GAME OF THE WEEK: Turnovers doom Pioneers in 24-7 setback to Sto-Rox
West Greene鈥檚 Ben Jackson is pursued by Sto-Rox鈥檚 Darnell Anderson (2), Brennan Harris (5) and Marcus Upshaw during Friday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A semifinal at Trinity Middle School. Jackson rushed for a game-high 156 yards on 31 carries and scored a touchdown, but the Pioneers suffered a 24-7 setback to have their season end at 10-2. (Photo by Darnell Graham)
West Greene鈥檚 Brock Bedilion (72), Andrew Litton (81) and Colton Anderson surround Sto-Rox quarterback Eric Wilson during Friday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A semifinal at Trinity Middle School. (Photo by Darnell Graham)
West Greene鈥檚 Gavin Scott tackles Sto-Rox鈥檚 Zay Davis during Friday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A semifinal at Trinity Middle School. (Photo by Darnell Graham)
West Greene鈥檚 Corey Wise tackles Sto-Rox鈥檚 Amahd Pack during a WPIAL Class A semifinal game at Trinity Middle School on Nov. 8, 2019. Wise, who was an All-Tri-County South Conference player on offense and defense last year, returns to the Pioneers for his junior season. (Photo by Darnell Graham)
WASHINGTON聽鈥� West Greene was 24 minutes from playing at Heinz Field, but turnovers and missed opportunities doomed the Pioneers in a 24-7 setback to Sto-Rox on Friday in the WPIAL Class A semifinals at Trinity Middle School in the 缅北禁地 Game of the Week.
West Greene, who finished its season at 10-2, won the Tri-County South outright this year after tying for the conference championship last season, and won its first playoff game since advancing to the WPIAL Finals in 1993.
鈥淚 know a lot of people thought we were going to get mercy ruled out here tonight, but we didn鈥檛 think that,鈥� West Greene coach Brian Hanson said. 鈥淭here are a lot of teams that would love to be here in the semifinals. Little old West Greene to come up and finish a season 10-2 and within a few points of playing at Heinz Field. West Greene is probably one of the top five or six teams in the state of Pennsylvania.鈥�
The Pioneers鈥� Ben Jackson, who rushed for 156 yards on 31 carries and scored his team鈥檚 lone touchdown, surpassed Armstrong鈥檚 Zane Dudek for the single-season WPIAL rushing record. Dudek had 2,955 yards and Jackson finished this year with 3,079. His 50 touchdowns this season were one behind Clairton鈥檚 Tyler Boyd. Jackson finished his career with 7,105 yards and 102 touchdowns.
鈥淚f you load your team with a bunch of Ben Jacksons, you win a state championship,鈥� Hanson said. 鈥淗e has been an awesome player and an awesome kid. He鈥檚 put his team on his back countless times, but that senior class is kind of like that. The Kolin Walkers, the Brock Bedilions, they bleed blue and gold, so it鈥檚 no surprise.鈥�
Sto-Rox (11-1) will play Clairton (10-2) next Saturday at Heinz Field for the WPIAL Class A Championship. The kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.
West Greene had a 7-6 halftime lead, and after recovering a surprise onside kick to start the second half at its own 46, moved the ball to the Vikings鈥� 45, but Sto-Rox forced a turnovers on downs.
The Pioneers forced a three-and-out, drove to the Vikings鈥� 30, but Sto-Rox took over on downs and scored what would be the game-winning touchdown when Diontae Givens scored on a five-yard run with 1 second remaining in the third quarter for a 12-7 advantage.
West Greene had a third drive stall on downs at its own 32 in the fourth quarter before Givens scored on a nine-yard run at 8:47 for an 18-7 lead.
Jackson attempted to spark the Pioneers with a 43-yard return on the ensuing kickoff to the Sto-Rox 27, but a fumble ended the drive.
鈥淲e put the ball on the ground and you can鈥檛 do that in these close types of games,鈥� Hanson said. 鈥淭he better team won the game tonight.鈥�
West Greene fumbled on its next two possessions, and the Vikings closed the scoring when Amahd Pack pulled in a 34-yard touchdown reception Eric Wilson for a 24-7 advantage with 4:46 remaining.
Sto-Rox鈥檚 potent passing attack came out strong, as Wilson and the Vikings marched 80 yards on four plays in the opening drive that resulted in a 27-yard touchdown pass to Pack for a 6-0 lead at 9:58 of the first quarter.
Wilson was 20 of 33 for 286 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Pack caught eight passes for 131 yards and two scores.
The Pioneers didn鈥檛 have much success of their first drive, as they went three-and-out, but after Sto-Rox was forced to punt on its second drive, West Greene took the lead on Jackson鈥檚 17-yard run and Kevin Thompson鈥檚 PAT.
鈥淲e probably stayed more in one coverage instead of switching it up after their first touchdown,鈥� Hanson said. 鈥淲e were trying to bring a lot of pressure early on, and against their offense, it鈥檚 hard to cover when you get pressure because they are going to spread you so far out, so we laid off some of the pressure stuff and let our D-line create pressure. Brock Bedilion played a helluva game. He was making plays in the backfield all night.鈥�
The Pioneers stopped the Vikings on their next three drives of the first half, including a stop on fourth-and-two at the Sto-Rox 45 when Jackson broke up a Wilson pass.
鈥淲e played pretty darn good defense tonight, especially in the red zone,鈥� Hanson said. 鈥淭his was one of the highest scoring teams out there.鈥�
WPIAL Class A Semifinals
at Trinity Middle School
Sto-Rox聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 6聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 0聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 6聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 12 鈥� 24
West Greene聽聽聽聽聽聽 7聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 0聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 0聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 0 鈥斅犅� 7
First Quarter
SR: Amahd Pack 27 pass from Eric Wilson (pass failed), 9:58
WG: Ben Jackson 17 run (Kevin Thompson kick), 0:07
Third Quarter
SR: Diontae Givens 5 run (pass failed), 0:01
Fourth Quarter
SR: Diontae Givens 9 run (pass failed), 8:47
SR: Amahd Pack 34 pass from Eric Wilson (pass failed), 4:46
Records: Sto-Rox (11-1), West Greene (10-2).