Surging Springdale stays unbeaten, beats Greensburg Central Catholic

By: George Guido
Friday, October 2, 2020 | 10:42 PM

Springdale relied on its big-play offense to go 4-0 for the second consecutive season with a 45-22 victory Friday at Greensburg Central Catholic.

Legend Ausk returned to the lineup and threw for 203 yards and two scores, and junior Logan Dexter was busy, rushing for 82 yards and two touchdowns and pulling down six receptions for 114 yards to go with two interceptions.

The Dynamos had nine plays of 16 yards or more.

“I was really happy with the gameplan we were going with this week,” Springdale coach Seth Napierkowski said. “We knew they were going to be tough to stop when they were on offense. We’re not the biggest team. They have monsters up front, but we stressed not giving up the big play.”

Springdale is 4-0 both in Eastern Conference play and overall. The Centurions slipped 1-3, 1-3.

GCC started the scoring with a 29-yard run by senior quarterback David Altimore to complete a nine-play, 63-yard drive.

Springdale answered with a 22-yard field goal by Matt Haus and took the lead for good on a 13-yard pass from Ausk to Demitri Fritch with 7 minutes, 14 seconds to go in the half.

After Dexter’s 1-yard scoring run, the Centurions reduced their deficit to three on a 17-yard run by Zach Dlugos with 2 minutes, 14 seconds left in the second quarter.

Springdale, however, drove 57 yards in five plays. Dexter’s 32-yard reception set up a 7-yard pass from Ausk to John Utiss to make it 24-14 Springdale with 17 seconds to go before halftime.

“That was huge,” Napierkowski said. “A 17-14 game was much different than a 24-14 game, and all the credit to the kids. We work on our 2-minute offense a lot. The guys made big plays, that’s what you need.”

GCC coach Bret Colbert said: “They made some great plays, and they’re well-coached. We had some big injuries we had to overcome in the game. It’s tough to scramble like that.”

Among the key injured players were lineman A.J. Johnson and receiver Evan Stasko.

Despite the setbacks, the Centurions weren’t finished.

After pinning Springdale deep in its own territory to start the third quarter, Danny Dlugos tallied on a 4-yard run to cut the Dynamos lead to 24-22.

Springdale fumbled several times on its next series but managed to score on a 4-yard sweep right by Dexter following a 33-yard reception by the Dynamos junior.

Chris Savko scored on a 31-yard run early in the fourth. Savko appeared stopped, but he kept churning his legs until he broke free to give Springdale breathing room.

The Dynamos concluded the scoring on a 13-yard bootleg by Ausk with 1:34 to go.

Dexter’s second interception of the night enabled the Dynamos to run out the clock.

“I just try to read the quarterback’s eyes,” Dexter said. “This was a big win for us.”

Utiss finished with 73 rushing yards and Fritch had 74 receiving yards.

Danny Dlugos had 93 yards in 14 carries for the Centurions.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Springdale