Mistakes doom Girard

Woodridge’s big first half costs Indians in semifinal

By JOHN BASSETTI

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

UNIONTOWN — Trailing 20-0 at halftime, the Girard High football team could have folded to Woodridge.

It even got worse after Adam Charles fumbled after a 30-yard run early in the third quarter.

But the Indians’ persistence enabled the unbeaten team to pull within six points before losing to Woodridge, 34-20, in a Division IV, Region 13 semifinal.

“That first half was a nightmare,” Girard coach Bud McSuley said of a 97-yard interception return by Woodridge and several dropped passes.

“The game should have been a lot closer at halftime, but hats off to that team because they capitalized on our mistakes. We were right there, but didn’t make the plays. That’s the first time all year.

Although Girard, which finished 11-1, out-gained Woodridge, 486-321, the Bulldogs made the big plays when it counted, both offensively and defensively.

Take Marcus Thompson, for example, whose 31‚Ñ2 sacks on Adam Charles repeatedly frustrated Girard’s offensive rhythm.

“We were missing assignments,” McSuley said of Thompson’s blitzes from both sides of Woodridge’s defensive side. “They always made that big play when we had third-and-6, third-and-7 inside their 40, but we didn’t capitalize.”

The running of Anthony Kelly was a major part of Woodridge’s success and much of the headache for the Indians.

“We just did not tackle well,” McSuley said, mostly of Kelly, who finished with 141 yards on 35 carries. The hard-running 6-0, 184 senior was the object of Girard’s attention, but Kelly’s strength and determination was difficult to handle.

“We had people there,” McSuley said, “but we missed tackles. You can’t do that in Week 12.”

When Girard pulled within six in the third quarter following Charles’ 75-yard touchdown run and Ahmad Eggleston’s 1-yard TD run, Woodridge was able to score again.

“That was a nice drive by them,” McSuley said. “They sucked it up,” the coach said of a 63-yard drive that ended with Anthony Western’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Brandyn Peters that put the Bulldogs ahead, 27-14, with 0:03 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

“It wasn’t the way we wanted it to end, but it was a heck of a ride, to go undefeated for the first time in school history makes me so proud of our kids. The kids played their butts off and never gave up. We ain’t the biggest dogs out there, but these kids get after it and played with heart.”

Woodridge coach Eric Ervin said the offensive game plan was to get pressure on Charles.

“In the game film on them, nobody brought heat,” he said. “When they did bring heat, the Charles got flustered a little bit. So we decided to bring it all night long and see how they handle it.”

Giving up the big pass, interceptions and penalties were Girard’s problems in the first half.

While Western was 7 of 12 for 111 yards in the first half, Woodridge’s other dangerous player was Kelly, who had 65 yards rushing on 17 attempts, one of which was a touchdown. The Bulldogs’ season-leading runner also returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown.

Woodridge got on the board when Western hit Brandyn Peters for a 21-yard scoring strike. Passes of 14 yards to Peters and 39 to Zac Bickel preceded the game’s first TD. The drive started at Woodridge’s 3.

The Indians reached Woodridge territory several times in the first half, including the Bulldogs’ 12 before Kelly’s pickoff and long return.

Girard also threatened after getting possession at its 43, but the Indians were thwarted when quarterback Charles was sacked twice.