Spartans’ ‘D’ vital in playoff-clinching win
Laurel (27) vs. Western Beaver (6)
Written: Oct 24, 2009
 By DAN IRWIN
d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com
Monsoon-like conditions and Western Beaver’s defense both put a damper on Laurel High’s offense last night.
The Spartans, though, were able to get several huge stops from their ‘D’ — including two interceptions returned for scores — en route to a playoff-clinching, 27-6 win over the Golden Beavers in WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference action.
The victory locked up at least a share of second place for the Spartans, who improved to 5-1 in the league (7-1 overall).
Still, the Golden Beavers (2-4, 2-6) served notice early on that they did not intend to make things easy. Eric Blinn returned the game’s opening kickoff 84 yards to the Laurel 11, forcing the Spartans’ defense into a goal-line stand on its opening series.
Western Beaver wound up turning the ball over on downs at the 4, then fumbled it away on its next two possessions — once at the Laurel 21.
Meanwhile, the Spartans were equally frustrated on offense. They, too, coughed up the ball on back-to-back series, at the Western 3 and 13 yard lines, and failed to score after a botched punt had given them a first down at the Golden Beavers’ 16 (Jonathan Johnson’s 32-yard field goal try went wide right).
Laurel quarterback Tyler Forbes, who rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, said that blustery first-half conditions made moving the ball difficult.
“It was pretty slick out,” he said. “You just had to be careful holding onto the ball. You had to think about it.
“You couldn’t even cut on this field. You try to cut, and you’d just go right down. It was real tough. You could see that there was a seam, you’d go to cut, and the next thing you know, you’re slipping.”
Laurel head coach Jerry Holzhauser, though, added that Western Beaver also had a lot to do with his team’s offensive frustration.
“They were tough up front,” he said. “They are a very good football team. Their linemen are hard to move. They had a lot of people in the box, and they were tough to move the ball against.”
Western Beaver took a 6-0 lead on Dustin Creel’s 13-yard run in the third period, four plays after Jacob Dando shanked a 9-yard punt that had given the Golden Beavers possession at the Laurel 34.
The Spartans answered when sophomore linebacker Cody Montgomery picked off a Joe Dawida pass later in the period and returned it 30 yards to pay dirt.
“He (Dawida) was just throwing dangerous passes all night and throwing them low,” Montgomery said. “He was just looking, I read his eyes, and I got it.”
The pick was Montgomery’s first as a varsity player.
“I almost had one last week,” he said. “I batted it forward, and went to lunge forward, and I slipped, and it was out of my reach. I wasn’t missing this one.”
In the final period, Laurel’s offense came to life with a 7-yard touchdown run by Forbes — set up six plays earlier on a minus-5-yard punt by Jerry Duty — and a 22-yard, tackle-breaking burst by Dylan Jones.
Fittingly, the defense posted the last score, when Dando stepped in front of a Dawida aerial and returned it 31 yards with nine seconds remaining.
“We have a lot of confidence in our defense to do something like that,” Forbes said. “That really helped us tonight, getting 14 points on defense.”
Holzhauser agreed.
“Defense definitely kept us in the game,” he said. “They’ve done that all year.”
WESTERN BEAVER LAUREL
4 First downs 9
90 Yards Rushing 171
15 Yards Lost 18
75 Net Rushing 153
12 Passes Attempted 13
4 Passes Completed 7
3Passes Intercepted 0
35 Yards Passing 82
110 Total Yards 235
2-2 Fumbles-Lost 2-2
4-23 Punts-Average 5-31
5-50 Penalties-Yards 5-45
WESTERN BEAVER 0 0 6 0 — 6
LAUREL 0 0 6 21 — 27
Scoring plays
WESTERN BEAVER — Dustin Creel, 13-yard run (kick failed).
LAUREL — Cody Montgomery, 30-yard interception return (kick failed).
LAUREL — Tyler Forbes, 7-yard run (Jonathan Johnson kick).
LAUREL — Dylan Jones, 22-yard run (Johnson kick).
LAUREL — Jake Dando, 31-yard interception return (Johnson kick).
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