Football - Yough vs Burrell

Yough and Burrell Beat the Storm as Yough Storms Burrell 35-6

The visiting Burrell Bucs faced a threat from two storms Friday night at Cougar Mountain Stadium. First, a line of severe weather rolling in from the west was expected to drench many of the high school football contests across Southwest Pennsylvania. Yough and Burrell just barely dodged that storm, finishing their game about 10 minutes before the sky opened up with rain, just as most fans were making it to their vehicles. But the reason the game beat the rain might well have been because the second storm, Yough's highly productive offensive unit, put the game into a running clock mercy rule situation early in the second half, essentially setting the game on a weather-beating course to finish early with a 35-6 Yough win. 

Yough won the coin toss and elected to receive to start the game. Less that two minutes later, Dustin Shoaf capped a 6-play drive of 66 yards with a 16-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion attempt failed, and the Cougars led 6-0. Burrell went 3-and-out on their first possession, and the Cougars quickly found the end zone again as Gamal Marballie ran 18 yards for the score at 7:24 of the opening quarter, making it 12-0 after another failed 2-point try. Both teams traded several possessions well into the second quarter before Yough's Mason Brunson separated Bucs quarterback Logan Phillips from the ball, setting the Cougars up deep in Bucs territory as George Tusing retrieved the loose ball from the carpet for Yough. Marballie quickly found the end zone again on a 15-yard reception from Jacob Sever with 4:56 remaining in the first half, taking a 20-0 lead after Marballie converted the 2-point try on an end around. The Cougars would score again before intermission as a Yough interception led to points on the board. Sever found Russell Pytlak for 37 yards and the touchdown with 5 seconds remaining, adding the 2-point conversion on Shoaf's run for a 28-0 halftime lead.

The second half started under threat of heavy rain on the horizon as the winds picked up around Cougar Mountain. Burrell took the second half kickoff but couldn't convert it to points. Yough took over and drove 77 yards, ending with a 7-yard Dustin Shoaf touchdown run, making it 35-0 after the PAT kick was good with 3:31 left in the third. A running clock the rest of the way helped to outrace the impending storm, and Burrell nixed the shutout with a Lukas Kastelic touchdown run from short yardage with 3:31 left in the game. The PAT kick was no-good, making Yough's lead 35-6. Burrell attempted and recovered an onside kick at the Yough 45, but they turned the ball over on downs with a minute remaining, as coach Scott Wood's Cougars claimed their 3rd win with a victory formation to end the game. Dustin Shoaf finished with 162 yards on the night as he passed local Jeannette legend Terrelle Pryor for 5th place on Westmoreland County's all time rushing list.

Yough improves to 3-1 in Big East conference play, 3-2 overall, and will travel to Freeport next week. Burrell drops to 1-3 in conference, 1-4 overall, and will go on the road to Deer Lakes next week.  
      

Watch this link for a full gallery of action photos available for purchase or sharing the day after the game.