Saturday, October 20, 2001
The Blue Devils rolled over West Middlesex, 37-6.
By ERIC POOLE
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- Winning the Mercer County Conference Class A championship is becoming routine for Sharpsville, which clinched its fifth title in six years with a 37-6 victory over West Middlesex.
Of course, winning titles is the kind of routine Blue Devils' coach Paul Piccirilli aims for.
"Every year, when the season starts, our goal is to make the playoffs," Piccirilli said. "Usually, we have to win the championship to do that."
The Blue Devils (7-1, 2-0) scored on West Middlesex's first offensive play when Randy Vecchia intercepted Nate Luce and returned it 25 yards for the touchdown.
Luce, who normally plays wingback for the Big Red, started at quarterback in place of the injured Jake Buzard.
Quarterback change: On West Middlesex's third offensive series, Buzard, one of the top passers in Mercer County, replaced Luce and immediately sparked the Big Red offense.
West Middlesex (4-3, 0-1) drove to the Sharpsville 25 before giving up the ball on downs.
Sharpsville scored next, taking advantage of another interception and a quarterback switch of its own.
Mark Anglin replaced starter Bill Stiger and led Sharpsville on a 53-yard march after a pickoff by Brandon Pavone. Anglin finished the drive with a 4-yard run.
The Blue Devils made it 18-0 less than a minute later on a 63-yard run by Vecchia, who led all rushers with 107 yards on 10 carries.
Vecchia and Ron Haywood (10 carries, 90 yards, 1 TD) paced a running attack that gained 236 yards on the night.
Sharpsville's running game proved to be effective in gaining large chunks of yardage. Blue Devils' runners had runs of 20, 22, 23, 23, 26 and 63 yards.
"When you put 11 guys in the box, you stop the run most of the time," Piccirilli said. "But when you make one guy miss, that's when you break some big plays."
Buzard, who completed 5-of-10 passes for 71 yards, got West Middlesex on the board with 5:10 left in the first half on a 10-yard pass to Jeremy Baker.
Two plays earlier, the junior quarterback converted a 4th-and-11 with an 11-yard pass to Rob Long.
Both completions were on slant passes, which the Big Red executed with some effectiveness. The short passing game was part of West Middlesex's game plan.
"We knew it would be very difficult running on Sharpsville," West Middlesex coach Rick Resetar said. "No sense running into the wall when you can go for the door."
The first half was actually closer than the score indicated, said Piccirilli.
"They've come a long way in the last two years. We played Reynolds, Hickory and Kennedy Catholic. Those were very emotional games. But we came out in the second half with more emotion."
The Blue Devils used that emotion -- and the ability of Haywood and Veccia to rip off big chunks of yardage -- to put West Middlesex away in the second half.
Stiger and Haywood scored on 1-yard runs and Haywood wrapped up the scoring with a 23-yard run with 5:19 left in the game.
Sharpsville finishes the regular season with a non-conference game against Campbell, before the playoffs. West Middlesex plays Kennedy Catholic next Saturday for second place in the conference.
Resetar said his team is getting closer to Sharpsville's level, if it isn't there yet.
"I told them, 'Don't reflect on the score, reflect on your efforts,' " he said. "To be down 24-6 to the team I think will be the state champion, that's pretty good."