Football - GCC vs Southmoreland

October 25, 2019

Second Half Surge Lifts GCC to 34-14 Senior Night Win over Southmoreland

Greensburg Central Catholic overcame a 7-3 first half deficit, with their seniors lighting up the second half scoreboard on senior night, as the Class 1A Centurions beat Class 2A Southmoreland 34-14 in a non-conference matchup to close the regular season on Friday, October 25, in Carbon.

After the Centurions' senior cheerleaders and football players were introduced to the senior night crowd, GCC took the opening kickoff and looked like they would go three-and-out on their first drive. But Southmoreland was flagged for roughing GCC punter Nate Ward on fourth-and-15, giving the Centurions a fresh set of downs. This time Central burned up some game clock as they drove deep into Southmoreland territory, having a 25-yard Zach Kuvinka touchdown run negated by a holding call, before eventually turning the ball over on downs to the Scotties with 5:12 left in the first quarter.

Southmoreland was more successful with their first possession of the game, as a 31-yard Zach Cernuto to Riley Comforti pass set up Colt Harper's 5-yard touchdown run, and the Scotties led 7-0 at 3:01 left in the first.

GCC took the kickoff and moved the ball quickly into scoring position, advancing to the Scotties 10 yard line as the first quarter ended. The Centurions drive appeared to stall as they faced a fourth-and 2 and set up to attempt a field goal, but the Scotties jumped offside to give them a first-and-goal at the 2 yard line. But GCC was as close as they would get on this drive as the Scotties drove them backwards and the Centurions were forced to settle for Nate Ward's 22-yard field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 5 yard line at 8:40 remaining in the half. Both sides played turnover free ball for the rest of the half, but neither could add to the score, and the half ended with the Scotties leading 7-3.

Following the Southmoreland High School marching band halftime performance, the GCC girls golf team was recognized for winning the PIAA Class 2A state championship earlier this week.

After Southmoreland took the second half kickoff and was forced to punt to GCC, the Centurions ground game went to work, with seniors Zach Kuvinka and Luke Mazowiecki gobbling up yards, setting up David Altimore's 20-yard touchdown pass in the end zone to leaping senior receiver Ben LaCarte, and the Centurions led 10-7 after Nate Ward's PAT kick at the 6:51 mark of the third.

Southmoreland failed to move the ball on the next possession and was forced to punt, with the Centurions taking over at their own 33 yard line. It only took GCC two plays and 18 seconds to get on the scoreboard again, as Mazowiecki took a 2nd down screen pass from Altimore and outraced the field 67 yards for the touchdown, with Ward's PAT giving the Centurions a 17-7 lead at 5:00 left in the third.

Nate Ward, the Indiana University soccer commit who was perfect on the night in placekicking attempts, bumped the Centurions lead to 20-7 with 1:13 left in the third as he booted a 28-yard field goal through the uprights.

The Scotties closed the gap to one score when Anthony Govern took a handoff from Cernuto and tossed it downfield to Brandon Peterson, who broke tackles to run 80 yards for the Scotties touchdown with one minute left in the third quarter, as Andrew Rodriguez added the PAT to make the score 20-14.

A Southmoreland onside kick attempt was recovered by the Centurions, who set up near midfield as they ran out the final minute of the third quarter and changed sides for the fourth. Then David Altimore hit Brandon Brown with a 37-yard touchdown pass at the 10:32 mark of the fourth, and Ward's PAT put the lead back into double digits at 27-14.

Southmoreland fought back as Riley Comforti got the first turnover of the game at 5:40 left to play when he intercepted David Altimore and brought the ball out to near near midfield. But the Scotties couldn't do anything with it as Chase Pisula terrorized Cernuto in the backfield and Southmoreland turned the ball over on downs with just over 4 minutes to play.

Mazowiecki added his second touchdown of the game from 2 yards out with 1:32 left in the game, and Ward tacked on his 10th point of the game off his boot to make it 34-14.

Southmoreland mounted a good drive in the final minute, only to have Cernuto's pass from the 14 yard line picked off by Ben LaCarte with 2 seconds left, and GCC took a knee to run out the clock and pick up the victory.

The Centurions senior leadership was a big factor in their second half performance, as seniors recorded all the points and made several big defensive plays in the game. Senior lineman Connor Petrunak sang the national anthem for the final time before the start of the game, as he has throughout the season.

GCC finishes their regular season at 7-3 overall, with their 4-2 conference record giving them a 3rd place finish in the Class 1A Eastern Conference. Southmoreland finished at 5-5 overall after opening with 5 straight wins, and their 4-3 conference record places them 4th in the Class 2A Century Conference. Both teams now wait to learn their opponent and seeding in the WPIAL playoffs, which begin next Friday.

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

Keywords: boys, football, gcc, high school, southmoreland, westmoreland county