ELIZABETHVILLE — Quarterback Aaron Cleveland hit Ethan Schell on a 77-yard touchdown pass on Upper Dauphin’s fifth offensive play of the night.
It set the tone for what was to come for the Trojans, who are now back in the Tri-Valley League championship race.
Cameron Fornwald ran for 109 yards and a score, while Cleveland’s touchdown pass started what turned out to be an evening of big plays during Upper Dauphin’s 41-7 thumping of Pine Grove on Friday at Trojan Stadium.
Of the Trojans’ six touchdowns, five covered 40 yards or more. Fornwald added a 45-yard scoring run in the second quarter, while Petyon
Barge scored from 45 yards out in the third quarter.
Even the special teams and defense got in on the act.
Tanner Miller returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, while Fornwald ran back a Cardinals fumble 55 yards to finish off the rout.
The only short touchdown came on a 5-yard run by Cole Reed early in the second quarter.
“We needed to come out and get momentum going for the second half of the season,” Cleveland said. “This was a really big win. Our line blocked really great. Overall, we just performed really well.”
With the victory, the Trojans (4-2, 3-1 TVL) moved into a second-place tie in the Tri-Valley League with Newport (4-2, 3-1) and Williams Valley (4-2, 3-1). The three are a game out of first after Tri-Valley handed Juniata (5-1, 4-1) its loss of the season 18-6 on Friday.
Newport routed Susquenita 41-6 on Friday, while the Vikings fell 35-20 in a non-league game to Northern Lebanon.
Against Williams Valley two weeks ago, the Trojans managed just 92 yards of offense in a 20-3 loss to the Vikings. Upper Dauphin has looked like a completely different team the last two games. It started with 31-16 win over St. Joseph Catholic last week, as the Trojans had 357 yards of offense.
“Our line did a great job tonight,” said Fornwald, who carried the ball 15 times. “They had big holes for me, and Cole also ... I couldn’t do it without Cole. It makes big holes for me. He deserves the credit.”
Upper Dauphin had 358 yards of offense Friday behind the line of Matt Deitrich, Dakotah Wiest, Coby Zerby, Maden Bellis and Cole Zimmerman. Trojans coach Brent Bell believes the little things are making the difference.
“Some of those plays against Williams Valley weren’t because of major errors, they were little things,” Bell said. “A step here, a step there, and we’ve been focusing on that. Our guys responded. After that game, there was two ways to go and they responded. Our goals it just keep improving every week.”
Upper Dauphin didn’t waste any time Friday.
On a third-and-10 play from their own 23-yard line, the Trojans went with a play-action pass play. After the fake, Cleveland spotted Schell wide open in the Cardinals’ secondary, hit him in stride, and Schell took it in for the score.
“Their safeties were playing up and we set it up really well with play action,” Cleveland said. “He got open. Our O-line did a great job.”
Up 14-7 late in the first half, the Trojans were facing a fourth-and-1 from their own 45. Upper Dauphin would have settled for just the first down, but Fornwald followed Reed through a hole turned it into a 45-yard scoring run.
“I wanted to get the touchdown,” Fornwald said. “I saw green so I just kept my legs moving and when I got into the end zone, I felt great.”
Upper Dauphin also turned in a impressive showing on defense, holding Pine Grove (3-2, 3-2) to 138 yards of offense. Mark Weinus, who ran for 226 yards during Pine Grove’s 26-19 over Millersburg last week, was held to 76 yards on 22 carries Friday. The Cardinals also turned the ball over twice.
“I couldn’t be happier with the defense,” Bell said. “We just knew we needed to stop him (Weinus). Overall, our defense played strong and we’ve been playing strong defense.”
Pine Grove’s only touchdown was a 12-yard pass from quarterback Logan Levan to Danny Diaz-Walton that pulled the Cardinals to within 14-7 midway through the second quarter.
Game Summary
PG (3-3, 3-2) 0 7 0 0 — 7 UD (4-2, 3-1) 6 14 6 15 — 41
UD —Schell 77 pass from Cleveland (kick failed)
UD —Reed 5 run (Reed run)
PG —Diaz-Walton 12 pass from Levan (Diaz-Walton kick)
UD — Fornwald 45 run (kick failed)
UD —Barge 48 run (run failed)
UD —T. Miller 66 punt return (Schell pass from Cleveland)
UD —Fornwald 55 fumble return (Uhler kick)
PG UD
First Downs 13 11
Rushes-Yards 38-75 41-241
Passes 6-14-1 3-9-0
Passing Yards 63 117
Total Yards 138 358
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 2-0
Penalties 5-21 10-81
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Pine Grove — Weinus 22-76, Ritenbaugh 7-27, Levan 4-6, Lutz 1-5, Ney 1-0, S. Aungst 1-(-2), Team 2-(-37). Upper Dauphin — Fornwald 15-109, Barge 1-48, Cleveland 8-24, T. Wiest 5-23, T. Miller 2-19, Reed 5-17, Lenker 1-4, Kennerly 2-3, Uhler 1-1, Smith 1-(-7).
PASSING: Pine Grove — Levan 5-12-1, 60; Ney 1-2-0, 3. Upper Dauphin — Cleveland 3-8-0, 117; Kerstetter 0-1-0, 0.
RECEIVING: Pine Grove — Soltys 2-29, Diaz-Walton 2-22, Wolfe 1-9, Knoll 1-3. Upper Dauphin — Barge 2-40, Schell 1-77.
INTERCEPTIONS: Upper Dauphin — T. Miller.