Springdale football improves playoff standing with win over Bishop Canevin

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, October 15, 2017 | 12:12 AM

Devin Wilks didn't want to have to crunch numbers, watch scores or sweat out results.

Springdale's football team wanted to have a say in how it possibly clinches its 15th WPIAL Class A playoff bid in the past 16 seasons.

That's the message the Dynamos sent early Saturday night at Dormont Stadium.

Wilks, a senior wide receiver/cornerback, returned a punt blocked by teammate Josh Lang 10 yards for a touchdown 1 minute, 52 seconds into Springdale's 37-27 Eastern Conference win.

While the win didn't assure a postseason bid, it gave the Dynamos (4-4, 3-2) a crucial head-to-head tiebreaker.

Springdale sits in fourth place, a game ahead of Greensburg Central Catholic. The top five teams from each conference make the playoffs.

“It's a lot of stress off our shoulders,” Wilks said. “It gives us better focus in practice, and we don't have to have that feeling of, ‘Oh, crap if we lose this game we're out.' We have a little bit of a cushion. We can focus more on coming off a great win.”

Plays like Wilkes' return built a big cushion the Dynamos ended up needing. Springdale, which led 30-13 after Josh Harmon scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 9 minutes, 59 seconds remaining, was wringing its hands five minutes later.

Bishop Canevin quarterback Jonathan Ruffing found Alex Shaughnessy for a 55-yard touchdown pass to take the first bite out of the lead. After a Dynamos four-and-out, the Crusaders scored again on a 4-yard run by Zach Trusky to slice the deficit to 30-27 with 4:14 remaining.

“It wasn't pretty in the huddles after we gave up that big lead,” Wilks said. “It shows we can come together as one family and one team and bring it to the house.”

Springdale regained its grip on the game, grinding out the rest of the clock. The Dynamos, who rushed for 330 yards on 42 carries, went back to ground-and-pound.

That allowed Springdale to cap its last possession with a 27-yard touchdown run by Scott Landis with 23 seconds remaining. Landis collected 103 yards on 15 carries.

“We wanted to do what we do as Springdale football,” Dynamos coach Seth Napierkowski said. “Run the ball, eat clock. I knew we needed three first downs with them having three timeouts. We took some things that have worked throughout the game and went with that.”

Two turnovers in the second quarter were part of a 17-point outburst for the Dynamos.

An interception by Landis set up a 35-yard field goal by Logan Panza. The Dynamos forced a turnover on downs late in the second quarter and turned it into quick points.

Dylan Hargenrader, who finished with 102 rushing yards, ripped off a 68-yard run to move Springdale to the Bishop Canevin 5. Four plays later, Hargenrader scored on a 1-yard run with 29 seconds left in the half to put Springdale up 23-6.

“We weren't mentally prepared,” Crusaders coach Darren Schoppe said. “No excuse.”

Bishop Canevin (2-5, 2-4) couldn't get in sync to start the game. The Crusaders fumbled — and recovered the ball — five times in the first half. One of them came on its scoring drive. Crusaders quarterback Jonathan Ruffing had a 9-yard scramble inside the 10 and fumbled forward, which was recovered by offensive lineman Robert Andrews.

Trusky, who led Bishop Canevin with 151 yards on 29 carries, scored on a 2-yard run on the next play to tie the score 6-6 with 4:15 left in the first quarter. Ruffing finished with 171 passing yards, including three completions of 20 yards or more.

The Crusaders didn't have enough time to overcome their slow start.

That may have the Dynamos headed back to its usual spot in the postseason.

“Any conference win is a good win,” Napierkowski said. “Especially on the road, with the teams that we have to play week after week, there is no cupcake here.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

Tags: Bishop Canevin, Springdale