Brian Hagberg
RUSSELL, Pa. – Eisenhower built a three-score lead, then held off a Girard rally as the Knights topped the Yellowjackets, 21-14.
Rewatch the game:
Tucker Lindell scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns and had at least two sacks and multiple tackles for loss on his way to earning Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game honors.
“It’s a really good thing to have (close games) because we have the battles now and we aren’t lost, don’t know what to do in the playoffs,” Lindell said during his Cole Orthodontic Associates player interview. “As we started to figure things out, we got the right guys blocked and were able to make plays and move the ball.”
See Lindell’s full Cole Orthodontic Associates interview:
Lindell put the Knights in front 21-0 just before the end of the first half, and Eisenhower got the ball back to start the second half.
Consecutive penalties pushed Eisenhower back to its own five, then Girard got a strip fumble to take over at the Knights’ 10. Two plays later, Jeremiah Colon put the Jackets on the board with a 5-yard TD run.
Colon ripped the ball out of Lindell’s hands to set up Girard’s second scoring drive. He added a 24-yard run in the drive before finishing it off with a 4-yard TD run to make it 21-14.
The Jackets drove down to the Knights’ 13 with five minutes to play, but Eisenhower forced a turnover on downs to take possession and run out the clock.
Cole Kellogg got the scoring started with an 18-yard scamper late in the first quarter. Lindell scored his first touchdown on a 5-yard run midway through the second quarter.
Colon finished with 86 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Ryan St. Julien was 4-11 passing for 40 yards and Carsen Stevens was 2-8 for 26 yards and an interception.
James Kibbe had two catches for 38 yards and Derek Robison had four grabs for 28 yards.
Lindell had 12 carries for 64 yards and two touchdowns. Logan Penley had 15 carries for 53 yards.
Shawn Pascuzzi was 4-9 passing for 58 yards and ran five times for 43 yards.
Derek Childs had two catches for 34 yards.
