Brownsville holds off Leechburg

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 21, 2017 | 12:24 AM

Leechburg was unable to come back from a 28-0 halftime deficit, as Brownsville held on to defeat the visiting Blue Devils, 35-19, in a nonconference game Friday night.

“We didn't execute very well in the first half on both sides of the ball,” Leechburg coach Mark George said. “But in the second half, we came out and we executed a lot better on both sides. … We showed a lot of fight here in the second half that we didn't have in the first half, and we executed a lot better.”

For Brownsville coach William Maczko, it was a tale of two halves that showed the youth of his team.

“I love the way that we came out in the first half. We just decided to play ball,” he said. “The second half — a lot of that was our guys being inexperienced about how to close a ball game up.”

Brownsville (2-7) struck early as it marched down the field on its opening drive. The Falcons went 55 yards in eight plays, capped by a Quadir Johnson 6-yard run. Later in the quarter, Leechburg (0-9) was unable to capitalize on a Falcons fumble in their own territory when Dylan Lewis blocked a 29-yard field goal attempt by the Blue Devils.

Lucas Harn led a Brownsville charge before the end of the half, rushing for two touchdowns late in the second quarter.

Following an interception with 21 seconds remaining in the half, Harn connected with Austin Lincoski for a 72-yard score. Lincoski capped off the long touchdown with a 2-point conversion rush.

Entering halftime, Brownsville held a 28-0 lead over Leechburg. Harn had 162 yards passing and a touchdown, while also rushing for 68 yards and two scores, at half.

“He's come a long way,” said Maczko. “This is the first year that Luke has played quarterback. It's coming along for him slowly but surely. He's really starting to understand some things.”

Leechburg came out strong in the second half, opening with a 12-play drive that ended with a Bret Kardos 4-yard rushing touchdown. Brownsville responded as Lincoski ripped off his second touchdown of the day, this one a 38-yard rush midway through the third quarter.

Leechburg's Jake Blumer did not let his team's opportunities go to waste on the team's ensuing drive, rattling off a 66-yard run down to the Falcons' 1-yard line before scoring on the next play to get the Blue Devils within 35-13.

“Jake Blumer has a lot of talent,” George said. “He played a heck of a second half. The blocking was there for him in the second half, and that helped him out tremendously. Jake's an all-around good football player on both sides of the ball. Leechburg's lucky to have a kid like that.”

One more Blue Devil touchdown late in the fourth quarter rounded out the scoring.

Harn, Johnson and Zion Howard combined to rush for 212 yards and three touchdowns for Brownsville. Blumer led the Blue Devils with 142 rushing yards on 18 attempts.

Tyler Godwin is a freelance writer.

Tags: Brownsville, Leechburg