Greensburg Central Catholic survives scare vs. Riverview

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, October 20, 2023 | 10:40 PM

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Sophomore Landon Honick didn’t want his team’s playoff hopes to stretch into Week 9.

“No, get it over with now,” said Honick, who had an impressive debut at running back for Greensburg Central Catholic, which wiped its collective brow after a close Week 8 encounter with Riverview.

Honick rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble as Greensburg Central Catholic held back Riverview, 21-14, to clinch a playoff berth in the WPIAL Class A Eastern Conference on Friday night at mud-splashed Centurion Stadium.

Sophomore Samir Crosby added 105 yards rushing and a touchdown for GCC (6-3, 4-1), which overcame a messy second half to hold on for its third straight win.

“We held on,” GCC coach JT Thompson said. “It’s an ugly win, but we’ll take it.”

Honick played in place of injured senior running back Nick Dlugos, who was on crutches and did not play with a left foot injury.

He also was missed at linebacker against the run-heavy Raiders.

“Our team jelled and came together,” Honick said. “Our defense played great, and our offense is getting better running the ball.”

Riverview (4-5, 1-4), which had its heart broken last week in a 29-28 loss to Leechburg, was trying to show it still had a playoff pulse.

But the Raiders could not finish lengthy drives, had two turnovers and could not dig out from an early hole.

“It’s tough to lose like that two weeks in a row,” Raiders coach Trevor George said. “It tests your culture and who we are as a team and people. But it’s a learning process.

“The second half was very positive for us.”

Senior running back Carlo Buzzatto, who ran for a school-record 418 yards last week for the Raiders, finished with 138 yards on 28 tough carries. His white uniform looked gray after he dipped and darted through the soggy grass so many times.

Linemen were caked in mud from head to toe after a night when passing was a gamble.

“You could see it (unraveling) in the second half. They were getting six, seven yards a pop,” Thompson said. “They really beat us inside. With (Dlugos) out, we installed a new defensive front this week. We had our best 11 out there.”

First-half equity allowed GCC to stay in front.

Crosby scored on the third play from scrimmage on a 58-yard run.

Riverview tied it 7-7 when sophomore Rio Stotts scored on a 4-yard rush late in the first quarter.

Another quick score put GCC ahead to stay.

Just 12 seconds after the Raiders tied it, Honick took a pitch from senior quarterback Tyree Turner and raced 56 yards to the end zone.

“Credit GCC, they scored on a couple of plays,” George said.

As many short drives as they had early, the Raiders and more long, clock-eating drives late.

GCC missed a field goal late in the opening quarter, and the Raiders went on a 16-play drive that was spoiled by Honick’s interception.

Honick went 78 yards two plays later to put GCC up 21-7 with 3:47 left in the half.

“I love playing receiver, but they needed me to play running back,” Honick said. “I was ready to go.”

Said Thompson: “It’s about the next guy stepping up for us. It was happy to see Landon show his speed. That burst he has.”

Riverview cut it to 21-14 early in the third quarter on an 8-yard touchdown run by Buzzatto. The drive was 10 plays, all runs.

“Part of the maturing experience,” Thompson said, “is when some younger guys see we’re up 21-7 at halftime (and get complacent.)

“We had to finish the game and keep our foot on the gas.”

The rest of the quarter was sloppy for both teams.

GCC turned it over on downs twice, Riverview did the same another time and the teams exchanged fumbles on three straight plays.

But it remained 21-14.

Riverview went 13 plays to use up most of the fourth quarter, but junior kicker Drew Hunter missed a 23-yard field goal with four minutes and GCC held from there, despite some tense final minutes.

George said there was a debate about going for it on 4th and 8 from the GCC 10.

“I trusted our defense,” the coach said. “We had three timeouts. We could get the ball back with two minutes left.”

Disaster almost struck for GCC when Honick fumbled, and the Raiders got it back with 1:32 remaining. Sophomore Max Kratt recovered the ball.

But an intentional grounding call on senior quarterback Rocco Cecere, and a holding penalty, led to a fourth-and-19 with 51 seconds left, and the Raiders could not get a first down.

GCC, led by sophomore linebacker Jackson McMullen, made the stop to keep a scrambling Cecere short of the sticks and finally put the win to rest.

GCC outrushed Riverview, 310-262. The Raiders’ longest run was for 19 yards.

“One thing we said (about Riverview),” Thompson said, “is that they’re not going to outrun us.”

Senior Toby Green added 68 yards rushing for Riverview, and Cecere accounted for 92 yards, 71 passing.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Riverview