Plum controls Fox Chapel for senior night victory
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Friday, October 11, 2024 | 10:44 PM
Plum’s Darian Nelson runs against Fox Chapel on Friday.
Fox Chapel’s Anthony Fourquet runs against Plum on Friday.
Fox Chapel’s Lincoln Burgess (right) celebrates a touchdown with teammate Nathan Johnson against Plum on Friday.
Plum’s Sloan Humphries runs the ball against Fox Chapel on Friday.
Fox Chapel’s Nathan Yeske attempts to tackle Plum’s Nico Signor on Friday.
Plum’s Noah Odom tackles Fox Chapel’s Joe Yoshikawa on Friday.
Plum’s Darien Nelson is tackled by Fox Chapel’s Dangelo Hamilton on Friday.
Fox Chapel’s Victor Nernberg runs the ball against Plum on Friday.
Fox Chapel’s Nathan Burgess charges for a touchdown against Plum on Friday.
Plum’s Nicholas Odom is tackled by the Fox Chapel defense Friday.
Fox Chapel’s Joseph Geller fields a pass against Plum on Friday.
Fox Chapel’s Joseph Geller runs the ball against Plum on Friday.
Plum’s Chase Tomain attempts to tackle Fox Chapel’s Cooper Hendren on Friday.
Fox Chapel’s Joseph Geller is pressured by Plum’s Nick Sheffo on Friday.
Plum’s John Nonnenberg throws a pass against Fox Chapel on Friday.
Plum’s John Nonnenberg runs against Fox Chapel on Friday.
After a back-and-forth first half, it looked like it was shaping up to be a close game Friday night at Mustangs Stadium.
However, Plum came out in the second half and excelled in all three phases of the game to win on senior night 49-10 against Fox Chapel in Class 5A Northeast Conference action.
“Last week, I felt like we played our best football against North Hills,” Plum coach Matt Morgan said. “We wanted to harp on taking away the penalties, controlling our emotions and keep fighting through it and finishing. We knew we could execute, but we just had to go out and finish.”
With the win, Plum snapped a three-game losing streak and stays in the hunt for an automatic playoff berth by grabbing one of the top three spots in the Northeast Conference.
“We are still alive. We still need some help. We controlled our own fate last week. We still need some help. We need to keep plugging away one week at a time,” Morgan said.
Plum came out in the second half with a 19-10 lead and immediately extended it when a Fox Chapel snap rolled out the back of the end zone for a safety. Plum scored on three consecutive drives with touchdown runs by Nick Odom, Nick Sheffo and Darian Nelson.
Sheffo added a touchdown on a fumble return on the kickoff after Nelson’s touchdown.
Plum outgained Fox Chapel 493 yards to 132 with 331 yards coming on the ground.
Nelson started the scoring when he took the second snap of the game and made a couple Fox Chapel defenders miss as he ran it for an 83-yard touchdown.
He finished with 244 yards total: 153 yards rushing, 79 yards passing and 21 yards receiving.
“It was really nice to see the guys showcase what they can do. We’ve been waiting all year to see it, and we got to tonight,” Morgan said.
The Foxes responded with their own touchdown when junior quarterback Joey Geller connected with senior Lincoln Burgess for a 28-yard touchdown pass to tie the score with about nine minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Geller finished 10 of 26 for 79 yards passing for the Foxes. Anthony Fourquet was Fox Chapel’s leading rusher with 58 yards on 14 carries. Victor Nernberg went down with an injury on the Foxes first series and never returned.
“I got to be honest. We were thrown for a loop on the second play of the game,” Fox Chapel coach Max Melocchi said. “Probably our best offensive weapon goes out with an injury. Right then, we were scrambling on what we could do. We had to throw it a lot more than we wanted to. We made some plays and played well defensively (in the first half).”
Plum retook the lead early in the second quarter when sophomore quarterback John Nonnenberg found Sloan Humphries in the back corner of the end zone to make it 13-7 with 11:07 remaining in the first half.
The Foxes had a chance to shrink the Mustang lead, but junior kicker Harran Zureikat just missed a 50-yard kick.
On the following Fox Chapel drive, Zureikat redeemed himself when he made a 44-yard field goal to make it 13-10 with 3:53 remaining in the first half.
After Plum punted for the second series in a row, the Mustangs defense made its mark when Noah Odom picked off Geller.
On the first play after the turnover, Nonnenberg found Humphries for a 42-yard pass. A couple plays later Nonnenberg dropped it over the Fox Chapel defender as junior Brendan Marston caught it for a 21-yard touchdown to make it 19-10 with less than 40 seconds remaining in the first half.
“All the credit goes to Plum. They played a very good game with very few mistakes. I thought we played with them toe to toe for 24 minutes, and then things got away from us. We didn’t win a game last year so anything more than whatever we have won is going to be an improvement,” Melocchi said.
Humphries led the Mustangs in receiving with five catches for 122 yards and the second-quarter touchdown from Nonnenberg.
Fox Chapel will travel to Shaler Area in its conference finale next, whereas Plum will have a nonconference matchup at Kiski Area.
Tags: Fox Chapel, Plum
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