Charleroi too much for Bentworth
CHARLEROI – With its 46-14 win over Bentworth in a Century Conference game Friday night, the Charleroi High School football team moved closer to ending a pair of long droughts.
“It’s a great win. Most likely, we will clinch a playoff berth next week if we win, and the program hasn’t had a winning season or a playoff berth since 2004,” said Charleroi coach Donnie Militzer. “Bentworth came out and surprised us with the Power-I and it got us off-guard. Credit to Coach Skiles, but then we made some adjustments.
“We will clean up some things and make some adjustments.”
Charleroi (5-1, 2-1) will try to secure the winning record and a playoff spot Friday night at Chartiers-Houston.
Skiles, Bentworth’s veteran head coach, implemented a Power-I formation specifically for this game, and it worked early as the Bearcats mounted a scoring drive on their first possession.
“It was new for us and we marched right down the field to score,” he said. “But Charleroi is a good team and we are making young mistakes. The kids didn’t quit, and with young kids sometimes they will, and I am proud of them.”
Bentworth (2-4, 2-3) took the opening drive and went 67 yards in 11 plays using the Power-I.
Riordan Tush scored from six yards and Levi Jordan’s extra-point kick made the score 7-0 with 6:17 left in the first quarter.
However, it was all Cougars for the rest of the first half.
Charleroi countered the Bentworth opening score with a quick-strike.
The Cougars went 80 yards on five plays with Geno Pellegrini scoring on an eight-yard quarterback keeper to make the score 7-6.
Hunter Perry gained 39 yards on Charleroi’s first offensive play to spark the drive.
Bentworth quarterback Shawn Dziak fumbled on the Bearcats’ first play of the next drive, and Michael Polinski recovered it for Charleroi at the Bearcats’ 31-yard line.
After Perry raced 26 yards to the five-yard line, Pellegrini scored his second touchdown run in as many possessions.
Bentworth fumbled again on its next drive and Travis Lytle recovered for Charleroi. The Cougars capitalized as Perry scored on a 25-yard run four plays later. Joey Caruso’s extra point gave Charleroi a 19-7 lead after one quarter.
Perry scored the lone points of the second quarter as he intercepted a Dziak pass and returned it 25 yards to give Charleroi a 25-7 lead with 4:34 left in the half, and the lead held into the third quarter.
For the half, Charleroi had 203 yards on 26 plays while Bentworth had 121 yards on 28 plays.
Both coaches said the three Bentworth first-half turnovers that led to 19 Charleroi points were pivotal.
“Our offense is too good to give us short fields,” said Militzer. “We were able to capitalize.”
“We had those two early fumbles and then the interception. Teams can’t give away the ball and that many points and expect to win,” Skiles said.
After forcing a Charleroi punt to start the second half, Bentworth scored when Dziak scored from one yard.
Pellgrini countered with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Dakota Romantino on Charleroi’s next drive, and the Cougars added two more tallies by the end of the third quarter to make the score 46-14 heading into the fourth quarter.
Lytle had an 18-yard touchdown run and Pellegrini hit Romantino with a 20-yard scoring pass to close out the scoring.
With his second touchdown pass, Pellegrini surpassed 3,000 yards for his career and is within 400 of the school record.
“We came to play tonight and I am proud of (going over 3,000 yards),” said Pellegrini, who added six tackles and a fumble recovery. “I give all of the credit to my line and the receivers.”
Senior linebacker Jake Stefanick entered the game with 61 tackles, who finished with six and a forced fumbl.
“I am proud of the team to have this success after all of the hard work,” he said. “We have to stay focused and play our game.”
Charleroi finished with 390 yards on 50 plays while Bentworth 221 total yards.