East Allegheny upends Valley for final playoff spot

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 27, 2018 | 12:00 AM

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A constant rain created extra difficulty as East Allegheny and Valley tangled for the final playoff spot in the Class 2A Allegheny Conference.

Mistakes and a big effort by East Allegheny quarterback Daniel Kasmier submerged the Vikings’ postseason hopes.

Kasmier rushed for 116 yards and four touchdowns and passed for another 151 yards, lifting East Allegheny to a 35-20 victory over Valley on Friday at EA’s Joseph Churchman Stadium and securing the Wildcats a WPIAL playoff spot in a win-or-go-home game.

Valley (3-7, 2-4) missed the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season as the Vikings couldn’t overcome three turnovers and some special-teams errors.

“We very easily could have won the game,” Valley coach Muzzy Colosimo said. “Penalties again, mistakes. How many dead-ball penalties? When you can’t shake those, and they stick with you, it’s hard to fight out of a hole.”

The game had its share of bizarre plays. East Allegheny converted a third-and-41 on a 61-yard pass from Kasmier to Tyler Padezan. A fumble and Valley end-zone recovery wiped out an apparent Kasmier touchdown run. And Valley’s Noah Hutcherson ran for a 67-yard touchdown on fourth-and-27 with 45 seconds left, just as East Allegheny coach Dom Pecora was getting doused with water from a Gatorade bucket on the opposite sideline.

But East Allegheny (6-4, 3-3) emerged with the victory and its third consecutive playoff berth, a first for the Wildcats in their history.

“Those sons of guns got me with water, and I wasn’t expecting it,” Pecora said. “It hit my back, and it took my breath away. The first time in school history … this is unbelievable. I’m as proud as last year when we won a playoff game.”

With the wet weather making passing difficult, Valley and East Allegheny turned to their most bruising runners for offense.

Deonte Ross, Valley’s 6-foot, 225-pound senior running back, carried 23 times for 188 yards and two touchdowns. East Allegheny leaned on Kasmier, a 6-foot-3, 240-pounder, and wide receiver Padezan, who finished with 125 yards receiving and ran for a 12-yard score.

“Ross is awesome for them,” Pecora said. “This weather is (Valley’s style). The weather did a lot to neutralize what we wanted to do … this weather was awful, but Dan Kasmier and Tyler Padezan were awesome.”

Ross gave short-handed Valley — because of injuries and ineligibilities, the Vikings dressed 21 players — the first-quarter lead, gouging the East Allegheny defense up the middle as he carried six times on a nine-play, 66-yard drive, capping it off with a 10-yard run. Justin Hooper’s 2-point conversion run made it 8-0, an advantage that held through the first quarter.

But then Valley’s mistake bugaboo reared its ugly head twice on special teams. A bad snap on a punt gave East Allegheny the ball at the 18 midway through the second quarter, and Kasmier scored from 1 yard three plays later.

An ensuing Valley three-and-out and short punt set East Allegheny up at the 25, and this time Kasmier plowed in from 2 yards to give the Wildcats a 14-8 halftime lead.

“We’ve got kids hurt, and we’re putting kids in expecting them to block their first-teasers,” Colosimo said. “Ain’t happening. But we’ll learn. We’ll get better from this year.”

Padezan’s 12-yard run and a 2-point conversion made it 22-8 East Allegheny after three quarters, but Ross made it a one-possession game again on a 4-yard run on the opening play of the fourth quarter.

East Allegheny answered three plays later on a 29-yard Kasmier run, and he added an 18-yard score on the Wildcats’ next drive.

Ross and quarterback Tyler Green exited in the fourth quarter with injuries for Valley.

“We’ll build off of this year,” Colosimo said. “We had some kids who had great years. Everybody sees (Ross) is a player, and (Hutcherson) is a player, and (David) Schuffert’s a player. But overall, we’ve just got to get better, and we’ve got to quit making mistakes and thinking they’re only calling them on us.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: East Allegheny, Valley