Raiders roll on
JACKSON TWP — Fox Chapel quarterback Billy Urso was off the mark for much of Friday's Northern Eight Conference finale against Seneca Valley.
The Raiders were more than happy to make him pay for it.
Urso, who had thrown just four interceptions in his team's first eight games this season, was picked off four times by SV, which posted a 36-7 win at NexTier Stadium.
Junior safety T.J. Holl snagged two of the interceptions, returning one 17 yards for a first-quarter touchdown.
“Offensively, we turned the ball over a few times ourselves and had some penalties,” said Seneca coach Don Holl. “When that happens, your defense has to pick it up. The pick-six was huge.”
At the time of the defensive touchdown, the Raiders held an 8-0 lead following Holl's 70-yard touchdown pass to Eric Mrkonja less than two minutes into the game.
Fox Chapel (2-7, 2-5) faced third-and-8 from its own 20-yard line. Urso rolled to his right and moved closer to the line of scrimmage, where he was met by defensive lineman Tyler Hudanick, who was in the process of bringing the quarterback down for a sack when the latter got off an off-balanced throw. The pass fell right into Holl's lap.
“I don't know why he threw it, but he did,” said T.J. Holl. “You intercept a pass like that, when there are just linemen there to get by, you have to score a touchdown.”
Michael Denny intercepted Urso late in the second quarter, setting up Holl's 3-yard touchdown run and the Raiders (8-1, 6-1) held a 22-0 lead at halftime.
The cushion could have been greater. Holl himself was intercepted just before halftime by Fox Chapel's Dave Brown and the quarterback also fumbled following a 37-yard run early in the second period.
“We were pretty sloppy on offense in the first half,” said T.J. Holl. “We wanted to clean it up in the second half.”
Holl had a big part in that as well, rushing for touchdowns of 42 and 11 yards in the third quarter for a 36-0 lead.
Urso, who completed 17 of 43 passes for 180 yards, was also intercepted by Chad Izenas.
Urso and wideout Keith Frankert hooked up on a 10-yard scoring pass late in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders were led in receiving by Mrkonja, who caught four passes for 100 yards.
SV running back Sam Henson, playing for the injured Mason Dehart, had eight carries for 53 yards.
“Sam has been playing a lot for us on defense this season,” said Coach Holl. “He's a tough kid and I thought he ran the ball very well tonight.”
Fox Chapel coach Eric Ravotti declined to comment on the game.
