Oct 26, 2023 5 min read

Waynesburg clinched a spot in the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2014 following a 45-27 victory over Charleroi in Class 2A Century Conference play on Friday at Myron Pottios Stadium.

The Raiders (3-3, 7-3) will enter the postseason as the fourth-place team out of the Century Conference.

Waynesburg was playing without quarterback Jake Stephenson, but Breydon Woods made up for it in rushing for 271 yards on 22 carries and scored three touchdowns.

Teagen Crouse started at quarterback and scored on a 1-yard run and threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Ross Tennant with seven seconds remaining in the first half.

Woods found the end zone on runs of 30, 46 and 12 yards, and Crouse’s touchdown gave Waynesburg a 28-0 lead with 10:53 left in the second quarter.

The Cougars (0-6, 0-9) responded with three straight touchdowns to cut the deficit to 28-20 with 29 seconds left in the second quarter.

Gianni Pellegrini caught an 80-yard touchdown reception from Jackson Keranko before Xavier Small-Thomas Jr. and Pellegrini scored on 1-yard runs.

Chase Fox’s 69-yard interception return with 4:06 left in the third quarter extended the Raiders’ lead to 42-20.

Keranko scored on a 1-yard run at 1:53 of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 15.

Waynesburg’s Dalton Taylor was six-for-six on PATs and kicked a 22-yard field goal.

Fort Cherry 55, Burgettstown 22

Burgettstown had a one-point lead early in the second quarter, then Matt Sieg decided to take matters into his own hands.

The Fort Cherry sophomore quarterback scored the next three touchdowns en route to a 55-22 victory in Class A Black Hills Conference play.

The Rangers completed the regular season undefeated at 7-0 in conference play and 10-0 overall. The Blue Devils fell to 4-3 and 5-4. Both teams have qualified for the playoffs.

Sieg’s 22-yard run with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter and Nik Massey converted on the first of seven PATs for a 7-0 lead.

Burgettstown’s Zachary Schrockman pulled in a 47-yard touchdown reception from Brodie Kuzior and the Blue Devils added the two-point conversion for an 8-7 advantage at 5:55 of the first quarter.

Sieg scored on a 19-yard run at 4:24 of the first quarter before Rudy Brown’s 24-yard run gave the visitors a 15-14 lead after Colton County’s extra point at 11:25 of the second quarter.

Monessen 36, Beth-Center 16

Monessen came out strong and didn’t let its guard down in a 36-16 victory in Class A Tri-County South action to clinch a playoff spot.

The Greyhounds (3-4, 4-6) tied the Bulldogs (3-4, 3-7) in conference play, but earned the final spot in the head-to-head matchup.

Tyvaughn Kershaw scored the opening touchdown with 6:09 left in the first quarter for Monessen, and after teammate Tavian Taylor scored from seven yards out, Kershaw added another score for an 18-0 lead.

Jermere Majors recovered a fumble in the end zone with 1:14 left in the second quarter to extend the Greyhounds’ advantage to 24-0 at halftime.

Taylor scored on a 75-yard run in the third before Johan Sussan got Beth-Center on the scoreboard with a 51-yard run.

Dennis Hawkins threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Timothy Kershaw in the third quarter before Beth-Center’s Ethan Varesko scored on a 57-yard run.

Taylor rushed for 120 yards on 10 carries and Tyvaughn Taylor gained 107 on 18 carries.

Varesko gained 213 yards on 21 attempts.

Canon-McMillan 41, Mt. Lebanon 28

T.J. Sabtucci caught two short touchdown passes from Mike Evans, Zach Welsh ran for two scores in the third quarter and Zach Barzd booted two field goals as Canon-McMillan defeated Mt. Lebanon 41-28 in a Class 6A Tri-County Five Conference game.

The win secures third place in the conference for Canon-McMillan (2-2, 6-4). Mt. Lebanon finishes 2-2, 5-5. Both teams have qualified for the playoffs and will start with a road game, the Big Macs likely playing at North Allegheny, which would be a rematch of last year’s postseason.

Mt. Lebanon scored first against the Big Macs but Canon-McMillan reeled off the next 41 points. The Big Macs led 10-7 after one quarter, 20-7 at halftime and 34-7 after three quarters.

Noah Schareli caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Michael Malone less than four minutes into the game, giving Mt. Lebanon a 7-0 lead.

Canon-McMillan took the lead on an eight-yard Evans pass to Sabatucci and a 32-yard field goal by Barzd.

Evans completed 17 of 39 passes for 198 yards.

The C-M lead went to 17-7 when Geno Calgaro, who had blocked a Lebo punt earlier in the game, scored on a one-yard plunge. Barzd made it 20-7 with a 38-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.

The Big Macs dominated the first half, running 50 offensive plays to Mt. Lebanon’s 17.

Welsh had touchdown runs of 34 and 16 yards in the third quarter to break the game open. Welsh ran for 133 yards on 25 carries.

Sabatucci caught his second TD pass, from four yards, 12 seconds into the fourth quarter, making it a 41-7 game.

Mt. Lebanon scored three touchdown in the final 10 minutes, including one with 19 seconds remaining.

USC 34, South Fayette 21

Julian Dahlem ran for a touchdown and returned an interception for a score, Mason Chalmers had two TD runs and Upper St. Clair defeated South Fayette 34-21 in a Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference game.

With South Fayette leading 7-6, Dahlem bolted 25 yards to end zone in the second quarter to put USC (3-2, 8-2) ahead for good. Chalmers added his second TD run, coving two yards, in the final minute of the first half. Dahlem had a 33-yard pick-six in the third quarter.

South Fayette (1-4, 4-6) scored on a touchdown catches by Mike Gimigliano and Noah Knox, and a 24-yard run by Talan Mizenko.