This was undoubtedly Central Valley’s biggest game of the season, and coach Mark Lyons acknowledged that. But in the end for Central Valley, this was the game of the century — times three.
It was once, twice, three times a 100-yard rusher for Central Valley. Three Central Valley players reached the century mark on the ground, as the Warriors ran past visiting Beaver Area 51-37 in a Friday night showdown between two of the top five teams in WPIAL Class 3A.
Running back Mason Dixon went north-south often in the game and ran for more than 200 yards. Central Valley’s other 100-yard rushers were running back Jance Henry and quarterback Steven Rutherford. Central Valley huffed and puffed its way to a win that lifted its record to 2-3 overall and 2-0 in the Western Hills Conference. Central Valley is ranked No. 2 in WPIAL Class 3A by the Post-Gazette despite starting the season 0-3. All three of those losses were to Class 4A teams ranked in the top five.
“Even though we played those three 4A teams to start the season, I still didn’t have a good gauge on us,” Lyons said. “This was going to be our gauge, our barometer. We still have some things to clean up, but at the end of the day, it’s a big win.”
Central Valley beat Beaver 51-37 behind three 100-yard rushers. Here’s CV coach Mark Lyons. pic.twitter.com/8lT9c8DtjE
— Mike White (@mwhiteburgh) September 21, 2024
Lyons has been a head coach for about three decades and has more than 200 wins. But this one was different than any he contest has ever coached.
“Is that what we had?” Lyons said when told his team had three 100-yard rushers. “We really had three? That’s probably a first.”
A senior, Dixon didn’t start the game but came on and ran for 208 yards on 16 carries and scored three touchdowns on runs of 6, 66 and 40 yards. Henry, a sophomore, started at running back after missing last week’s game with an injury and he rushed for 129 yards on 18 carries and also scored twice on jaunts of 3 and 18 yards.
Senior Rutherford joined the Warriors’ life on the run, rushing for 115 yards on 16 attempts. He also missed last week’s game because of an injury.
“I thought from watching tape that we had a chance to get some space in the running game,” said Lyons, whose team has a leg up on winning its eighth conference title since the school opened in 2010. “I really thought [Rutherford] was the X-factor. He rolled his ankle in the game, but you weren’t going to drag him off the field. I’m proud of everybody on our team, but my hats off to both teams. I thought it was a great high school football game.”
The loss dropped No. 3 Beaver Area to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference. Although the Bobcats couldn’t withstand Central Valley’s running game, they did put up a valiant effort despite losing some key players to injuries. Brady Mayo, a talented senior receiver-defensive back and a Bucknell recruit, suffered a left arm injury on the second play of the game when he was tackled after catching a pass. Later in the first half, Mayo left the stadium and went to the hospital. Also in the first half, Beaver Area lost starting quarterback Travis Clear to a thumb injury. And staring defensive lineman Jonah Justice also was lost to an injury.
“I told the kids that we aren’t going to make excuses, and we don’t want anybody making excuses for us,” Beaver Area coach Cort Rowse said. “We got beat by a good team. Mark had his team prepared. We have to learn from it.
“We have to get better on defense, but I’m proud of some kids who came in. We used a big part of our roster.”
The loss overshadowed an outstanding performance by Beaver Area senior Amari Jackson. A receiver-defensive back and a Villanova recruit, Jackson moved to Wildcat quarterback and rushed for 251 yards on 16 attempts and scored on runs of 56, 1 and 55 yards.
“He gave us fits,” Lyons said.
Rowse said, “He’s a special player. He’s that guy. He’s a competitor. He plays with courage and toughness. I can’t say enough good things about him. Sometimes I’m amazed at watching him.”
The game actually had five 100-yard rushers. Beaver Area’s Qualan Cain had 116 yards, 80 on one touchdown run.
Although Central Valley’s running game was impressive, the Warriors actually got started with a defensive touchdown. On the fifth play of the game, Clear dropped to pass, was hit and fumbled. Central Valley’s Tyler Ondrusek picked up the ball and had a defensive lineman’s dream — nothing but green in front of him. Ondrusek ran 31 yards with the fumble for a touchdown.
Central Valley was off and running. The Warriors took a 21-0 lead in the second quarter and were never seriously threatened after that.
First Published: September 21, 2024, 3:16 a.m.
