Sharpsville pulls out 14-6 win over Farrell

The Blue Devils scored twice in the second half against the Steelers.
By RICK ELIA
VINDIATOR CORRESPONDENT
FARRELL, Pa. -- The statistics suggested that Farrell High football team's halftime lead was fool's gold.
Sure enough, by the end of the night it was Sharpsville High that claimed the pot at the end of the rainbow.
The visiting Blue Devils used a pair of second-half scores to register Friday's 14-6 victory. Both squads entered the contest on the heels of season-opening wins.
With neither team's offense able to penetrate the end zone during the initial two periods, Farrell freshman Dan Odem stepped in front of a Jarryd Summers pass in the left flat and returned the interception 90 yards at 2:11 before intermission to give his team a 6-0 advant.
Despite a 107-24 lead in total yards, Sharpsville found itself on the short end of the score heading into the final two quarters.
Frustrating first half
"It was kind of frustrating at halftime because you're doing everything right, but they're wining the game," Sharpsville coach Paul Piccirilli said. "Our senior leadership brought everybody together. Our captains got together, and they controlled the game with the rest of the team."
Farrell coach Lou Falconi said, "We were wining by score only. We weren't winning because of our effort. They handed that touchdown to us."
Needing a spark, the Blue Devils found it in the person of Aaron Reddix, who finished the game with 169 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.
Reddix's first score came on a 3-yard run off right tackle to cap a 70-yard, seven-play march after the second-half kickoff. Summers' placement gave the Blue Devils a 7-6 lead.
Key interception
On the next series, Sharpsville's David Gill intercepted a Kent Patton pass and returned it 10 yards to the Farrell 33.
Three snaps later, Reddix found a hole in the line, broke a tackle, eluded another defender and raced 25 yards for the score.
"We've been down before," Reddix said. In the second half "we just came out fired up, drove the ball, it was all she wrote after that.
"The offense, we just fired out faster," Reddix said. "Thanks to my linemen. They're the ones that won the game for us."
Defense outstanding
Not to mention a rock hard defense that held Farrell to a paltry 21 yards in total offense, including minus-3 on the ground, compared to the Blue Devils' 290 total yards.
The Steelers ran only five plays in Sharpsville's half of the field the whole night.
Despite the huge statistical disadvantage, the Steelers hung in to the end. With 4:55 left in the game, Farrell downed a punt at the Sharpsville 1.
However, the Steelers never got the ball back. Summers' 19-yard bootleg around right end on third and 5 from the Blue Devils' 31, followed immediately by Reddix's 34-yard scamper, sealed the deal for Sharpsville.
"To control the ball like we did the whole game and still with 10 seconds to go that's the only time it was never in doubt, it's tough," Piccirilli said. "I think our league is one of the toughest on this side of the state. I really do."
Summers sustained a leg muscle injury on his big run and had to sit out the final few plays of the game. Piccirilli said the team's medical staff would be evaluating it after the game.