South Side Beaver ends Mapletown’s storybook season
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Mapletown's Roger Gradek (8) pulls in a Brody Evans pass to put the Maples in position for their only score in the 47-6 WPIAL Class A quarterfinals Friday against South Side Beaver.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
South Side Beaver's Brody Almashy (9) intercepts a Brody Evans pass intended for Mapletown's Evan Griffin (30), ending a late first-half drive.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Mapletown’s A. J. Vanata burshes past South Side Beaver’s Brody Almashy for a short gain late in the first half Friday night during the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Mapletown head coach George Messich encourages running back A. J. Vanata (2) during the game against South Side Beaver.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
South Side Beaver's Slayton Williams (65) pressures Mapletown quarterback Brody Evans.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
With his receivers covered, Mappletown quarterback Brody Evans (23) scrambles away from South Side Beaver's Slayton Williams.
WAYNESBURG – It was a story of rams trampling leaves in the rain Friday night.
South Side Beaver defeated Mapletown, 47-6, in the WPIAL Class A football quarterfinals, ending the Maples’ perfect season.
“When you lose a game like this at the end of the year, you kind of look back at the whole season,” Mapletown head coach George Messich said. “I’m just so proud to win 11 games in a row. I just thought it was a great year for these guys.”
As both teams competed against each other, there was another factor they both went up against: constant rain.
“We stayed under center the whole time,” South Side head coach Luke Travelpiece said. “We were worried about some snaps. We just kept talking to the kids about mental toughness, that it would come down to who’s going to be able to play in the elements.”
It was clearly South Side (11-1) that played well in the elements. The Rams had five rushing touchdowns, one passing touchdown, a blocked punt returned for a score and three interceptions.
On top of that, South Side put the running clock rule into play in the third quarter, something Mapletown (11-1) had done to their opponents all season.
Junior running back Ryan Navarra led South Side with 138 yards on 11 carries, three rushing touchdowns of one, 35 and 49 yards and the touchdown return of 10 yards on the blocked punt in the third quarter.
“We’ve seen Ryan do that,” Travelpiece said. “He just came out and performed like we expected him to.”
Defensively, South Side kept Mapletown’s star senior running back Landan Stevenson to 21 total yards, senior quarterback Brody Evans to 3-for-13 passing for 56 yards with three interceptions and a rushing touchdown of one yard. Junior running back AJ Vanata was held to 25 yards on seven carries.
“We’re just proud of our kids and our effort,” Travelpiece said. “Great team defensive performance.”
With its first loss of the season, Mapletown is eliminated from the playoffs after a year to remember.
“I have never been as proud of a group of football players in my life,” Messich said. “These kids will get over the loss tonight, and they’ll realize what a great year it was.”
Stevenson already broke the Mapletown record for career rushing yards (5,972) and led the WPIAL in rushing yards (2,321) going into this game. He would have joined the 6,000-yard club had he not left the game in the third quarter with only 21 of the 28 he needed.
“It’s definitely important since everybody thinks about it,” Stevenson said. “But I’d rather go out and win the game. If we came out and won, it doesn’t matter if I got my 6,000 yards or not.”
South Side moves on to the semifinals of the playoffs. They go up against Bishop Canevin, the reigning WPIAL Class A champion and the topseed. Bishop Canevin defeated Clairton in the quarterfinals.
“I watched them in the WPIAL championship game last year,” Travelpiece said. “They had great receivers and great quarterbacks. We’ll have our hands full, and hopefully we can come up with something.”