Football - Yough vs Southmoreland

October 09, 2020

Big Plays Power Southmoreland to 24-0 Win over Yough

One has to wonder... did the men of the Southmoreland football team come into Yough's Cougar Mountain Stadium on Friday, October 9th with thoughts of avenging the Yough girls soccer team's upset of Southmoreland's girls on the same turf four days earlier, ruining the Lady Scotties unbeaten season? Whether there's any truth to that theory or not is unknown, but the Scotties certainly took their boundary neighbors to the woodshed with purpose, beating the Cougars 24-0 in a Class 3A Interstate Conference battle.

Both teams sputtered early on, with turnovers and stalled drives holding the score at 0-0 through the first quarter.

After Southmoreland recovered a Yough fumble just over a minute into quarter two, Scotties quarterback Zach Cernuto hit junior Jason Bloom in stride for a 44-yard touchdown pass with 10 minutes to play in the half. Andrew Rodriguez booted the first of his 3 PAT kicks on the night through the uprights and Southmoreland led 7-0.

As Southmoreland's defense continued to stymie Yough's offense, Cernuto connected with junior Isaac Trout on a nifty 27-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown pass in the endzone with 6:16 left in the half. Rodriguez added a 26-yard field goal with 1:23 to play to round out the first half scoring with Southmoreland on top 17-0.

Yough's best scoring opportunity might have come around the midpoint of the third quarter when they drove deep into Southmoreland territory and set up first-and goal from the 7 yard line. But the effort was for naught as Bloom intercepted a Gamal Marballie pass in the endzone on 4th-and-goal, setting the Scotties offense up at the 20-yard line on the touchback.

Southmoreland failed to score and Yough had possession early in the fourth quarter when Isaac Trout intercepted a Marballie pass around midfield and ran for an apparent touchdown, only to have it called back to midfield on a post-interception penalty.

That set up the game's final score, a 50-yard touchdown sprint down the left sideline by Southmoreland's Anthony Stewart. The PAT kick made the Scotties lead 24-0 with 8:47 left in the game.

Yough mounted a sustained drive and looked like they might thwart the shutout before time expired, but Marballie's 4th-and-14 pass attempt to C.J. Waldier from the 23-yard line fell incomplete in good coverage, and the Scotties ran out the remaining 1:32 of the game for the victory.

Both teams play at home next Friday with Southmoreland (3-2) hosting Brownsville and Yough (1-4) welcoming the Valley Vikings.