Special teams fuel Greensburg Central Catholic to victory over Apollo-Ridge

By: George Guido
Friday, September 10, 2021 | 10:37 PM

Two special-teams touchdowns and a switch at quarterback in the second half propelled Greensburg Central Catholic to a 33-7 victory over Apollo-Ridge on Friday night at Owens Field.

When it appeared the first Centurions offensive possession stalled, up man Nate Dlugos passed to Jaydin Canady for 45 yards and a score.

Late in the game, Canady blocked an Apollo-Ridge punt, and Ryan Kimmel took it into the end zone from 8 yards to ice the victory with 3 minutes, 39 seconds remaining.

After passing for 114 yards in the first half, Greensburg Central coach Marko Thomas replaced junior Dlugos with sophomore Tyree Turner with the Centurions in front 14-7. Turner passed 19 yards to Danny Dlugos for a score. Then in what was likely the game’s most spectacular play, Turner was hit by Corbin Johnston as he got a pass away. Amari Mack tipped the high pass into his hands for a 32-yard touchdown that gave GCC a 26-7 lead with 4:41 to go.

“We’re still trying to feel things out,” Thomas said of the switch. “It’s still early, and they both have been showing some good things in practice and I felt at halftime it was something we needed to do.”

The nonconference win gave Greensburg Central (2-1) a 3-2 lead in the all-time series. The schools last played in 1993.

Defensively, the Centurions held the Vikings without a first down in the second half until the 3-minute mark of the fourth quarter. The defense also accounted for a touchdown in the second period when Taishaun Jamison scooped up a loose ball on the Apollo-Ridge 5 and scored.

“We’ve leaned on our defense over the first three games,” Thomas said. “They’ve been holding in the game and really taking over. I’m telling you, we’re going to have a great defense, and I couldn’t be prouder over how we played.”

Meanwhile, after a season when the Vikings made the WPIAL semifinals, Apollo-Ridge slipped to 0-3.

Friday’s game was played without two key offensive weapons: quarterback Karter Schrock and running back Matt Curci. Schrock has a leg injury and Curci has been ill.

“Were missing a lot. We’re depleted,” Vikings coach John Skiba said. “We have kids that are being quarantined for covid. We have kids out sick. We’re trying to get through it and have a bunch of young kids who are trying to learn how to play football.”

Apollo-Ridge played well at times in the first half, stopping GCC twice on downs. Backup quarterback Gage Johnston directed a 75-yard, 11-play drive in the second quarter to keep the game close. Darek Baustert also intercepted a Nate Dlugos pass late in the half to halt a drive.

Said Skiba: “We do some good things at times, but we can’t be consistent enough to keep things going. We’ve given away more points at the beginning of the season than I’ve ever seen.”

Vikings senior Greg Klingensmith had three sacks in the first half.

“He’s playing real well,” Skiba said. “He a four-year starter, and he works his tail off for us. He and Brady Schrock are my senior leaders.”

Turner had 79 passing yards for Greensburg Central Catholic, and Danny Dlugos had 85 rushing yards.

Gage Johnston had 97 yards passing for Apollo-Ridge, all in the second and third quarters.

Neither team committed a penalty in the first half.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Greensburg C.C.