MANDATA -- It was a long night for Line Mountain coach Mike Carson this past Monday night. He was at a loss for words following a nonconference loss to Susquenita.
On a crisp, early-winter-like night, his Line Mountain Eagles responded with a ground attack of nearly 400 yards to secure the top spot in the District 4 Class A playoffs with a 35-15 Twin Valley Conference win over Pine Grove on senior night.
Sophomore quarterback Marty Beninsky and senior running back Chris Moore put the team on their back as they combined for all five scores while combining for 324 total yards on offense.
Beninsky ran the option to perfection all night, including a 50-yard touchdown run off the right side in the fourth quarter, as he faked the belly-dive and outran the defense down the right sideline.
"I was wondering how we were going to find a way to respond after Monday night," Carson said. "Our quarterbacks maybe were not running the option right all the time, and it's something we've been working on. Tonight, they ran it perfectly and that was big for us."
Not to be outdone on the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles forced the Cardinals into three three-and-outs in their first three possessions of the first quarter and five for the game.
The play of the game belonged to senior linebacker Cody Lenker, who had a helmet-on-ball hit on a Cardinals running back at the Eagles' 15-yard line with less than 10 minutes to go in the third quarter, causing a fumble. It was 14-7 Line Mountain at the time of the fumble.
"That fumble was big for us had Pine Grove gone into score, they could have tied the game or taken the lead on a two-point try," Carson said. "From that point on we just seemed to pull away a little bit more each time we had the ball."
Beninsky scored on a 28-yard quarterback keeper on the 11th play of the drive following the fumble recovery, putting the Eagles up 21-7. But a big kickoff return to the Eagles' 34 by Larry Zimmerman gave the Cardinals new life.
"I've been coaching at Pine Grove for 14 years and we've never had a team that has quit on us," said Cardinals coach Jeff Sampson.
Three plays later, Patrick Mackewicz caught a 23-yard pass from Nick Todero to close the gap to 21-14.
The Eagles scored on their next two possessions with a two-yard run by Moore and the 50-yard run by Beninsky.
Moore carried the ball 31 times and gained 181 yards while scoring both of his touchdowns on two-yard runs.
Moore went over the 1,000 yard mark for the year on a four-yard run late in the fourth quarter. It was the third time this season that the Eagles' offense has scored 35 or more points in a game.
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Eagles secure top seed for D-4 A playoffs
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Ken Maurer column: More talk about bass
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Bryan Reich feels it with every pitch he throws. Some would call it pain, maybe discomfort. The Milton right-hander chooses "annoyance."
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State Track & Field updates
Get updates throughout the day on how Valley athletes are faring at the PIAA Track & Field Championships in Shippensburg.
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H.S. Track & Field notebook: Better late than never
