GAME OF THE WEEK: Warriors clinch share of title with 44-0 victory
Elizabeth Forward's Zach Benadek (16) breaks through the Yough defensive line for a nice gain early in the Friday's Big East Conference game at Warrior Stadium.
Ed Thompson
Yough蘑菇视频 Dustin Shoaf (16) jumps over a Elizabeth Forward defender during Friday蘑菇视频 Big East Conference game at Warrior Stadium.
Elizabeth Forward's Nathan Alberts bobbles a pass from quarterback Zach Benedek before eventually securing the ball for a touchdown in the second quarter of Friday's Big East Conference game at Warrior Stadium.
ELIZABETH TWP. 鈥� The Elizabeth Forward Warriors clinched a share of the conference title for the second straight year with a 44-0 win over Yough Friday night.
鈥淏efore last year, our program only had two conference titles in history,鈥� said EF coach Mike Collodi after the Warriors had a share of the Interstate Conference title last year and Big East Conference this season. 鈥淣ow, we have had two in the past two years. The guys worked hard and deserve this.鈥�
Elizabeth Forward shares the Big East Conference crown with Derry and North Catholic.
鈥淥ur goal before the season was to make the playoffs,鈥� said Yough coach Scott Wood. 鈥淲e came up short after running into some tough teams down the stretch.
鈥淓F is a really good team and deserved to win tonight.鈥�
The Warriors took advantage of a pair of Yough turnovers, as well as great field position, to score all six of their first half touchdowns.
Yough received the opening kickoff at its 16-yard line and drove 47 yards on 11 plays, but the drive halted when EF蘑菇视频 Zach Benedek intercepted a Jake Sever pass and returned it 75 yards to give the Warriors a 6-0 lead with 6:24 to play in the first quarter.
Benedek蘑菇视频 pick-six was just the beginning of a solid night as he threw for two touchdowns and 73 yards. He also ran for 130 yards and a score.
鈥淥ur goal was to win another one,鈥� Benedek said of winning the conference title. 鈥淣ow, we will see what the next step is and who we play.鈥�
Benedek蘑菇视频 return was the only score in the first quarter as Yough controlled the ball and finished with 85 yards on 22 plays. Elizabeth Forward only had 12 yards on five plays.
Yough drove into the Elizabeth Forward territory near the end of the first quarter, but Nico Mrvos sacked Sever on fourth down and forced a fumble with AJ Ackerman recovering.
Elizabeth Forward needed all of two plays to score as Benedek raced 65 yards to give the Warriors a 12-0 lead with 11:09 left in the half.
After holding Yough on downs on its next drive, EF scored on the first play as Benedek hit Chase Whatton on a 24-yard scoring strike with 9:27 to go in the half to make the score 18-0.
Nathan Homa blocked a punt on the next drive to give the Warriors the ball at the Yough 20-yard line. Evan Lewis later scored from four yards out with 6:51 to go in the half to make the score 24-0.
Sever was intercepted by Nate Alberts at the Yough 34 on the Cougars鈥� next drive.
Benedek rewarded Alberts for his interception as the quarterback hit him with a 21-yard touchdown pass with 3:53 to go in the half.
EF took over on its next drive at the Yough 5-yard line after a bobbled punt attempt and Chris Makosey scored from two yards out. Andrew Smith蘑菇视频 extra point made the score 37-0 at the half.
Elizabeth Forward had 158 yards on 19 plays in the first half, while Yough had 101 yards on 40 plays.
The Warriors鈥� Dontae Gilbert scored the last points of the game from four yards out with 1:56 to go in the third quarter after the drive started at the Yough 10.
Yough蘑菇视频 Dustin Shoaf carried for three yards and went over 5,000 yards for his career on the last play of the third quarter. He finished the game with 160 yards on 37 carries.
鈥淲e gave it our all this season,鈥� Shoaf said. 鈥淚 would have rather made the playoffs (that hit the milestone), but it is for the whole team and not just me.鈥�
Elizabeth Forward now awaits the WPIAL pairings which will be released Monday.
Collodi expects his team to be on the road.
鈥淟ast year, we hosted a game and lost鈥� he said. 鈥淭his year, I think we will be on the road so maybe we can reverse the roles, but we won鈥檛 know anything until Monday.鈥�
Big East Conference
Yough聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 0-0-0-0 鈥� 0
Elizabeth Forward 6-31-7-0 鈥� 44
First Quarter
EF: Zach Benedek 75 interception return (attempt failed), 6:24
Second Quarter
EF: Zach Benedek 65 run (attempt failed), 11:09
EF: Chase Whatton 24 pass from Zach Benedek (attempt failed), 9:27
EF: Evan Lewis 4 run (attempt failed), 6:51
EF: Nate Alberts 21 pass from Zach Benedek (attempt failed), 3:53
EF 鈥� Chris Makosey 2 run (Andrew Smith kick)
Third Quarter
EF: Dontae Gilbert 4 run (Andrew Smith kick), 1:56
Records: Elizabeth Forward (7-1, 8-1), Yough (3-5, 3-7).