SV's lightning lasting
JACKSON TWP — The storm clouds may have parted from Seneca Valley's NexTier Stadium, but the lightning remained.
In a game delayed 35 minutes because of bad weather, the Raiders tallied three touchdowns from at least 47 yards out and used a 23-point first quarter to ignite a 50-26 win over Pine-Richland Friday night.
In all, the Raiders rolled up 446 yards of offense.
“There were a lot of plays for us on offense and a lot of players making them,” said SV coach Don Holl.
The Rams weathered SV's avalanche of points in the opening period and pulled to within 29-19 by halftime.
But on the first play of the third quarter, Ben DiNucci's pass was intercepted by SV's Mason Dehart.
The Rams (1-1, 1-1) would not manage their next score until just over five minutes remained in the game and by that time, SV had the game well in hand.
“That interception was huge,” said Pine-Richland coach Clair Altemus. “We had momentum going into halftime and then we got the second-half kickoff. After that play, you could just hear the air coming out of our balloon.”
“Turnovers are game-changers and we have game-changing players on defense,” said Holl. “Our guys made the stops.”
SV's offense stalled on its first two drives of the second half, but the Raiders picked things up following a bad Rams' punt, which set Seneca up at PR's 20-yard line.
Six plays later, Jordan Brown found Forrest Barnes open in the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown.
Barnes would score twice more by game's end — on runs of 25 and 76 yards — to end the Rams' hopes of a comeback.
“This is the worst beating I've taken in Quad A,” said Altemus. “Seneca is a good football team, Brown makes them go. It's a great combo with him and Barnes.”
The Raiders (2-0, 2-0) started fast out of the gate.
Brown completed seven of his first nine passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns.
His 33-yard pass to Paul Hudanick on a 3rd-and-10 on the first drive of the game led to Jon Dorogy's 47-yard scoring run. The team kept its foot on the gas, as Carson Kessler caught a two-point conversion pass from Mike Jones and SV was up 8-0 just over a minute into the game.
Dehart and Dorogy both caught scoring strikes from Brown before Barnes returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to cap SV's scoring in the first half.
DiNucci connected with tight end C.J. Jackson for one score before the quarterback called his own number on a 1-yard sneak late in the first half.
“At the end of the first half, our guys on defense were out of sorts,” said Holl. “I credit (defensive coach) Larry Wendereusz, he calmed them down at halftime.”
Barnes ended the game with 148 yards rushing, Brown passed for 170 and ran for 73 more and Dorogy managed 109 yards from scrimmage.
SV will travel to rival North Allegheny next Friday.
Note: Before the game, the SV Sports Hall of Fame recognized its Class of 2012. This year's inductees include Marlesse (Schlott) Hames, Jim Walsh, Ray Thompson, David Cashdollar, Janet (Wilk) Swope, John Thiebaud and David Ferianc.
