Oct 13, 2017 4 min read

MONONGAHELA – In a game with paramount Big Nine Conference playoff implications, West Mifflin scored touchdowns of 50-plus yards on offense, defense and special teams en route to a 37-13 win over Ringgold Friday night at Joe Montana Stadium.

On offense, Parrish Parker, West Mifflin’s No. 2 running back, dashed for touchdowns of 80 and 70 yards in the first half to give the Titans a 13-0 heading into halftime.

“We have two starting running backs in Howie (Reid) and Parker,” West Mifflin coach Ray Braszo said. “They both contribute a lot. It’s nice to have that, especially if one gets tired.”

Early in the fourth quarter, with Ringgold down two scores, West Mifflin’s Daquan Lewis recovered an onside kick and ran untouched for a 50-yard score to put the game out of reach.

The recovered onside kick – and the subsequent return for a touchdown – was sweeter than usual for Braszo and the Titans. Last season, the Rams, aided by a recovered onside kick, scored two touchdowns in the last eight seconds to defeat West Mifflin.

“I never felt comfortable, because I kept thinking of last year. (Last year) was like a nightmare,” Braszo said. “Today, the ball bounced our way; last year, it bounced their way.”

With only a couple minutes left in the game, Ziggy Patterson intercepted an errant Ringgold pass in the end zone and returned it 100 yards for the Titans’ fourth long touchdown. The takeaway was West Mifflin’s third, as Bryant Johnson intercepted two passes in the first half.

“Our secondary has been struggling a lot,” Braszo said. “In the games we lost, we didn’t do very well. Today, it really paid off to have a good game.”

Ringgold head coach Nick Milchovich said the goal coming into the game was to limit West Mifflin’s big plays – something the Rams obviously didn’t execute.

“It was just missed assignments,” Milchovich said. “They’ve got two guys who are playmakers. If you miss, they’re going to make you pay for it. …The last thing we wanted was for them to break off big runs and plays.”

Parker scored the game’s only two touchdowns of the first half. The junior eluded and outran Ringgold defenders on runs of 80 and 70 yards to give the Titans a 13-0 lead.

After starting running back Howie Reid ran 43 yards to propel the Titans into Ringgold territory, Parker, who had 178 yards on nine carries, capped off the drive to start the second half with a 15-yard touchdown run.

Ringgold scored its first touchdown of the game on the next drive, as senior running back Brenden Small barreled in from 3 yards to make the score 19-6.

The Titans responded on their next drive, though, as Reid, who totaled 108 yards on 18 carries, carried the ball on the drive’s last seven plays, ending it with a 14-yard score.

On Ringgold’s next drive, Max Maciejewski caught a 26-yard pass from backup quarterback Bo Haines to bring the Rams back to within two scores. In a game in which Ringgold was missing wideout Darius Tryee to tonsil surgery, Maciejewski was one of the few bright spots for the Rams, catching eight passes for 107 yards.

Lewis’ onside kick return touchdown, as well as Patterson’s interception return seven minutes later, sealed the win for West Mifflin.

West Mifflin (4-2, 5-2) sits in third place in the conference, and barring Laurel Highlands winning out, the Titans are in the playoffs. For Ringgold (3-4, 3-4), the Rams need to beat Trinity in the last week of the season and have a couple other results fall in their favor to make the playoffs.