McGuffey held in check by Elizabeth Forward
CLAYSVILLE – For one fleeting minute Friday night, things looked very good for the McGuffey High School football team.
On the second play from scrimmage, a pass from Elizabeth Forward quarterback Zachary Benedek sailed through the hands of a Warriors wide receiver and into the waiting arms of Teague Nicolella. The McGuffey defensive back zigged and zagged around potential tacklers and returned the interception 29 yards for a touchdown. For good measure, Nicolella booted the extra point and McGuffey had a 7-0 lead only 53 seconds into the game.
For the Highlanders, it had the feel of a continuation of last week, when the defense had four takeaways and a goal-line stand – all in the second half – during a victory over previously undefeated Mt. Pleasant.
There were, however, 47 minutes remaining in the game and Elizabeth Forward was determined to use them to their advantage.
It turned out, EF didn’t need that many minutes to respond and take control of the game.
Elizabeth Forward scored a touchdown on a trick play only four snaps after Nicolella’s touchdown and reeled off 42 consecutive points en route to a stunning 42-14 victory.
It was the first Interstate Conference loss for McGuffey (2-1, 3-2), and the Highlanders were beaten at their own game.
Elizabeth Forward (2-1, 2-2) controlled the line of scrimmage, rushing for 326 yards. The Warriors scored two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters.
McGuffey coach Ed Dalton said his team, on the heels of the big win over Mt. Pleasant, wasn’t overlooking EF, which began the season with two losses before shutting out Waynesburg last week.
“I don’t think so,” Dalton said. “They’re good. We didn’t play well and they won the trenches. We missed tackles and did all the things we didn’t do last week.”
After falling behind 7-0, EF went 62 yards in four plays for the tying score. Wide receiver Jonathan Devine took a handoff on a jet sweep and passed to Gavin Martik, who was left all alone behind the Highlanders’ secondary, for a 37-yard touchdown that tied the score less than three minutes into the game.
The Warriors needed two plays to score on their next possession, taking the lead when running back Steven Mayernik scored the first of his two touchdowns, on a 14-yard jaunt. Mayernik, who began the season as EF’s starting quarterback, rushed for 162 yards on only 11 carries.
EF made it 20-7 on the first play of the second quarter when fullback Brian Malloy scored on a six-yard run. The touchdown was set up by a fumble recovery on a completed middle screen pass at the McGuffey 49-yard line by defensive lineman Salvadore Cialone.
“In my eyes, this win gets Elizabeth Forward football back on the map,” said elated EF coach Mike Collodi. “It has been a few years since we’ve been successful. We had a shutout last week and shut down McGuffey for most of this game.”
Mayernik scored on a 16-yard run with 4:10 left in the first half to give EF a 28-7 lead.
The Warriors’ defense overwhelmed the McGuffey running game, holding it to 93 yards through three quarters. When the Highlanders passed the football, that didn’t work, either, as quarterback Marcus Czulewicz was six of 13 for only 13 yards and one interception.
“We have to get back to work,” Dalton said.
It didn’t get any better in the second half for McGuffey. The Highlanders tried a fake punt on their first possession and EF’s Garrett Stanley stripped the ball from a Highlanders ballcarrier and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. Three plays later, following an interception, Devine took a wide receiver screen pass and outran the McGuffey secondary up the sideline for a 56-yard score and 42-7 lead that kicked in the Mercy Rule.
“I didn’t expect this,” Collodi admitted. “McGuffey is a good team, especially after beating Mt. Pleasant. We came in thinking we had our work cut out for us.”
McGuffey’s offense, which lost running back Christian Clutter to a knee injury on a kickoff return, finally found the end zone in the fourth quarter when Czulewicz ran 78 yards against the Warriors’ reserves.
“There’s enough blame to go around,” Dalton said. “When you get run the way we did, with a fifth-grade toss sweep, then you’re not getting coached well enough. … At times like this, my father would say it could always be worse. It could be raining.”