Burgettstown provides knockout punch to Fort Cherry
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Burgettstown’s Shane Kemper dives past several Fort Cherry defenders and into the end zone for a touchdown Friday night.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
When Burgettstown and Fort Cherry play this fall, it will be a conference game between Class A teams.
Burgettstown’s Gage Monette celebrates with teammates Austin Ryan, left, and Ethan Brothers.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Burgettstown’s Jake Lounder breaks the tackle of Fort Cherry’s Jake Tkach Friday night.
Observer-Reporter
First-year Fort Cherry football coach Tanner Garry is trying to get his alma mater back to what it once was. The Rangers have lost 18 straight games entering the upcoming season.
McDONALD – It was a rivalry that hadn’t been on the schedule for nine years, and lopsided when it was. And while the current Burgettstown High School football players were not a part of any of those contests, they might have been raised to dislike their neighbors from Fort Cherry.
At least that was how it appeared Friday night.
After all, Fort Cherry hadn’t lost to Burgettstown since 1983 and held an eight-game winning streak that started in 2000. And if that wasn’t enough, although it’s early in the season, first place in the Three Rivers Conference was up for grabs.
From an opening-drive turnover to a varied rushing attack and a stifling defense, Burgettstown dominated their neighbors to the south, getting touchdowns from five different players en route to a 41-0 victory at Jim Garry Stadium.
“We’ve played them the last several years in a scrimmage,” said Burgettstown coach Mark Druga. “But we still wanted to get this one, being a stone toss away. It was nice to get Fort Cherry back on the schedule in a real game.”
Druga immediately showed off his confidence in his defense, deferring the opening kickoff to the Rangers, and he was rewarded almost immediately, as Burgettstown (2-0, 2-0) pounced on a fumbled pitch on the fifth play of the game.
That set up the Blue Devils at the Fort Cherry 37 yard line, and Shane Kemper would eventually score from three yards out for the game’s opening touchdown.
The Blue Devils, fresh off a 20-point fourth-quarter comeback last week, extended their lead in the second quarter with big plays. On their second possession, a pair of 15-yard runs, including one into the end zone by Gage Monette, doubled the lead to 14-0, then Kemper made it three touchdowns on three possessions, finding a hole and space on a third-and-1 play to scamper 51 yards.
“We want to change the line of scrimmage,” said Druga.
“Our backs know we’re not gonna juke and jive in the backfield. We’re gonna keep smashing you in the mouth.”
Burgettstown made it five touchdowns in six possessions in the third quarter, taking advantage of two Fort Cherry (1-1, 2-1) mistakes, a bobbled snap on a punt and another lost fumble, to push the lead to 34-0.
Kemper finished with a team-high 82 yards on nine carries, while quarterback Jake Lounder tallied 75 yards rushing on 11 attempts.
Zach Vincenti, the big, bruising back for Fort Cherry (1-1, 2-1) who racked up 237 yards over the first two games, was held in check, finishing with just 35 yards on six carries. Still, Druga, who visits the same barbershop in the area as Vincenti, had nothing but praise for the senior.
“Zach’s a great ballplayer,” said Druga. “He’s big. He’s fast. He’s strong. And he’s a heck of a young man. We knew Fort Cherry’s game plan was going through Zach. We were going to follow him wherever he went.”
Burgettstown’s line play is difficult enough to deal with normally, but for the Rangers it was even tougher, as they were shorthanded on both lines and playing without injured quarterback Brady Whalen.
“We knew we had to play a perfect game,” said Fort Cherry coach Jim Shiel. “(Burgettstown) played pretty much mistake-free. Sometimes we’re trying to throw the ball and the quarterback doesn’t even have a split second. We’ll hit the drawing board. There’s nobody else out there that’s going to have a line like Burgettstown’s that we’re going to see this year.”