High Schools |  Galleries |  Recruiting |  Baseball |  Baseball Stats |  Basketball |  Basketball Stats |  Softball |  Softball Stats |  Football |  Football Stats |  Golf |  Hockey |  Soccer |  Swimming |  Tennis |  Track |  Volleyball |  Wrestling |  Other

By George Guido

Published: Saturday, October 6, 2012, 12:10 a.m.
Updated: Saturday, October 6, 2012

There's usually some strange occurrences at Kittanning-Ford City football games, and Friday night was no exception.

Kittanning scored 10 points in the first 30 seconds of the third quarter without running a play from scrimmage as the Wildcats rolled to a 35-21 Allegheny Conference victory over the Sabers at Red Ullom Field.

Ford City took the second-half kickoff with Kittanning ahead, 10-7. After three penalties put the ball at the Ford City 4-yard line, Kittanning's Zac Croyle tackled August Mantini in the end zone for a safety. Kittanning's Sterling Henry then took the ensuing free kick and raced 72 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion gave the Wildcats a 20-7 lead with 11:30 to go in the third quarter.

The victory puts Kittanning (3-3, 3-2) one game out of first place in the conference, while Ford City slipped to 2-4, 1-4.

“We talked about coming out to start a half strong, but I don't know if we had that in mind,” Wildcats coach Frank Fabian said. “We kind of got them backed up, and the ball bounced our way there. It was a nice job by our front line guys. We got out and got our hats on some guys.”

Ford City pulled within 20-14 on a hook-and-lateral play. David Lattanzio passed to Justin Retzer, who tossed the ball to Devan Willyard, who took the ball the final 29 yards for a touchdown with 6:53 left in the third quarter.

Kittanning quarterback Kevin Barnes ran for 145 yards and passed for 110 more.

“We made a lot of mistakes mentally that really hurt us tonight,” Ford City coach John Bartolovic said. “We had a couple people dinged up, and it resulted in a lot of penalties were not accustomed to.”

Henry put Kittanning in scoring position twice in the fourth quarter.

On the opening play of the quarter, Henry intercepted a Lattanzio pass at the 47 and returned it to the Ford City 20.

Barnes scored on a keeper four plays later to make it 28-14 in favor of the Wildcats.

Henry returned a punt 45 yards to set up a Barnes touchdown pass to Mitchell Pirhalla for a 35-14 lead.

“We feel excited,” Fabian said. “This community, I couldn't be happier for. When you drop nine out the last 10 to a school that's only three miles away, you hear it constantly.”

George Guido is a freelance writer for Trib Total Media.

1. Brown’s ‘Inferno’ puts Langdon through his paces
2. Pirates notebook: Botched popup shocks Martin
3. Penguins notebook: Spezza will return for Senators in Game 3
4. Pirates starters Locke, Wandy enjoying good fortune
5. Biertempfel: Pirates lefty Locke settles into rotation
6. Web giants likely to battle for music fans’ attention
7. South Side group sponsors wide range of activities outdoors
8. Trout in the Classroom program reels in students
9. As yen falls, so does cost of products from Japan
10. Spirit moves McFerrin on new album
11. Morgan Contemporary Glass’ teapots exhibit pours on the creativity

There are currently no comments for this story.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.