First-half passing attack lifts Shenango past Serra Catholic

By: Zack Zeigler
Saturday, September 14, 2019 | 12:28 AM

The first half was wide open, with the teams combining for 31 points. The second half was locked down, with defenses taking over.

In the end, Shenango defeated Serra Catholic, 27-14, in Class 2A nonconference play Friday night.

The first half featured an aerial display as the teams combined for 288 yards and three touchdowns through the air. After his team got a stop on the first possession of the game, Shenango quarterback Santino Campoli completed a 56-yard pass to Jason Kraner and finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.

“It was big for us to go out there and score after that stop,” Shenango coach Jimmy Graham said. “We have a young quarterback, and that drive gave him the confidence he needed to really get things going tonight.”

Serra Catholic responded just three plays later when Eagles quarterback Max Rocco connected with Terrell Booth for a 73-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7. The quick response was the jump-start the Eagles needed to get their offense going.

“That’s what we teach our kids … to respond,” said coach Jose Regus. “It goes down to the wire and each game we have been in this year, it has gone down to the wire. They know they have to keep fighting until it is zero-zero on the clock.”

Campoli was back at it on the ensuing drive, and after getting his team to the Eagles’ 44, he found Kraner in the end zone for his second touchdown of the game and a 14-7 Wildcats lead with 32 seconds left in the first quarter.

Serra Catholic kept up, marching 69 yards on 12 plays the very next drive to set up for a first-and-10 at the Shenango 11. Ray Holmes finished the drive by running a sweep play for an Eagles touchdown that brought the score to 14-14 with 7 minutes, 24 seconds to go before halftime.

Shenango ended the half with one of the most important plays of the game. Junior kicker Aidan Johnston sent a 34-yard field-goal attempt through the middle of the uprights and the Wildcats went into the locker room with a 17-14 lead.

“We thought we could get some points there before halftime, so we sent in our kicker,” Graham said. “Johnston is a really good kicker. He has been kicking for us for the last three years and he came through.”

Shenango’s defense stepped up in the second half, keeping the Eagles off the board and not allowing a point for the final 24 minutes of the game.

The Wildcats offense would drum up one more touchdown drive to cap things off after a 42-yard punt return by Preston Schry. Campoli connected on his second touchdown pass, hitting Maddox Smiley on a 2-yard out route to extend the lead to 24-14.

A 28-yard field goal by Johnston wrapped up the scoring. Campoli led the Wildcats offense with 249 yards and two touchdowns on 13 of 16 passing.

“Campoli is a young quarterback and he was kind of thrown into the fire during his freshman year,” Graham said. “He is learning and continuing to grow every day and he came out today and had a great game. It was huge for him and helped us to a big win.”

Roy Holmes led Serra Catholic, carrying the ball 13 times for 85 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown run. As one of the senior leaders for Serra Catholic, Regus is looking to him to lead the offense.

“He is a horse,” said Regus. “We try to ride him out, but being that he plays both sides of the ball, he gets worn down. We expect a lot from him and we will keep rolling and keep getting better.”

Both teams get back to conference play next week when Shenango takes on Riverside in Midwestern Conference play while Serra Catholic faces Carlynton in the Three Rivers Conference.

Tags: Serra Catholic, Shenango