West Greene takes Monessen’s best shot, stays undefeated
MONESSEN — Ben Jackson rushed for 324 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries, and West Greene battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat Monessen 49-24 in a Class A Tri-County South Conference game Friday night.
The win keeps West Greene (4-0, 5-0) undefeated but the Pioneers took Monessen’s best shot.
West Greene forged a 14-0 lead after one quarter, but Monessen’s Isaiah Beltram threw three second-quarter TD passes, including a 71-yarder to Marquell Smith with 39 seconds left in the second quarter, to give the Greyhounds (1-2, 1-4) an 18-14 halftime lead.
Monessen’s Darius Stevenson returned a fumble six yards to make it 24-14 less than a minute into the second half.
It was, however, all West Greene from there. The Pioneers closed to within 24-21 on an odd play. Monessen intercepted a WG pass but fumbled on the return and the Pioneers’ Austin Crouse picked up the ball at the 3-yard line and took it into the end zone for a TD.
Jackson scored on runs of 20 and 40 yards to give West Greene a 35-24 lead with 10 minutes left. After a one-yard Hunter Hamilton TD plunge, Jackson capped the scoring with an 85-yard jaunt.
Jackson opened the scoring with a 72-yard run and Kolin Walker’s 30-yard run up the middle made it 14-0.