Scotties win at Mount Pleasant, 27-14
MOUNT PLEASANT — The Southmoreland Scotties made it two in a row over long-time rival Mount Pleasant, going on the road Friday to defeat the Vikings, 27-14, in the season opener for both teams.
“We’re very happy to come over here and get the win to open the season,” said Scotties head coach Dave Keefer. “We overcame some mistakes and missed opportunities early in the game. The main thing is we got the win. I’m real happy about that.”
The Scotties got a big game from senior running back Colt Harper. He rushed for 86 yards on 21 carries, scored all four Scotties touchdowns and had two interceptions.
“Colt had one of the best games tonight I”ve ever seen,” Keefer said. ” He had two picks and ran the ball hard. They had a tough time bringing him down. I just can’t say enough about the kid.”
The Scotties opened the game in great field position after Brandon Peterson took the opening kickoff to the Mount Pleasant 49. The Scotties’ first drive stalled at the Vikings’ 25 on an interception, their second drive ended on a missed field goal attempt and the third drive ended when Mount Pleasant forced Harper to fumble and the ball went through the end zone giving the Vikings the ball at their 20.
“Give Southmoreland a lot of credit. They came in a played hard,” Mount Pleasant’s Jason Fazekas said. “We didn’t help ourselves tonight. We took too many penalties and missed a lot of tackles tonight.”
The Scotties got on the board early in the second quarter, completing a drive that started a the Mount Pleasant 29 at the end of the first quarter. Harper ended the eight-play drive with a 3-yard run. He also ran in the 2-point conversion.
The Vikings came back later in the quarter with a 13-yard scoring run from Jake Johnson. The extra-point was no good as the Scotties took an 8-6 lead to the locker room at the half.
The Scotties took control of the game with two scores in the third quarter.
Mount Pleasant took the second half kickoff at their 4-yard line. The drive stalled at the 18 and a poor punt gave the Scotties the ball at the Mount Pleasant 37. Zach Cernuto, who passed for 168 yards, found Riley Comforti for a 30-yard gain to the seven. Harper took it from there for the touchdown. The kick failed leaving the score at 14-6.
The Scotties forced the Vikings to punt again, but the ball rolled to the Scots’ one-yard line. Southmoreland marched the length of the field in 15 plays, ending with a 3-yard run from Harper to make the score 20-6. The big play on the drive was a 63-yard pass from Cernuto to Issac Trout.
Southmoreland increased their lead to 27-6 in the fourth quarter on a 4-yard run from Harper.
Mount Pleasant added one more score in the fourth quarter on a 56-yard scoring pass from Asher O’Connor to Johnson.