Stribling throws 5 TD passes to lead Serra Catholic over Ligonier Valley

By: Liam Belan
Friday, October 13, 2023 | 11:44 PM

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Serra Catholic has its eyes set on a Class 2A Allegheny Conference title, and it looked the part of a section champion during Friday night’s 47-0 dismantling of Ligonier Valley.

Quadir Stribling finished 18 of 27 for 321 yards and five touchdowns, with two each going to De’reon Washington and Jesere Young. Washington posted 113 yards with his three receptions, and Young had four receptions for 50 yards. On the ground, Isiah Petty led the way with four carries for 106 yards and two scores, and he had a 93-yard punt return touchdown negated by a penalty.

The win was the third in a row for the Eagles (3-4, 3-1).

“It was outstanding,” Serra Catholic coach Jose Regus said. “I like the way we’re jelling together coming into the end of the season. It’s big getting that win over a conference opponent.”

As for the Rams (2-6, 1-4), not only was the result tough to swallow, but a key member of the squad suffered an injury. Leading rusher John Jablunovsky was hit by multiple Serra Catholic defenders on a run with three minutes left in the first quarter and didn’t return.

In all, Ligonier Valley put up 118 yards of offense, all on the ground.

“It’s hard to find anything positive,” Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel said. “We’re just trying to get guys that can get on the field and be competitive for us. Hopefully, everyone will start taking accountability for things, and we just keep getting better. There’s not much you can do.”

Before the first offensive play of the game, a moment of silence was held in honor of Serra Catholic sophomore Samantha Kalkbrenner who was killed in a school van crash Sept. 20. In the school’s first home game since the devastating accident, large parts of the crowd were seen wearing #cheeringforsam gear, which was made by Kalkbrenner’s fellow Serra Catholic cheerleaders to support her family.

Serra Catholic wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with Petty’s 49-yard touchdown run after 1 minute, 23 seconds to set the tone for the contest.

Five minutes later, Stribling found Young for a 10-yard touchdown to make the score 13-0 as Caden Bauer’s extra point was blocked.

Defensively, the Eagles forced the Rams to rely on the run game and then stopped them on the ground. Boden Schreyer had all four of his pass attempts broken up as Ligonier Valley couldn’t get anything going through the air.

Early in the second quarter, Serra Catholic again scored as D’Angelo Stewart caught a 10-yard touchdown from Stribling. Bauer’s extra point made the score 20-0 with 11:58 left in the first half.

After that, the Rams were handed a break after the Eagles stopped them, and the ensuing punt was muffed by Isiah Petty. However, the home team again stuffed the Rams and forced another punt, which was the 93-yard score until play was halted because of a flag. Petty’s return was instead 30 yards, and the Eagles started their drive on their own 27.

That drive wound up in a score anyway, with Washington getting on the board after an athletic play. Stribling’s throw to Washington forced him to come back to the ball, and, after making the catch, he had a defender hanging onto him by his ankle. With one foot, Washington hopped 4 yards and broke the plane to push his team further ahead. After Bauer’s extra point, the Eagles had a 27-0 lead with less than five minutes in the second quarter.

Regus and the Eagles then used their timeouts to stop the clock and get the ball back with less than 20 seconds remaining in the first half after stopping the Rams’ offense. Stribling repaid his coach’s timeouts with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Young on the first play. With just 2 seconds left before halftime, Serra Catholic led 33-0 as another point after was blocked.

The scoring was capped in the third quarter as Petty and Washington found paydirt.

With 9:33 left to play, Petty set himself up with a huge 41-yard scamper before scoring on a 4-yard run. Then, as time expired in the third quarter, Stribling threw his longest pass of the night: a 59-yard bomb to a streaking Washington. After Washington scored, Bauer’s extra point ended the scoring at 47-0.

The Eagles will return to action next Friday when they host Apollo-Ridge. They will be looking to extend their win streak to four games after losing their first four.

“There’s a 24-hour rule,” Regus said. “We did what we wanted to do, we look at it and then we move forward. Tomorrow morning, we put our new game plan in, and then we start working towards another victory.”

As for the Rams, they’ll be hoping to erase a four-game skid when they host Imani Christian next Friday.

“We just have to show up to practice, and whoever we have left, they just have to get better,” Beitel said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Tags: Ligonier Valley, Serra Catholic