Passing attack guides Greensburg Salem past Mt. Pleasant

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, September 10, 2021 | 11:06 PM

Greensburg Salem quarterback Hayden Teska and wide receiver Cody Rubrecht didn’t connect many times in last week’s game against Connellsville.

They made up for that Friday at Mt. Pleasant.

Teska threw four touchdown passes, three to Rubrecht, and rushed for another to lead the Class 4A Golden Lions to a 34-6 nonconference victory against the Class 3A Mt. Pleasant. Both teams are 2-1.

Teska hit Rubrecht on scoring passes of 61 and 56 yards in the opening quarter to give the Golden Lions a 14-0 lead.

Greensburg Salem executed its game plan nearly perfectly, scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions.

Teska and Rubrecht connected on two scores in Week Zero at Hempfield.

“We wanted to get up two scores on them, which we did, and wanted to see how they played from behind,” said Greensburg Salem coach Dave Keefer, a 1993 Mt. Pleasant graduate coaching against his alma mater for the first time. “I’m really proud of our guys. I thought we played a real good football game.

“We minimized our mistakes and we were able to control the game. We know we have some playmakers, but the effort across the board was pretty good. It was a rough week for us. We had a lot of guys sick and guys banged up. It was a testament to our players with how they came out and played.”

The Golden Lions took advantage of a couple alignment problems that Mt. Pleasant had in pass coverage early in the game.

“Without looking at film, we were wrong in our alignment,” Mt. Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas said. “We have no excuses, Greensburg Salem played a great game and they were able to take some shots on us. It was a big test for us.”

Mt. Pleasant responded on its third possession of the game and drove 65 yards in eight plays to cut the deficit to 14-6 on a 1-yard run by Robbie Labuda, who finished with 78 yards on 18 carries.

But it took Greensburg Salem one play to reclaim a two-score lead as Teska hit Donavin Waller on a 66-yard score, 21-6.

Teska completed 11 of 14 passes for 245 yards. Rubrecht had six catches for 153 yards.

“Cody and I practice all the time,” Teska said of connecting with Rubrecht. “We have good chemistry. We played catch a lot growing up. We have a connection.”

Rubrecht added: “He just lays it out for me. I run, he throws. The first score was a perfect throw by Hayden.”

Mt. Pleasant safety Tyler Reese intercepted a Teska pass at the Mt. Pleasant 15, halting a Greensburg Salem drive just before halftime.

Mt. Pleasant was able to move the ball at times against the Greensburg Salem defense, but little mistakes — bad snaps and 12 penalizes for 77 yards — halted potential scoring drives.

“There is no excuse for the penalties,” Fazekas said. “We haven’t seen that at our practices. We haven’t seen that in our games so far. Definitely it’s something we have to control. When you line up wrong, it doesn’t help you.”

Teska scored on a keeper in the third quarter and hit Rubrecht for 24 yards early in the fourth quarter.

Mt. Pleasant will have another tough test next week when it travels to Class 5A Latrobe. Greensburg Salem opens conference action at Knoch.

“We have to get better,” Fazekas said. “We can’t make mistakes.”

Greensburg Salem outgained Mt. Pleasant, 339-226. The Vikings rushed for 175 yards, and Reese completed 4 of 10 passes for 51 yards. Brant Garn caught a 25-yard pass for the Vikings, and Reese had a 12-yard score to Maximus Moore in the fourth quarter wiped out by a holding penalty.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, Mt. Pleasant