INTER-COUNTY LEAGUE Leigh rallies Mineral Ridge to 24-21 win over host McDonald

He scored twice and ran for 119 yards as the Rams locked up second place.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MCDONALD -- Levi Leigh rushed for 119 yards and added two touchdowns as Mineral Ridge posted a 24-21 come-from-behind victory over McDonald in an Inter-County League game Friday at Burkey Field.
The Rams (8-2, 6-1) locked up the runner-up slot in the ICL while the Blue Devils fell to 5-5, 5-2.
"This was a great game," Ram head coach Shawn Brown said. "We knew that we had to get the ball in Levi's hands in order to have a chance and he really came through for us.
"McDonald was fired up but we expected that. We mixed our run and pass really well tonight."
Blue Devils score first
The determined Blue Devils struck first at 3:34 of the opening quarter when quarterback Bobby Ovesny found Ramon Story for an 80-yard scoring strike. Jon Camuso added the placement to make it 7-0 in favor of McDonald.
The Rams sputtered on the ensuing series, but Mineral Ridge's David Gillie recovered the fumbled punt to give the Ram offense new life. Four plays later Leigh scored from a yard out but after a failed placement, the Rams held a 7-6 advantage.
A bad snap on a punt attempt by the Rams proved costly in the second quarter. McDonald's Mike VanDyke recovered the ball in the end zone for a 14-7 lead at the 7:34 mark of the period.
Brian Palmer's 37-yard field goal as time ran out in the first half cut the Blue Devil lead to 14-9 at halftime.
"This was a back and forth game," Blue Devil head coach Dan Williams said. "We never quit. We hung together tonight. We got beat by an excellent football team.
"They got much needed momentum at the end of the first half and it carried over on the opening drive of the second half."
Brown agreed with Williams' assessment of the first 24 minutes.
"That field goal was a big play for us," Brown said. "The score gave us momentum heading into the locker room.
"We told our players at halftime to play together and good things would happen."
Rams get first lead
On their first possession of the second half, Leigh scored on a one-yard run at the 8:39 mark. When Greg Dominic added the two-point try, Mineral Ridge held their first lead at 17-14.
It would not trail again.
Ram quarterback Chris Ault then found Dominic with a 53-yard strike for a 24-14 lead, but McDonald's Derek Gergely hooked up with Ovesny from 58-yards out as the Blue Devils cut the Ram lead to 24-21 with 6:25 remaining.
That was the closest McDonald would get.
Held to just 73 total offensive yards in the first half (32 on the ground and 41 through the air), the Rams ended up with 269 total yards of which 151 came on the ground.
Ault was 6 of 14 for 118 yards and a touchdown.
The Blue Devils registered 268 total offensive yards, 167 coming through the air on the strength of Ovesny's arm. His two scoring strikes of 80 and 58 yards accounted for 138 of their passing yards.