Wildcats shutout Mustangs; Serafini hits 1,000-yard mark
By John Lipez
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – Central Mountain football fans could not have asked for a better senior night on Friday. The Wildcats broke a 5-game losing streak with a 42-0 win over visiting Midd-West and two seniors made the headlines: Rocco Serafini rushed for 182 yards in one half of play, scored three touchdowns and went over 1,000 yards rushing on the season; fellow senior Thomas Sprague passed for 150 yards, including three touchdown tosses.
Serafini came into the game with 870 yards rushing on the season. His 182 yards on 16 carries put him at 1,052; his three touchdowns, on runs of 55, 6 and 7 yards, gave him a team-leading total of 15 touchdowns on the season. Wildcat Coach Travis Thompson called Serafini “the rock of our offense…the go-to guy.”
As for the team effort, Thompson said the Senior Night win “means a lot to these guys; they worked hard; they deserved it.” The CM defense pitched its first shutout of the season, holding the struggling Mustangs to 75 yards of offense. He had particular praise for his secondary and its improved play Friday night. But the coach cautioned there is still improvement to be made, given the Wildcats were called for nine penalties.
Central Mountain scored early and often, putting up 14 points in each of the first three quarters. When quarterback Sprague hit fellow senior Kevin Grenninger with a perfectly executed 72-yard pass on the first Wildcat possession of the second half, the game went into the mercy rule. Sprague also had an 8-yard TD toss to Xavier Persun and one for 12 yards to Ashton Bennett.
Senior Connor Foltz caught two passes for 60 yards and had another 70-yard would-be touchdown called back on a penalty. Sprague completed six passes to five different receivers on the night, going 6-for-12 with two interceptions.
The win put the Wildcats at 3-6 with a trip to Jersey Shore (8-0-1) to finish the regular season next Friday. The Bulldogs punished Pittsburgh Brashear by a 63-0 score Friday night.
MW 0 0 0 0 = 0
CM 14 14 14 0 = 42
