Jayhawks hold off stubborn Greyhounds, 18-14
FORT ALLEN — Monessen had no chance, they said, against the defending state champion and current No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class A playoffs.
Get the mercy clock ready, they said.
“Yeah, I know you guys are surprised,” said Greyhounds coach Mikey Blainfield.
Surprised, the experts were, although Monessen came up ever-so-short against powerful Jeannette and lost, 18-14, in the Class A quarterfinals Friday night at Hempfield High School.
Close and no cigar.
But hopeful.
And proud.
“I tell you what,” said Blainfield, “we have a really talented team. I know it didn’t show sometimes, looking at the scoreboard at some of our games, but a lot of that had to do with playing on grass and mud the last couple of weeks. It was hard for our guys to get their feet underneath that. So playing on turf, we knew we would have an advantage. People weren’t used to seeing our speed and what we can do with the ball. Playing on turf definitely helped us out.”
It definitely helped freshman quarterback Devin Whitlock. A blur of speed, Whitlock scored all 14 of Monessen’s points, rushed for 73 yards on 20 carries, and completed 10-of-22 passes for 135 yards.
But he and his teammates came up short on a final drive that reached the Jeanntee 31 before stalling thanks to a curious 17-yard penalty.
As for Whitlock, the 5-7, 145-pounder, was more dynamic and more dangerous, than his stats might indicate.
“Yes,” Blainfield said. “That kid is 15 years old. He’s a freshman. Coming in he was averaging 17 yards every time he touched the ball. He’s a heck of a player, multi-dimensional, run, pass, catch.”
Whitlock directed the Greyhounds to a first down at the Jeannette 32 with 1:23 on a rolling clock. Trailing by only four points, Monessen was in position to pull off a monumental upset. But a low block was called on an incomplete pass, and Monessen was put into a second-and-26 hole.
After an incomplete pass brought up third-and-26, Blainfield wanted to spread the Jeannette defense, drop the dangerous Whitlock back to pass, and let him scramble a couple of times to get a first down. But he couldn’t.
“Our quarterback was cramping up at the end; he was struggling,” Blainfield said. “He played every snap. Played like a warrior. Never came off the field one time.”
So on third down, Blainfield instead called for a lateral to running back Vaughn Taylor, who would throw it across the field to Elijah Davis. But Taylor was swarmed after receiving the lateral pass from Whitlock and lost three yards.
On fourth-and-29, Blainfield tried another trick play. A pitch right to Davis was going to be a throwback, possibly to Whitlock. But Davis fumbled the pitch, picked it up and never had time to throw.
Jeannette took possession of the ball with 19 seconds left and walked out with a narrow win.
What about the call that put the Greyhounds in such bad shape on their final drive?
“It’s a sketchy rule,” Blainfield said. “The rule says if a guy’s on the line of scrimmage, you’re able to cut him. I guess he was too far away for it to be legal. It killed us. It took the wind out of our sails.”
Taylor, one of the few seniors on the Monessen team, led the Greyhounds with 78 yards rushing on 18 carries and added 15 yards on two receptions.
Monessen lost receiver Isaiah Beltram in the first half to an ankle injury after he caught a 36-yard pass.
The loss ended Monessen’s season at 7-3, a big step up from Blainfield’s first season in 2017 when the Greyhounds finished 3-8.
“These guys are all young,” Blainfield said. “Most of them will all be back next year, outside of (Taylor) and a couple others. I told Coach (Roy) Hall, hopefully we’ll see them again soon.
“This is my second year as the head coach, eighth altogether at Monessen, so we’re building the program. We made a big step forward this year. We were at the bottom last year and now we’re back at the top. We’re going to keep on pushing. This was a great test for us. Our kids are confident now. They’ve played against the best now, so they know where they stack up and where they fall short. So we’re going to take that momentum into the offseason.”
WPIAL Class A Playoffs
Quarterfinal
at Hempfield
Monessen聽 聽 8-0-0-6 — 14
Jeannette聽 聽0-8-10-0 — 18
First Quarter
Monessen: Devin Whitlock 1 run (Devin Whitlock run); 2:06.
Second Quarter
Jeannette: Jackson Pruitt 41 pass from Seth Howard (Seth Howard run); 2:26.
Third Quarter
Jeannette: Marcus Barnes 6 pass from Seth Howard (Emilio Huerta kick); 5:17.
Jeannette: Emilio Huerta 27 FG, 1:36.
Fourth Quarter
Monessen: Devin Whitlock 1 run (pass failed), 8:06.
Records: Monessen (7-3), Jeannette (11-0).