Stephenson helps Waynesburg run past Burrell in nonconference contest

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 20, 2018 | 12:18 AM

With the momentum on its side and just under five minutes remaining, Burrell embarked on what it hoped to be a game-winning drive starting at their own 20.

But a fumble by junior receiver Seth Fishbach on the second play ended the Bucs chances of a win on senior night as they dropped a Class 3A nonconference matchup to Waynesburg, 21-20, at Buccaneers Stadium.

Burrell (2-7) was in position to tie the game after junior quarterback Logan Phillips hit senior running back Lukas Kastelic for a 7-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-20, but a Bucs unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the score made the extra-point attempt by senior kicker R.J. Beach a more difficult attempt. His kick was off the mark.

“Kids are kids, and they make mistakes,” Burrell coach Shawn Liotta said. “That didn’t lose the game; that personal foul didn’t lose the game. There is a lot of plays that contributed to it, and that was just one of them.”

Waynesburg (2-7) sophomore running back Nate Stephenson ran with power and authority all night. He rushed for 238 yards and three touchdowns on 39 carries. All three of his scores came in the first half.

He kicked off the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown run on the Raiders’ first drive to make the score 7-0.

He followed that with a 7-yard touchdown run on the next offensive possession to put Burrell in an early 14-0 hole.

“We knew going in that we could probably come out and pound the ball,” Waynesburg coach Chad Coss said. “Our air attack is good when we need it, but we know our strength is running the ball. We have a great offensive line.”

Fishbach was the jack of all trades for Burrell. He spearheaded the Burrell offense early and often. He got Burrell on the board by catching a 16-yard touchdown pass from Phillips that made the score 14-7. With Burrell down 21-7, after a 1-yard touchdown run by Stephenson, Fishbach threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to freshman Cole Clark that made the score 21-14.

Fishbach caught seven passes for 88 yards and a score while going 2 for 2 passing with 52 yards and a touchdown.

“He did a nice job, he made a lot of plays,” Liotta said. “He’s a good player. He’s only a junior.”

After allowing 21 first-half points, the Burrell defense tightened up in the second half and didn’t allow a touchdown.

“We made a few adjustments to try and cancel out some gaps,” Liotta said. “We were misaligned a little bit in the first half; that hurt us on a couple of plays. But to Waynesburg’s credit, they’re a physical team. They were running the ball downhill hard in the first half, and we knew they were going to do that, and we had some difficulty stopping it.”

Phillips completed 13 of 18 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns for Burrell.

D.J. Vasil is a freelance writer.

Tags: Burrell, Waynesburg, Waynesburg Central