Hempfield holds off rival Greensburg Salem in season opener

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 24, 2018 | 10:51 PM

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Junior Nathan Roby’s eyes lit up as the ball floated his way and landed squarely in his bread basket.

Roby took his second interception of the game 22 yards for his first career pick-6 touchdown late in the first half Friday night to help propel Hempfield to a 27-24 victory over traditional rival Greensburg Salem in the season opener at Offutt Field.

“I was freaking out,” Roby said. “We needed something to get us going. We were kind of sluggish at the start and weren’t getting a push; it helped a lot.”

The Spartans, who have won three straight against the Golden Lions after a victory in their 54th meeting, broke a nine-game losing streak.

Roby, who also blocked an extra point, finished with 66 yards rushing on 20 carries as the Spartans ran for 173 yards on the ground.

“Roby’s a gamer,” Hempfield coach Rich Bowen said. “He was one of our starters back. He played a lot as a sophomore and that showed tonight.”

Sophomore Mario Perkins added 69 yards and a touchdown, and junior quarterback Blake Remaley ran for 52 yards and completed 7 of 11 passes for 95 yards and a score for the Spartans, who intercepted three passes.

“We were fired up,” Roby said. “We knew we were going to come in and put on a show. Once we got going, our line started pushing more, we took over from there.”

Bowen was adamant about the Spartans getting back to the run and that was obvious from the start. The Spartans’ first 10 plays were runs before first-year starter Remaley, whom Bowen said managed the game well, found a rhythm and helped put his team in control.

He threw a 29-yard score to Roman Pellis, who leapt between two defenders to tie it 7-7 early.

But Greensburg Salem also went to the air to take back the early lead it gained on Aaron Putt’s 44-yard burst, when Tyler Williams pulled in an over-the-shoulder catch for a 46-yard score from Trent Patrick. The extra point was blocked by Roby, and the Golden Lions led 13-7.

Putt ran for a game-high 83 yards.

After the teams traded turnovers, one being Roby’s first pick, Hempfield went back on top. Remaley threw to Randy Nelson for 20 yards before Perkins’ short touchdown made it 14-13 with 4:59 left in a long second quarter.

Roby stepped in front of a Patrick pass and raced 22 yards to push the Spartans’ advantage to 21-13.

“There were too many plays that we didn’t finish in the first half,” Greensburg Salem coach Dave Keefer said. “We played physical and got better as a team. But the interception was the difference in the game. Trent forced a couple of throws, but that’s just a kid trying to make plays to bring us back in the game.”

Ethan Turnbull connected on a 40-yard field goal for the Golden Lions just before the half and it was 21-16.

Hempfield showed more comfort running the ball with the lead as it opened the second half with an 11-play drive, all runs, for 84 yards.

“It’s been a long time since we won a game so we needed this momentum,” Bowen said. “We really had five kids that have any varsity experience. We really wanted to come out and run it at them. There were a lot of good things, but we have to clean up the garbage penalties.”

Remaley capped the possession with a 28-yard touchdown as he scrambled left and stiff-armed a defender as he neared the sideline, then bounced back inside to make it 27-16.

“We got a little tired up front as the game went on and didn’t sustain that effort up front,” Keefer said. “Sometimes, it comes down to how many mistakes you make.”

Dakota Powell gave the Golden Lions a late chance with a blocked punt inside Hempfield territory, and they turned it into points.

Jalen Page caught a 24-yard score from Patrick in the back right corner of the end zone, and Cavan Trout caught the two-point pass to make it 27-24 with 1:11 to go.

Unable to get the onsides kick, Greensburg Salem could not stop the clock and Hempfield sealed it.

“I’ll take the win but we have a lot of work to do,” Bowen said. “We have a long week because we don’t play until Saturday (at Pine-Richland). This is a great group of kids. We’re going to be a good football team, but it might take some time.”

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, Hempfield