Oct 8, 2020 6 min read

McGuffey head coach Ed Dalton earned his 200th career victory as the Highlanders rolled past Waynesburg 54-8 in a Class 2A Century Conference game Friday night.

Only five coaches who have spent time at Washington County schools have ever won 200 career games and Dalton is part of that magic number.

Jim Garry tops the list with 265 wins accumulated at McDonald and Fort Cherry. Guy Montecalvo won 216 games at Washington and Canon-McMillan. They are the only coaches to win 200 games exclusively at Washington County schools.

Gawen Stoker, who coached briefly at Trinity, won 248 games but the vast majority were at schools outside the WPIAL. Only five of Stoker’s wins came at Trinity.

Rab Currie, won 212 games in 36 seasons at Charleroi and Monessen. Currie won 184 times at Charleroi.

Dalton’s 200 wins have been accumulated at McGuffey, Trinity, Mt. Pleasant, Altoona and Purchase Line.

Kyle Brookman and Jared Johnson each scored twice.Brookman had runs of 10 and 28 yards and Johnson tied a record with a 100-yard interception return for the Highlanders (4-0, 4-1).

McKinley Whipkey, Philip McCuen and Nate Romestan had short scoring runs for McGuffey.

Breylon Woods scored for Waynesburg (0-5, 0-5).

Fort Cherry 21, Rochester 19

Maddox Truschel scored on a 10-yard quarterback draw with 47 seconds remaining as Fort Cherry stunned previously undefeated Rochester 21-19 at Jim Garry Stadium.

The win was the second in a row for Fort Cherry (2-3, 2-3), which twice gained the lead in the fourth quarter. A 3-yard touchdown run by Chase Belsterling gave the Rangers a 14-13 lead with 3:01 to play, but Rochester (4-1, 4-1) went on top 19-14 on Jerome Mullins’ 37-yard scoring reception.

Rochester led 13-0 in the second quarter before Fort Cherry got on the scoreboard on the first 10-yard TD run by Truschel.

On his second scoring run, Truschel was able to beat Rochester defenders to the front right conrer of the end zone and get the ball over the goal line before being pushed out of bounds. Rochester then drove to the FC 41 before turning the ball on on downs.

Truschel completed 10 of 16 passes for 152 yards and rushed for 95 yards on 17 attempts. FC’s Anthony Dalesandro caught five passes for 104 yards.

Avella 13, Mapletown 7

Noah Markle had two short touchdown runs, including the game-winner with 7:42 remaining, as Avella pulled out a 13-7 victory over Mapletown in a Class A Tri-County South Conference game.

Avella (4-1, 4-1), bounced back from a loss to California last week with a hard-fought win in a defensive-oriented game.

Markle gave Avella a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter when scored on a one-yard plunge. Mapletown (1-4, 1-4), however, pulled even with 36 seconds remaining in the first half when Landan Stevenson scored on a one-yard run.

That’s the way the score stayed until Markle’s four-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Avella held a 243-145 edge in total offense. Quarterback K.J. Rush led the Eagles in rushing with 77 yards on 15 carries. He completed nine of 19 passes for 107 yards with two interceptions. Brandon Samol caught five passes for 61 yards.

Avella’s defense held Stevenson to 83 yards on 23 carries. Mapletown quarterback Max Vanata completed six of 10 passes for 68 yards with one interception.

South Fayette 26, Bethel Park 7

Naman Alemada passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns as South Fayette downed Bethel Park, 26-7, in an Allegheny Six Conference in Class 5A.

Alemada hit Charley Rossi from 52 yards out and Ryan McGuire from 18 yards as South Fayette moved to 2-1 in the conference and 3-2 overall.

Shay Aitken returned a recovered fumble 67 yards for another South Fayette score.

Troy Volpatti scored on a one-yard run for BP (0-5, 0-5),

Aitken rushed for 100 yards on 19 carries and McGuire caught five passes for 97 yards.

Bentworth 48, West Greene 40

Owen Petrisek rushed for 163 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries, scored a two-point conversion, caught a TD pass and threw for a score as Bentworth defeated West Greene 48-40 in a wild Class A Tri-County South Conference game.

Bentworth bolted to a 33-0 lead early in the second quarter before West Greene twice pulled to withon one point in the second half, the last being at 41-40 after a 65-yard TD run and two-point conversion by Colin Brady with 8:23 remaining.

Bentworth, however, sealed the win with a 47-yard scoring jaunt by Trent Cavanaugh with 3:52 to play and then stopping West Greene at the Bearcats’ 15-yard line with one minute left.

Cavanaugh rushed for 131 yards on 19 carries. For West Greene, Brady gained 194 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns.

Petrisek had scoring runs of 29, 3 and 54 yards and threw a 36-yard TD pass to Vitali Daniels, all in the first quarter. Petrisek caught a 24-yard TD pass from Seth Adams in the second quarter. Adams had two TD tosses.

West Greene’s Wes Whipkey hooked up with Nathan Orndoff on TD passes of 61 and 73 yards.

Belle Vernon 54, Ringgold 0

Devin Whitlock rushed for 120 yards on just three carries and scored four touchdowns as Belle Vernon shut out Ringgold, 54-0, ina Big 8 Conference game in lass 4A.

Whitlock had runs of 82,1 and 31 yards and returned an interception 105 yards for a score for BV (4-1, 4-1). Dane Anden also scored on a 68-yard run.

Ryan Hamer returned an interception for a touchdown and also scored on a 34-yard run.

Ringgold fell to 0-4 and 1-4.

Burgettstown 29, Cornell 14

Jackson LaRocka passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Burgettstown’s defense held Cornell scoreless for the first three quarters as the Blue Devils defeated the Raiders 29-14 in a Class A Big Seven Conference game.

LaRocka completed five of seven passes for 108 yards and threw scoring tosses of 25 yards to Shane Kemper and 25 yards to Cole Shergi. LaRocka also had a one-yard scoring plunge, helping Burgettstown build a 16-0 lead after three quarters.

Kemper started the scoring with a one-yard TD run and the Blue Devils tacked on a safety for an 8-0 lead in the first quarter.