Shared from the 11/27/2021 Mon Valley Independent eEdition

Serra feasts on turnovers

Eagles take the ball away 9 times to become WPIAL champions

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Mike Darnay / MVI Sports Serra Catholic’s Terrell Booth returns an interception for a touchdown late in Friday’s 35-12 win over Beaver Falls in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game.

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Mike Darnay / MVI Sports Serra Catholic’s Jayvon Holt (11) tries to break away from Anthony Cousar (52) of Beaver Falls.

There’s a new champion in Class 2A.

Sixth-seeded Serra Catholic forced nine turnovers en route to a 35-12 victory over the fifth-seeded defending champions from Beaver Falls in Friday night’s WPIAL Class 2A championship game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

The Eagles (14-1) recovered five fumbles, including one for a touchdown, and picked off four passes from Beaver Falls (9-4) quarterback Jaren Brickner as they captured their third district title in program history and first since 2007.

“These guys turned it up and just never stopped. They never reached their peak and they kept moving,” Serra Catholic head coach Jose Regus said. “Our defense has been carrying us a long time and they know how important it is.”

Serra’s defense helped turn a slim two-point advantage into a lopsided championship triumph in just over five minutes in the fourth quarter. Two possessions after Beaver Falls cut Serra’s lead to 14-12 on a 58-yard punt return by Mekhi Clark and a 6-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Aeschbacher, the Eagles extended their lead thanks in part to senior safety Terrell Booth.

Three plays into the Tigers’ drive, Booth picked off a pass from Brickner and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown that put Serra up, 21-12, with just over five minutes remaining.

Booth added another interception on Beaver Falls’ following possession, setting the Eagles up in prime position at the Tigers’ 20-yard line. After an 18-yard run by Jayvon Campbell-Holt and a 1-yard run by Pharoh Fisher, Machai Duetrieulle-Brooks capped off the short drive with a 1-yard score to extend the Eagles’ lead to 28-12 with just over two minutes left.

Booth put up huge numbers when it mattered most, collecting eight total tackles, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery to go with his two interceptions.

“I read the quarterback’s eyes on the pick-six, caught it and knew I had to score,” said Booth, who had the game-winning touchdown reception in last week’s semifinal win over Sto-Rox. “We have the best defense in the WPIAL and I just have to give a shoutout to coach Akeeme (Robinson).”

Holding a comfortable 16-point lead in the final minutes, the Eagles added more on another turnover.

DaiQuan Chatfield picked up a loose ball following a fumble by Aeschbacher and returned it 42 yards for Serra’s final touchdown of the night.

“I stand strong behind my defense. I have 100% trust, faith and belief in those guys,” Regus said. “I believe they’ll come up with plays at any point in a game.”

Serra forced five turnovers in the first half, including fumbles on three straight Beaver Falls possessions.

Michael Schanck, a junior defensive end, was often on the recovering end of those fumbles. He had three fumble recoveries to go with 3.5 tackles, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and two sacks.

“I just knew I had to go out there and execute for my team,” Schanck said. “We knew we had to shut down the running game. We expected our defensive backs to take over at that point.”

SERRA • B2 Senior defensive tackle Zach Weber contributed at a high level on defense as well. He finished with a team-high 8.5 tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack in the win.

“I’ve been thinking about this all week, knowing all my hard work was coming down to this game,” Weber said. “We know Beaver Falls has a good offense, but we believe in our guys and we know we can match up against anybody.”

Serra has had a string of impressive defensive performances during its run to a district title.

The Eagles shut down a high-powered Laurel offense in the quarterfinals and limited Sto-Rox to just 12 points. Both teams were seeded in the top three in Class 2A and entered their matchup with Serra averaging more than 40 points per game.

“We love when the pressure is on us,” Weber said. “We’re at our best when that happens.”

Despite committing five turnovers in the first half, Beaver Falls trailed by just eight points heading into halftime.

The Tigers scored the first points of the game less than two minutes in as Richard Singleton corralled a 28-yard touchdown pass from Brickner to give Beaver Falls an early 6-0 lead after a missed PAT.

Serra responded on its next possession as Duetrieulle-Brooks capped off an 11-play, 65-yard drive with an 11-yard score.

Duetrieulle-Brooks finished with 22 carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

The Eagles maintained a one-point edge until the 1:28 mark of the second quarter. That’s when Elijah Ward stepped in front of a Brickner pass and returned it 30 yards for a pick-six.

Beaver Falls threatened to answer on its next possession, using 11 plays to drive down to the Serra 13-yard line. Faced with a fourth-and-11, however, Brickner delivered a pass that was intercepted by Duetrieulle-Brooks near the goal line. He was tackled at the 1-yard line and Serra threw the ball away on its next offensive play to take a 14-6 edge into the halftime break.

“This hasn’t set in yet, but it means a lot,” Regus said. “These kids are totally dedicated and they have been dedicated since they arrived here. They’ve been a special group all along.”

Serra advances to the PIAA playoffs and will face Farrell in the semifinals next week. Farrell defeated Karns City, 30-12, on Friday.

“We’re just going to do what we usually do. We’re going to get back in the lab, do some film work, get a little exercise in and prepare like we’ve been preparing since the beginning,” Regus said. “We’re going to put in 150% effort to win a state championship. We’re not going to slow down because this isn’t the end.”

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