McGuffey didn’t have too much to worry about for most of the night against Charleroi.
Two first-half fumbles? No problem. The Highlanders defense stiffened and didn’t allow a point.
Turning the ball over on downs in the second quarter? A quick interception by Connor Corbly took care of that and resulted in a touchdown.
Even when Charleroi made a game of it and got within a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, McGuffey had an answer. And this time it was a 43-yard run by quarterback Marshall Whipkey that set up a 2-yard quarterback draw for the clinching touchdown with 3:12 remaining as the Class 2A No. 4-ranked Highlanders (8-0, 6-0) remained alone in first place in the Century Conference with a 28-14 victory over Charleroi (5-2, 4-2).
“Our kids, we have an air about us [at home] because it’s been since 2016 that we lost a game here,” McGuffey coach Ed Dalton said. “There wasn’t really any panic in their eyes.”
It helped that McGuffey could turn the ball over to junior McKinley Whipkey, who was able to do a lot of damage out of the fullback slot in the team’s wing-T. McKinley carried 14 times for 95 yards and a touchdown in the first half and finished with 18 carries for 108 as he helped control the clock for the Highlanders.
“He’s physical and he’s a gamer and he’s getting better and better,” Dalton said. “He and his brother are getting so many snaps now, and the play his brother made [the 43-yard run] was ridiculous. He decided he was going to make a play and he did.”
Marshall only had an opportunity to make that play because of a defensive stand by McGuffey late in the fourth quarter.
Charleroi did not have much in the way of offense in the first half and only picked up 90 yards before halftime, but beginning in the third quarter, the Cougars used a short passing game and the running of senior Brayden Mihalcin to finally get back into it.
After Charleroi failed to take advantage of two Highlanders first-half turnovers, the team got another chance to convert a miscue into points when Ethan Codeluppi picked off a pass and set up the Cougars at the McGuffey 48.
Despite having to overcome a 13-yard loss on first-and-goal from the McGuffey 7, quarterback Alex Conrad capitalized with a 1-yard plunge to get the Cougars back into the game.
Charleroi fumbled at the McGuffey 28 on its next possession, but forced a quick three-and-out and once again used a short passing game to move the ball down the field. When Conrad connected with Legend Davis for an 8-yard touchdown, the Cougars were back in the game, trailing, 21-14, with 7:18 left in regulation.
And that’s when the game turned.
On the ensuing kickoff, McGuffey muffed a fair catch on a pooch and Charleroi recovered to have a first down at the Highlanders 34. After Mihalcic picked up 4 yards on first down, Conrad went for it all on second down and overthrew his receiver in the end zone, on third down his pass was nearly intercepted on a short rollout and the Cougars were stuffed on a run on fourth down and turned it over.
“We got good yards on first down on the run, saw some things we had open the flats and we didn’t execute; McGuffey made adjustments and we did as well,” Charleroi coach Lance Getsy said. “Sometimes those things happen and you don’t put the blame on anybody. I’ll take the blame. I don’t care.”
That was Charleroi’s last chance, as Marshall converted a second-and-8 at the Cougars 46 into a first-and-goal at the 3 after a 43-yard run that led to the clinching score.
Now McGuffey will turn its attention to a non-conference showdown with Avonworth next week before closing it out with the conference title on the line at home against Washington.
“Who else can control our own destiny like we can?” Dalton said. “We can win our section and probably be the No. 1 seed if we beat, 6-0, 8-0 and 9-0 in a row. But we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
First Published: October 12, 2019, 3:27 a.m.
