Big plays help push Blackhawk past Southmoreland

By: Paul Brittain
Friday, September 13, 2024 | 9:48 PM

Southmoreland and Blackhawk met for the first time on the football field Friday, and the visiting Cougars ran wild over the Scotties, 45-20, for a nonconference victory.

Big plays and mistakes made the difference in the outcome as, unofficially, only 39 yards of total offense separated the teams

The Cougars’ Brayden McCarthy shocked the Scotties by returning the opening kickoff 96 yards up the middle to the end zone. Will Brown’s conversion kick made it 7-0 just 14 seconds into the game.

McCarthy would make his presence felt often throughout the evening.

After stopping the Scotties and taking a punt at the Cougar 43, McCarthy hauled in a 53-yard pass-and-run touchdown from Stephen Knallay for a 14-0 lead at 9:53.

Southmoreland (3-1) responded with a 72-yard drive capped by Ethan Shawley’s 46-yard touchdown on a screen pass from Anthony Smith to cut the lead to 14-7 after Jake Kaylor’s conversion kick.

The game settled down for a few minutes as Blackhawk (2-2) stopped the Scotties on downs, and Makal Darnell intercepted a Knallay pass at the Southmoreland 12.

The Scotties then drove 58 yards in seven plays, with Cam Phillips contributing and 18-yard run and capping the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run to tie the score 14-14 with Kaylor’s kick.

Early in the second quarter. Blackhawk drove 58 yards in eight plays, with Knallay going the final 14 yards for a 22-14 lead.

Two possessions later, Sam Stewart intercepted a Smith pass to set up Connor McGraw’s 9-yard scoring run, and a 2-point conversion run by Hayden McGill widened the lead to 29-14.

After Kaylor missed a 44-yard field goal attempt for the Scotties, Knallay hooked up with McCarthy on the next play for an 80-yard touchdown pass, and the kick made it 36-14 at halftime.

The teams combined for 426 yards of offense in the first 24 minutes, with Blackhawk piling up 240 of those yards.

Brown’s 35-yard field goal early in the second half extended the lead to 39-14.

Knallay hit Cody Woodward for a 29-yard scoring pass late in the quarter.

Smith hit Elliot Premus on a pass at the Cougars 2-yard line to set up Shawley’s touchdown run, but Blackhawk blocked the conversion kick to set the final score of 45-20.

Unofficially, Blackhawk had 357 total yards compared to Southmoreland’s 318 yards.

“Blackhawk is tough, and they play hard and physical,” said Scotties coach Tim Bukowski. “Their quarterback can really throw and runs hard. They fought hard the whole game. It was a real test to see how we would respond.”

The Scotties travel to Ringgold next Friday for their final nonconference game before the conference schedule begins Sept. 27 at home against Derry Area.

Tags: Blackhawk, Southmoreland