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 Central Penn Piranha: 58 - Steel Valley Warriors: 0 |
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Central Penn Piranha vs |
58 |
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Steel Valley Warriors |
0 |
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Game Played 8/8/2009 7:00PM
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Piranha Have Negative Effect on Warriors
The Central Penn Piranha (5-0) flexed their defensive muscles against the Steel Valley Warriors (2-4) on Saturday night. The Warriors ended up having negative total yards of offense (-2 rushing, -18 passing), a testament to the stifling Piranha defense. Leading the way for Central Penn were defensive tackle Brian Smith (6 tackles, 2 sacks), linebacker Donnell Donaldson (1 tackle, 20-yard fumble return for TD), and cornerback Marcus Sargeant (1 tackle, 2 INT-43 yards).
When asked about the performance by the Piranha 'D', team owner / head coach Ron Kerr noted, "It’s the fourth shutout in five games. I can't ask for anymore than that!" The Piranha defense scored twice (touchdown, safety), keeping consistent with their track record of scoring in almost every game this season.
The Piranha offense wasn't too bad either. The Piranha only punted only twice during the game, with the running game finally outperforming their prolific passing attack. On the evening, the Piranha tallied 225 yards rushing, with the leader being Ali Johnson (8-121 yards, TD). He became the first Piranha running back to top the 100-yard mark this season. Johnson comments, "The linemen just created huge holes for me all game long. As a whole team, we’re really coming together and having a lot of fun." Johnson was named the Carlisle Diner Bowl player of the game for the Piranha.
With no points being scored in the opening quarter, the Piranha went on one of their patented "Scoring Frenzies" in the second stanza. Quarterback Mark Jarmon started the scoring with a 1-yard scoring run, after running over a defender at the pylon on the goal line. A couple plays later, the aforementioned Donnell Donaldson snared a fumble in mid-air, after Steel Valley quarterback Cecil Howard was sacked. Donaldson went untouched 20 yards for the score.
On the next play from scrimmage, Marcus Sargeant returned an interception 43 yards down to the 4-yard line of the Warriors. Emne'ko Sweeny scored on the first play. In a span of 2:52, the Piranha had posted 21 points.
Ali Johnson broke off a 44-yard touchdown run midway through the quarter, and wide receiver Darren Echols hauled in a 41-yard touchdown strike from Jarmon near the 2-minute warning of the first half.
The third quarter was uneventful, with a 7-yard Sweeney run being the only score. However, the fourth quarter provided three more scores for the "Men in Black."
The first score was a team safety, when a fumble rolled out of the end zone before being recovered. Later, wide receiver Jarrid McMillan (2-25 yards, TD) caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Ricker. It was McMillan's first career touchdown reception with the Piranha in two years of service.
The final score of the game was a 4-yard touchdown pass from Ricker to wide receiver Troy Ham (3-64 yards, TD).
Coach Kerr also had great things to say about the Piranha running attack, "The passing game didn’t seem to hook-up much today, so it was great to see the running game finally come together. Today seemed like our team just came to play, and hopefully that will carry over into next week in Philadelphia."
The game that Coach Kerr alluded to is against the Philadelphia Panthers (4-1), the 2008 Patty LaBelle League Champions. This game was added as a result of the Lancaster Lightning currently being on NAFL Compliance probation, so the Piranha exercised their right to schedule another opponent. The Piranha will now be travelling to Philadelphia to face one of the top teams in the Atlantic Region area.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 PM on Saturday August 15th at Germantown High School in Philadelphia. The last time the Piranha played on this field (8/12/06), they lost 21-11 to the now defunct Philadelphia Scorpions. The Piranha will definitely be tested this week.
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