|
||||||||
|
 |
|||||||
Mounties win, improve to 6 - 3Posted Tuesday, November 03, 2009 by Corey Turcheck Markosky, Ligonier rollBy PAUL ROSSMAN , prossman@indianagazette.netLIGONIER - Ligonier Valley sophomore Russell Markosky admitted that he likes to run on dry fields, but they've been far and few between this season. That is, until the last two weeks. Markosky had his second big game in as many weeks, accumulating more than 200 all-purpose yards and scoring three touchdowns, helping Ligonier Valley beat Northern Cambria, 26-7, Friday night in both teams' final Heritage Conference game. ``Today was great,'' said Markosky, who had 178 yards and two touchdowns last week against Homer-Center. ``Our field was just perfect. It wasn't too soft, it wasn't too hard. It was awesome - awesome to cut on.'' ``It's a big win for us, going to 6-3,'' Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel said. ``We're excited. We're not ready to take out a full-page color ad to flaunt what we've done or anything like that yet. We're excited. We're hoping to get into the playoffs.'' Markosky scored on runs of 43 and 32 yards, accumulating 168 yards on 14 carries. ``There was some awesome blocking - some of the best blocking I've ever seen,'' he said. ``Every time I came back and congratulated them. It was just great.'' Markosky also scored on the game's opening punt return, taking it 53 yards with 10:25 left in the first quarter. ``I started going left and there was nobody there,'' Markosky said. ``So I just kept going. It was some awesome blocking by our punt return guys. It was awesome.'' Northern Cambria made it 12-7 with 6:49 left in the first half. Penksa drove Northern Cambria 70 yards in nine plays, finding Gary Paronish for an 11-yard touchdown pass to cap the drive. ``I'm real proud of our kids,'' Northern Cambria coach Paul Taranto said. ``They never once gave up. They played their hearts out the entire ballgame.'' But despite forcing two interceptions, and have plenty of opportunities present themselves, Ligonier Valley couldn't extend its lead into the half, forcing Beitel to give an inspiring pep talk at halftime. ``I threw my first fit of the season, which is uncharacteristic of me,'' Beitel said. ``I usually don't go in and yell and scream too much, but what little voice and what little energy I have left, I thought it was warranted. I thought it was needed. I'm not going to stand by idly and allow our kids to miss an opportunity, and it's something they'll have for the rest of their lives. We got after them. I got after them pretty heated at halftime and challenged them to come out and respond, and they did.'' They sure did. The offense responded by scoring twice in the third quarter. The first was Markosky's third touchdown of the night, and the other was his brother, Curtis, who scored from 36 yards to make it 26-7 with 5:34 to play in the third. The defense allowed only 16 total yards in the second half, yielding no first downs. But Taranto was still pleased with his team's effort. ``These kids this year, it's been up and down, and it's been a roller coaster, but I guess that's what kids are like nowadays,'' he said. ``This is probably the best 26-7 loss that I've ever taken a part in. The kids, their hearts were in it. The sidelines were up tonight more than they've ever been. ... My hat's off to the seniors and the way they played their last ballgame knowing it was their last one.'' But while it's the last game for Northern Cambria, Ligonier Valley has at least one more left, which is exciting to many of the players. ``I'm so pumped for next week,'' Russell Markosky said. ``We're playing a new team we've never played before and it's home, which is awesome because we've only had four home games. ... We're just all pumped about it because we get to do this again.''  |
|
|