Mirror photo by Michael Boytim
Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis talks to his team following Saturday night’s loss to South Williamsport.
By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
WILLIAMSPORT — Cambria Heights and South Williamsport have a lot of similarities.
Both teams avenged two losses in their district playoffs to win gold and make the state playoffs and the Highlanders and Mountaineers would rather run than pass to win.
But one South Williamsport trait Cambria Heights would have liked to stay away from came back to bite the Highlanders Saturday night in a 33-0 loss to the Mountaineers in the PIAA Class 1A quarterfinals at STA Stadium, the tendency to be loose with the ball.
Cambria Heights had three turnovers in the first half and four in the game and fumbled a total of five times playing in its first-ever PIAA playoff game. Two of the first three turnovers came with the Highlanders deep in South Williamsport territory.
“I thought we had our opportunities; we just turned the ball over too much,” Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said. “Defensively, we did some uncharacteristic things and missed some tackles, but I thought we got better as the game went on. We just turned the ball over too much, and sometimes you have those games. It just is tough when it’s your last game, because you can’t fix it.”
South Williamsport, save a late interception by Cambria Heights’ Marshall Eckenrode, played an extremely clean game and was whistled for just one penalty for 5 yards. Turnovers, especially fumbles, plagued the Mountaineers early in the season before a couple changes in the backfield with new starting quarterback Tadd Lusk and running back Kaiser Kistner taking on larger roles.
“We were getting quite a few turnovers, and that really swung the game in our favor,” Lusk said. “I threw one pick late, but that was kind of after it was decided. When we win the turnover game, we usually do pretty solid.”
South Williamsport began the game on a 14-play, 69-yard drive capped with a Ryan Casella touchdown run. Cambria Heights looked as though it might match the score, but Dylan Scheller intercepted Isaac Weiland and his 54-yard return set up a 7-yard Kistner touchdown run that set the tone for the night.
“We knew that they had some really good players, some very fast players,” South Williamsport coach Chris Eiswerth said. “(Jasper) is a tremendous player. They ran toss well and got outside, and we just had to contain them. I thought our kids played well, took advantage of opportunities and bent but did not break. That’s kind of how we go about it.”
Play of the game: On fourth-and-4 from its own 46 late in the first half, Cambria Heights opted to run a fake punt by Garrett Jasper. Jasper ran 29 yards deep into South Williamsport territory but fumbled at the end of the run when Scheller punched the ball out of his hands.
Instead of possibly scoring before the half to cut into the 20-0 deficit, South Williamsport added another score on a 29-yard pass from Lusk to Landyn Gephart that put the game out of reach.
Player of the game: Kistner finished with 22 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns for South Williamsport.
Unsung hero: Eckenrode had the interception, a blocked extra point and made a great diving open-field tackle on Gephart to force a fourth down.
Most vital statistic: South Williamsport had 13 first downs in the first half and limited Cambria Heights to three possessions (not counting one play to end the half).
Big punt: Neither team punted until the fourth quarter, but Jasper got off a 63-yarder down to the South Williamsport 9-yard line.
Back to 2A: After playing two years at Class 1A and winning the school’s first-ever District 6 championship this year, Cambria Heights is expected to move back up a classification next season.
Eiswerth: “We had a lot of injuries midseason. Lots of kids were out. It was tough, but it built a lot of character. The adversity they faced, they worked through it. They are different people than they were at the beginning of the year, and they are playing like that.”
Lewis: “Any time you do something for the first time, it’s the most difficult. Any time after that, you learn something from that which makes you more prepared the next time you do it. These guys are trailblazers, and I don’t think many people gave us a chance to be here at the beginning of the season, which makes this even that much sweeter.”
Lusk: “We have all come together, and everyone is having a blast. We’re one of few teams to make it this far, and it’s really nice.”
Cambria Heights senior Hunter Nelen: “We made history. We faced a lot of adversity throughout the year. It was a tough loss at the end, but no one can take away the history we made. The playoff run was amazing, especially knocking off Northern Cambria, our rival, it was amazing. This has been a story that will last a lifetime.”
Lewis on his senior class: “We didn’t have a lot of them, but they led and were great seniors all year. I’m very proud they got to go out the way they did. Obviously, we wanted a different outcome in this game, but they played great, and we didn’t.”
Notable: Weiland went over 1,000 yards passing for the season with a pair of completions to Stephen Nelen, who also rushed for 51 yards. … Trey Trybus led the Highlanders with 53 yards rushing on just six carries. … In addition to his touchdown, Casella ran for 85 yards. … Lusk threw for a touchdown, ran for a touchdown and ran in a two-point conversion. … Trybus intercepted a pass on a South Williamsport two-point conversion attempt.
Records: Cambria Heights (10-4); South Williamsport (11-2).
Next week: Cambria Heights’ season is over. South Williamsport will play defending PIAA Class 1A champion Steelton-Highspire in the semfinals.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Cambria Heights 0 0 0 0 – 0
South Williamsport 6 21 6 0 — 33
First Quarter
SW–Casella 1 run (kick failed), 4:31.
Second Quarter
SW–Kistner 7 run (Lusk run), 9:32.
SW–Kistner 3 run (kick blocked), 5:20.
SW–Gephart 29 pass from Lusk (Ogden kick), :18.
Third Quarter
SW–Lusk 4 run (pass failed), 7:06.
TEAM STATISTICS CH SW
First downs 10 18
Total yards 194 313
Rushes-yards 36-161 48-246
Yards passing 33 67
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 2-7-2 5-9-1
Punts-avg. 1-63 1-27
Fumbles-lost 5-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 3-26 1-5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Cambria Heights, Trybus 6-53, S. Nelen 15-51, Jasper 5-49, Kline 5-11, Mulraney 2-2, I. Weiland 3-(-5). South Williamsport, Kistner 22-128, Casella 17-85, Gephart 3-23, Lusk 2-9, Barry 2-3, TEAM 2-(-2).
PASSING–Cambria Heights, I. Weiland 2-7-2-33. South Williamsport, Lusk 5-8-1-67, TEAM 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING–Cambria Heights, S. Nelen 2-33. South Williamsport, Scheller 3-23, Gephart 1-29, Kistner 1-15.
Services Marketplace – Listings, Bookings & Reviews
