Trojans cap undefeated season with 42-0 win
Darnell Graham
California蘑菇视频 Jelani Stafford (5) powers through West Greene蘑菇视频 Austin Geho (24) and Patrick Brady (80) during Friday蘑菇视频 Tri-County South Conference game at California Area High School.
Darnell Graham
The 1949 undefeated California football team was honored during Friday蘑菇视频 game against West Greene. Members of the team in attendance were (from left) Ed Slosky, John Luko, Jerry Mitchell, Peter Petroff, Steve Orbin, Jim Starkey, Don McCrory, Albert Metzner and Bernie Sosnak.
Darnell Graham
California蘑菇视频 Cochise Ryan (10) breaks the tackle by West Greene蘑菇视频 Cole Whiddcup during their Tri-County South Conference game at California Area High School on Oct. 27.
COAL CENTER 鈥� California rushed for 355 yards and claimed a 42-0 victory over West Greene Friday night, grabbing sole possession of the Tri-County South Conference title and posting its first undefeated regular season since 1949.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 very hard to explain the emotions after winning the conference outright and being undefeated,鈥� Cal coach Darrin Dillow said. 鈥淭hese kids have been so great and they practice so hard every week. They play their hearts out every Friday night. I鈥檓 really proud of those guys and I love them so much. This is so huge for our program.鈥�
Prior to the game, some members of the 1949 team were honored on the field. The 1949 team went on to win Cal蘑菇视频 only WPIAL football title in Class AA.
Even better news for the Trojans (10-0, 7-0) is the potential of a No. 1 seed in Class A after Jeannette stumbled against Clairton, 40-6. The release of the WPIAL playoff brackets will be on Monday.
鈥淭here are a lot of good teams in Class A this year,鈥� Dillow said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure what the playoff committee is going to do, it蘑菇视频 always hard to tell. At the end of the day, it really doesn鈥檛 matter. If you want to go far in the playoffs, you will face those hard teams.
鈥淣o matter who will play, we are still going to run the ball, play good defense and be creative on special teams. That蘑菇视频 our recipe for success.鈥�
Cal is the lone undefeated team in Class A and one of seven WPIAL teams with an unblemished regular season record, joining Pine-Richland, Belle Vernon, South Fayette, Aliquippa, Washington and Steel Valley.
West Greene, who will be entering the postseason next week for the first time since 1993, finished the regular season fourth in the TCS. The Pioneers (7-3, 4-3) will also await their playoff fate on Monday.
鈥淲e came down here tonight and tried to give them a game,鈥� West Greene coach Rodney Huffman said. 鈥淐al is obviously a good team. We had our injuries and we had our limitations on offense. Cal deserves a lot of credit for shutting us down. We are in the playoffs and we have to be prepared next week. We are excited for the playoffs.鈥�
Senior quarterback Colin Phillips (14 attempts for 114 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns) and junior running back Jelani Stafford (18 carries for 132 yards and a touchdown) were the offensive catalysts for Cal.
The Trojans鈥� defense forced three turnovers and limited West Greene to 24 total yards on offense. The Pioneers were playing without sophomore star tailback Ben Jackson, who suffered an ankle injury last week and is out for the season.
After Cal was forced to punt on their opening possession, the visitors fumbled the ball back to the Trojans on their second play on offense at the 36-yard line.
Five plays later, Phillips made it 7-0 at the 7:50 mark of the opening quarter with a 14-yard touchdown run.
鈥淐olin was great tonight,鈥� Dillow said. 鈥淗e has been learning this offense week by week and he is just a sponge with this offense. He did a good job with his reads and made a couple of nice pitches. He is a tough runner and knows how to find the holes.鈥�
The Pioneers coughed up the ball again on their next offensive play, and once again the Trojans made them pay. California increased its lead to 14-0 after an 8-yard scoring run by sophomore running back Cochise Ryan.
Cal tallied two more touchdowns in the second quarter, by way of a 6-yard touchdown sprint by Phillips and the other a 5-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Zion Aldrich for a 28-0 halftime lead.
West Greene had a fumbled snap on its first play of the second half, and the Trojans invoked the mercy rule and running clock with an 11-yard scoring run by Phillips in the early stages of the third quarter.
Stafford capped off the scoring for Cal with a 5-yard touchdown run at the 3:04 mark of the third period.
For the season, the Trojans have outscored their opponents by a 538-74 margin.
鈥淐al is just hard to stop on offense,鈥� Huffman said. 鈥淭heir offensive line is extremely underrated and they have so many good backs with different skill sets. They run very effectively and they are hard to defend for any Class A team out there.鈥�
Tri-County South Conference
West Greene聽 0-0-0-0 鈥� 0
California聽 聽 聽14-14-14-0 鈥� 42
First Quarter
Cal: Colin Phillips 14 run (Dustin Mock kick), 7:50 (7-0)
Cal: Cochise Ryan 8 run (Mock kick), 4:13 (14-0)
Second Quarter
Cal: Phillips 6 run (Mock kick), 8:40 (21-0)
Cal: Zion Aldrich 5 run (Mock kick), 3:05 (28-0)
Third Quarter
Cal: Phillips 11 run (Mock kick), 9:59 (35-0)
Cal: Jelani Stafford 5 run (Mock kick), 3:04 (42-0)
Records: California (10-0, 7-0), West Greene (7-3, 4-3).