Cochranton was able to dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball on Friday and ride the rushing exploits of senior running back Jeff Hawley to a 33-14 victory over Youngsville at Youngsville High School.
After trading three and outs throughout most of the first quarter, Cochranton scored first on a 47-yard touchdown run by Hawley with two minutes remaining in the first.
On the ensuing kickoff, Youngsville's Nathan Smith returned the ball to midfield. Quarterback Rocco Gatta broke a run around the end to get the ball into the red zone and Gatta would cap the drive with a touchdown run from one yard out. The T.J. Hardy extra point tied the game at 7-7.
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Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton
Around the end
Youngsville’s Rocco Gatta (13) breaks off a 38-yard run around the end in the first quarter of a 33-14 loss to Cochranton.
Cochranton took control of the game from there.
With 9:22 left in the second, Austin Andrew's scored from one yard out, giving the Cardinals the 13-7 lead they would take into the break.
Two minutes into the third, Hawley ran it in from 32 yards out and, on the first play of the fourth quarter, he broke off an 84-yard touchdown run, giving the Cardinals a big lead they would not relinquish.
Youngsville would cross the goal line one more time, on a one-yard run by Sage Sivak with seven minutes left in the contest but Cochranton scored on its next possession to stretch the lead back out.
The Eagles bounced back in the last minutes of the contest and got the ball deep into the Cardinal red zone and appeared to have a touchdown in the corner on a Dalton Maze reception, but he was ruled out of bounds, negating the score. Cochranton would intercept the Eagles in the last minute to ice the game.
Gatta was the leading rusher for the Eagles with 109 yards on the night. Maze, who had three catches for 56 yards, was the leading receiver for the Eagles, who drop to 2-7 overall. They wrap up the season with a trip to 7-1 Saegertown next Friday night.
Cochranton-Youngsville Stats
Cochranton76713-33
Youngsville7007-14
First Quarter
C- Jeff Hawley 47 yard run, Jesse Staudt kick, 1:55
Y- Rocco Gatta one yeard run, T.J. Hardy kick, 1:13
Second Quarter
C- Austin Andrews one yard run, Staudt kick no good, 9:22
Third Quarter
C- Hawley 32 yard run, Staudt kick, 9:54
Fourth Quarter
C- Hawley 84 run, Staudt kick, 11:54
Y- Sage Sivak 1 run, Hardy kick, 7:14
C- Andrews 31 run, kick blocked, 2:50
CY
Offensive Plays4855
First downs1112
Rushes-yards43-35548-185
Passing078
Total Yards355263
Comp-Att-Int0-5-15-9-2
Fumbles-Lost0-04-0
Penalties-Yards6-430-0
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING- C- Jeff Hawley25-299, 3 TD, No. 32 1-0, Austin Andrews 6-35, 2TD, Clayton Beatty 6-22, Chad Eisenhooth 5-(-1). Y- Sage Sivak 17-63, TD, Sam Lucas 12-8, Rocco Gatta 16-109, TD, T.J. Hardy 1-2,, Jordan Gurdak 2-3.
PASSING- C- Eisenhooth 0-5, 0 yards, 1 int. Y- Gatta 5-9, 78 yards, 2 int.
RECEIVING- C- None. Y- Christian Bundy 1-7, TJ Hardy 1-15, Maze 3-56.