: Geno Pellegrini 9 run (Joe Caruso kick), 10:38
M: Braydon Cameron 5 run (kick failed), 8:44
M: Nick Wheeler 13 run (Dylan Lloyd kick), 3:14
Third Quarter
C: Hunter Perry 64 pass from Geno Pellegrini (Joe Caruso kick), 10:48
C: Hunter Perry 22 run (Joe Caruso kick), 7:33
Fourth Quarter
C: Geno Pellegrini 5 run (Joe Caruso kick), 11:14
C: Hunter Perry 1 run (Joe Caruso kick), 9:31
C: Hunter Perry 6 run (Joe Caruso kick), 1:31
Records: Mohawk (9-3), Charleroi (10-1)