Laurel wins, but not enough

By JOHN D’ABRUZZO

jd’abruzzo@ncnewsonline.com

Jerry Holzhauser didn’t want to know.

The Laurel High football coach even had a gag order out last night for everyone around Spartan Stadium to keep the Neshannock-Union score to themselves. He especially asked that it not be announced over the loudspeaker.

“We didn’t want to know, really,” Holzhauser said. “We just wanted to play this game. It’s always a big game.”

And despite the fact Holzhauser’s Spartans went out and routed Shenango, 35-6, in WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference action, Neshannock’s win at Union squashed Laurel’s playoff aspirations.

The Spartans (3-4 conference, 3-6 overall) needed assistance from Union last night and Western Beaver today to make the postseason. Those teams needed to knock off the Lancers and South Side Beaver, respectively, to put Laurel in the Class A playoffs.

Nevertheless, the Spartans played against Shenango (1-6, 3-6) like it was the first night of postseason play.

“That’s the outcome we wanted,” Laurel quarterback Tyler Forbes said. “We did it for the seniors. We just went out there, played our hearts out and left it all out on the field.”

Forbes, a junior, as well as senior running back Bobby Jones, were the catalysts of the Spartans’ offense.

Jones had a monster night, running for 141 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries.

“Bobby ran the ball well and he ran well all year,” Forbes said. “He picked his seams and blew it up. He refused to go down.”

Jones had touchdown runs for 10, 5 and 2 yards.

“He did have a good game,” Holzhauser said. “There was some good blocking up front. Our fullback (Dillon Show) blocked for him and everybody up front did a nice job.”

Forbes was near perfect as he completed 5 of 8 attempts for 95 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 75 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

“Tyler was right on the money tonight,” Holzhauser said. “He ran the ball well and he threw well. There were a couple passes right on the money that weren’t completions, so he did a real nice job.”

Laurel didn’t waste anytime getting on the board when Jones found the end zone twice in the first quarter to give the Spartans a 14-0 lead.

“The first quarter isn’t the end-all, be-all, but it sets the tone for the rest of the football game,” Wildcats’ coach Ryan Mayo said. “So when you come out and execute poor early, it kind of sets the tone for everything else.”

Forbes found Jake Dando in the second quarter and connected on a 19-yard touchdown to give Laurel a 21-0 advantage at the half. Dando had two receptions for 63 yards.

“That was big to get the jump on them,” Holzhauser said. “We did well on every series. We might have stalled on one series, but we moved the ball real well tonight.”

Jones got his third touchdown midway through the third quarter and Forbes scored on an 8-yard run at the start of the fourth to initiate the mercy rule.

“Our line blocked on every play and everyone played awesome,” Jones said. “We totally played as a team tonight.”

Shenango got its lone score with 10:11 left in the game when sophomore running back Anthony Kosciuszko scampered 70 yards down the Wildcats’ sideline. Kosciuszko finished the game with 78 yards on seven carries.

Laurel racked up 344 yards of total offense on 20 first downs. Shenango totaled 129 yards on four first downs.

“(The defense) came out ready to play,” Holzhauser said. “Coach (Patrick) O’Shea got them ready for that offense and they executed it for four quarters.”

While Laurel’s season is complete, the Wildcats will have one more week of action. Shenango, the lone Lawrence County team that opted to play a Week 10 crossover game, will travel to Cornell at 6 p.m. Thursday.

“We were hoping to play the role of the spoiler. It didn’t happen,” Mayo said. “We just haven’t been a very good football team this year for a number of different reasons, but that’s the bottom line.”

SHENANGO LAUREL

4 First downs 20

131 Yards Rushing 285

7 Yards Lost 36

124 Net Rushing 249

7 Passes Attempted 8

1 Passes Completed 5

0 Passes Intercepted 0

5 Yards Passing 95

129 Total Yards 344

3-1 Fumbles-Lost 4-1

5-30.4 Punts-Average 0-0

3-25 Penalties-Yards 7-55

SHENANGO 0 0 0 6 — 6

LAUREL 14 7 7 7 —35

Scoring plays

LAUREL — Bobby Jones, 10-yard run (Jonathan Johnson kick).

LAUREL — Jones, 5-yard run (Johnson kick).

LAUREL — Jake Dando, 19-yard pass from Tyler Forbes (Johnson kick).

LAUREL — Jones, 2-yard run (Johnson kick).

LAUREL — Forbes, 8-yard run (Johnson kick).

SHENANGO — Anthony Kosciuszko, 70-yard run (kick blocked).