McKeesport’s Kemon Spell erupts for career-high 6 TDs to win shootout with Mars football in WPIAL Class 4A clash
McKEESPORT — Ayden Yocum sprinted for the longest touchdown of his career Friday night.
But the Mars senior tailback’s 93-yard scoring jaunt didn’t mean much with the Planets down big in the waning minutes of a 56-31 Greater Allegheny Conference football loss at McKeesport.
It was the most points Mars (6-2, 2-1) has allowed in a game since 1990, when it lost 60-0 at Freeport.
“Unfortunately, the defense couldn’t slow them down enough to kinda make it a game there at the end,” Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “Unfortunately, I think (we allowed) too many big plays. We’ll get it fixed, though, and we showed a lot of character there in the second half.”
The Tigers’ Kemon Spell, Rivals’ No. 1 tailback in the 2027 class and, at least for now, a Penn State verbal commit, was motivated by an article earlier in the week in which Yocum was quoted downplaying facing Spell.
Spell rang up a high school career-high six touchdowns, or enough to make Kasperowicz lose count. Spell’s effort included the first two scores of the night.
“It’s motivation,” Spell said of the perceived slight. “Coming into the week, we weren’t No. 1. ... Me coming into this game, I walked into the locker room. The running back over there from Mars (Yocum), he said I’m just an original player, so that made me feel some type of way deep down. It motivated me. ... I’m not just regular. I’m the real deal.”
“We’d all do our job, and then one person — not a single person (in particular), whether it was me, whatever — there would be times where one person would mess up,” said Planets senior linebacker Zach Dentel, who’s been playing with a broken hand since the team’s Week 3 win over North Hills. “And it killed our defense.”
After going three-and-out on its first possession, Mars marched 70 yards in 10 plays to slice the McKeesport (5-3, 3-0) lead in half early in the second frame. Spell responded five-and-a-half minutes later with his third ground strike of the first half.
The Tigers also tacked on a pair of touchdowns in the final 1:07 before halftime, a 1-yard run by Javier Everett and a 66-yard connection between Matthew Miller and Spell, providing a 35-10 cushion midway through.
“We can’t go down like that in the first half and just play how we did,” Dentel said. “We’ve just gotta come back with more grit, I would say, and just play how we know how we can play.”
With Gabe Hein’s help, snaring two passes for 50 yards, Jameson Garvin powered in for his second touchdown of the night out of halftime. Planets sophomore linebacker Liam Corcoran fell on a McKeesport fumble soon after, allowing Yocum to make it a two-possession game with a 4-yard surge.
But Mars couldn’t stop the hosts on a fourth-and-7 from their 47-yard line on the next drive, then Akeem Cochran wheeled for a 33-yard score right after.
Spell returned a punt 86 yards to hit pay dirt and then went 55 yards for his final touchdown about four minutes later for good measure. He finished with 237 rushing yards, one more than Yocum, who got around left end and sped down the sideline to cap the scoring for the night with 2:23 to go.
“Honestly, it just gives me some hope, telling me that we can actually do it,” Yocum said. “That’s just how I look at it.”
“It shows the character they have — the will, the want to win, not giving up,” Kasperowicz said. “A team, a player could easily quit there down what we were down there.”
Mars 0 10 14 7 — 31
McKeesport 14 21 14 7 — 56
First Quarter
Mc — Kemon Spell 8 run (Wyatt Heasley kick), 8:29
Mc — Spell 5 run (Heasley kick), 3:58
Second Quarter
Ma — Jameson Garvin 2 run (Frank Knezovich kick), 11:57
Mc — Spell 25 run (Heasley kick blocked by Ayden Yocum), 6:26
Ma — Knezovich 28 field goal, 3:24
Mc — Javier Everett 1 run (Spell run), 1:07
Mc — Spell 66 pass from Matthew Miller (Heasley kick), 0:08
Third Quarter
Ma — Garvin 1 run (Knezovich kick), 10:13
Ma — Yocum 4 run (Knezovich kick), 8:41
Mc — Akeem Cochran 33 run (Heasley kick), 5:07
Mc — Spell 86 punt return (Heasley kick), 1:08
Fourth Quarter
Mc — Spell 55 run (Heasley kick), 9:18
Ma — Yocum 93 run (Knezovich kick), 2:23
Individual statistics:
Rushing: Mars, Ayden Yocum 24-236, Jameson Garvin 2-3, Colin Yurisinec 3-(-14). McKeesport, Kemon Spell 17-237, Akeem Cochran 2-68, Matthew Miller 8-21, Javien Robinson 1-10, Nicholas Beerman 1-9, Tyshawn Robinson 2-4, Naderian Jones 1-1, Javier Everett 2-1.
Passing: Mars, Colin Yurisinec 15-24-184-0. McKeesport, Matthew Miller 4-4-100-0.
Receiving: Mars, Gabe Hein 9-120, Ethan Kresinski 2-33, Brady Brennan 1-15, Ayden Yocum 2-11, Jameson Garvin 1-5. McKeesport, Kemon Spell 2-73, Javien Robinson 1-14, Akeem Cochran 1-13.
