Sheffield's defense posted its third shutout of the season, and its seniors came up with big plays on senior day, as the Wolverines defeated Smethport, 18-0, Saturday at Sheffield High School.
"It's awesome that seniors were able to step up and make plays on senior day," said Sheffield coach Bryan Gould. "The shutout is something that we're proud of. We take pride in ourselves for that."
The muddy conditions on Wolverine Mountain made it difficult for either team to get much going offensively early in the game. The game remained scoreless through the first quarter.
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Brian Hagberg
Making a splash
Sheffield's Kalil Slaughter is splattered with mud from one of his blockers while making a carry during the Wolverines' game against Smethport Saturday at Sheffield High School.
Kwante Johnson's 47-yard interception return gave the Wolverines (3-5) a first and goal from the Hubbers' (1-7) three yard line. George Fitch pounded his way into the end zone on the next play to give Sheffield a 6-0 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the second quarter.
"Kwante's interception gave us a jump start," Gould said. "It really got us rolling."
With two minutes left in the first half, Shequan Wright came up with another interception. Wright then came into the game at quarterback and completed passes to Fitch and Johnson to move the Wolverines down to the Smethport one-yard line. Ike Nearing took a quarterback keeper into the end zone to give Sheffield a 12-0 lead heading into the half.
Fact Box
The stats box will be published in Tuesday's Times Observer.
"It's nice to have two quarterbacks," Gould said. "Ike is a good read QB and Shequan is a superb thrower."
Gould added that he wanted to get another score before the half in order to give his team a cushion to start the third quarter as Smethport would get the ball first.
Both teams again played to a stalemate in the third quarter as the defenses began to take over the game.
Fitched blocked, and Kalil Slaughter recovered, a Smethport punt with just over eight minutes to play in the game. Slaughter took the handoff on the next play, fumbled it, then picked the ball up and raced 27 yards to paydirt to end the scoring for the day.
The Sheffield defense held Smethport to just 92 yards of total offense and created four turnovers to go along with the blocked punt.
"This is the third year for our defensive scheme," Gould said. "The biggest thing (this year) though is the hitters. We have guys just laying big hits on people."
Sheffield travels to Emporium to take on Cameron County on Friday. Sheffield is currently the fourth-ranked team in District 9 Class AA, and that's how many teams make the D-9 AA playoffs.
Gould said the team has been gunning for at least four wins since starting the season 0-3. That goal of being 4-5 over the first nine weeks would be met with a win at Cameron County.
Smethport-Sheffield Stats
Smethport00 00-0
Sheffield01206-18
Second Quarter
Sh-George Fitch 3 run, run failed; 7:09.
Sh-Ike Nearing 1 run, run failed; 1:36.
Fourth Quarter
Sh-Kalil Slaughter 27 run, run failed; 7:57.
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SmSh
Offensive Plays 53 39
First downs 9 9
Rushes-yards 46-9131-79
Passing 175
Total Yards 92154
Comp-Att-Int 1-7-3 5-8-1
Fumbles-Lost 5-15-1
Penalties-Yards 3-253-25
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Sm-Karl Lightner 22-74; Clay Schuler 15-20; Ryan Stratten 3-7, #10 1-1; Kevin Kreiner 1-(-1); Kevin Lord 4-(-10). Sh-Kalil Slaughter 7-53, TD; George Fitch 6-27, TD; Ike Nearing 8-14, TD; Nick Bonavita 9-(-4); Shequan Wright 1-(-11).
PASSING-Sm-Lord 1-6 for 1 yard, 3INT; Schuler 0-1 for 0 yards. Sh-Wright 5-8 for 75 yards, INT.
RECEIVING-Sm-Schuler 1-1. Sh-Fitch 3-23; Kwante Johnson 1-28; Evan Jamison 1-24.