Sharpsville Downs Cambridge Springs

By Travis Pickens

            Under the old format, Sharpsville would have used this weekend to get healthy and work on things that needed improving.

            Thanks to the addition of two teams, making the District 10 Class A playoff field six participants, the Sharpsville Blue Devils (9-1) had to play this weekend in a quarterfinal match-up with the Cambridge Springs Blue Devils (6-4).

            Sharpsville established its dominance early, jumping to a 28-0 halftime lead before cruising to a 49-6 rout on Saturday afternoon at Greyhound Stadium in Wilmington, Pa.

            “I would rather play a game and lose, than have a bye week” said Sharpsville coach Paul Piccirilli. “The reason why is if you play and lose, your kids can get ready for the next sport. I’m glad they did this.”

            Despite scoring 49 points, Sharpsville turned the ball over four times, three via fumbles.

            “We got lazy,” Piccirilli said. “I don’t know if it’s because we got a big lead and all of a sudden you get careless. I don’t know. I’ve got to give (Cambridge Springs) some credit. They’ve got a young team and they played hard all the way through.”

            Despite playing hard, there was little Cambridge Springs could do against a Sharpsville team who’s only loss was to Region 3 champion Kennedy Catholic in overtime. It didn’t help Cambridge Springs when quarterback Clay Acker sustained a shoulder injury in the second quarter while playing defense. Acker didn’t return after leaving with his arm in a sling.

            Cambridge Springs coach Walt Nottingham said Austin Tapper, who took over at quarterback, hadn’t taken any reps at the quarterback position all season. But Nottingham didn’t want to use his starters’ absence as an excuse.

            “If there was a problem, we didn’t want to go to our (regular backup quarterback), who is a ninth grader,” Nottingham said. “(Sharpsville) is a better team. They just beat us.”

            Thanks to the Sharpsville turnovers, Cambridge Springs had two chances to score inside the Sharpsville red zone, but came away empty each time. When Cambridge Springs finally cracked the scoreboard in the third quarter, Sharpsville was comfortably ahead, 28-6.

            “We forced some turnovers,” Nottingham said. “That’s a problem (Sharpsville is) going to have to deal with. If they turn the ball over next week (against Fairview), they’re in trouble. We just couldn’t take advantage of (the turnovers).

            After a 44-yard punt return for a touchdown by Aaron Reddix inflicted the mercy rule with Sharpsville ahead, 42-6, with 9:44 left in the game, Piccirilli kept his starters in, who later added another touchdown.

            “If I was in that position, I would worry about my starters getting hurt,” Nottingham said of the Sharpsville starters staying in the game late into the fourth quarter. “I would not do that. I would put my second team in a lot sooner.”

            For Sharpsville, the next test comes against Region 2 champion Fairview, who, Piccirilli said, pose multiple threats.

            “Fairview is a nice team,” Piccirilli said. “They come at you. They’re going to try to power us. They’re line is good, their quarterback is good. We’ve got our hands full.”

Piccirilli said come playoff time, one position determines which team wins.

“Every week it all comes down to who’s line is better,” he said. “Right now, our line has done a good job ever since the second half of the Kennedy Catholic game (Sept. 16). We’re just trying to get better each week. We’re peaking at the right time.”

Sharpsville 49, Cambridge Springs 6

Score-by-quarters

Cambridge Springs       0         0          6          0         -           6        

Sharpsville                    21        7          0          21        -           49

CS                                                                               S

8                                  First Downs                              20

47-163                         Rushes-Yards                           35-299

10                                Passing Yards                           106

1-4-2                           Pass (Comp.-Att.-Int.)             6-7-1

163                              Total Yards Gained                  390

2/0                               Fumbles/Lost                            3/3

2-10                             Penalties-Yards                        4-25

First Quarter

            S—Aaron Reddix 32 run (Jarryd Summers kick), 8:57.

            S—Chip Siefert 29 pass from Patrick O’Connor (Summers kick), 5:43.

            S—Ian Brown 1 run (Summers kick), 1:53.

Second Quarter

            S—Rick Golub 1 run (Summers kick), 9:06.

Third Quarter

            CS—Adam Yenny 7 run (conversion failed), 1:36.

Fourth Quarter

            S—Ryan Morris 4 run (Summers kick), 11:25.

            S—Reddix 44 punt return (Summers kick), 9:44.

            S—Tim Findley 3 run (Summers kick), 3:27.

Individual Statistics

            Passing: Cambridge Springs—Adam Yenny 1-1-10-0, Austin Tapper 0-1-0-1, Clay Acker 0-2-0-1. Sharpsville—Patrick O’Connor 6-7-106-1.

            Rushing: Cambridge Springs—Adam Yenny 23-76, Austin Tapper 9-44, Justin Shader 5-14, Lucas Acker 1-5, Ryan Parkin 4-5, Julian Spearman 1-2, Tyler Dunton 4-(-4), Clay Acker 1-(-4), Matt Groll 1-(-6). Sharpsville—Aaron Reddix 9-135, Patrick O’Connor 5-49, Ian Brown 8-40, Rick Golub 7-38, Tim Siege 2-19, Ryan Morris 2-15, Tim Findley 1-3, David Gill 1-0.

            Receiving: Cambridge Springs—Austin Tapper 1-10. Sharpsville—Rick Golub 2-32, Chip Siefert 1-29, Aaron Reddix 1-21, Jarryd Summers 1-16, Ryan Morris 1-8.