10/04/24 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Central Cambria's Grady Snyder looks for daylight.

By Rick Weaver

For the Mirror

SIDMAN — Central Cambria came so close. Everyone knows where closeness counts, though.

The Red Devils opened the second half trailing 14-6. They embarked on a promising 16-play march led them from their own 20-yard line to the Forest Hills 20.

The 8-minute drive stalled, however, after starting quarterback Hunter Pittsinger went down with a probable season-ending injury. Forest Hills took over on downs and went on to capture a 42-6 victory on Friday night.

The homecoming game at G.W. Miller Stadium was recognized as the 1,000th football game in Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference history.

Play of the game: Forest Hills quarterback Nate Cornell found Chase Williamson down the right sideline for a 53-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the first period to put the Rangers ahead, 14-3.

Player of the game: Cornell completed 11 of 11 passes for 168 yards and two touchdown.

Unsung hero: Mason Papinchak rushed for two scores (16 and 28 yards) for the Rangers. He totaled 48 yards on the ground.

Most vital statistics: Forest Hills attained a 315-260 edge in total yards. The Rangers never punted. The Red Devils totaled 212 yards on the ground and held a 19-15 advantage in first downs. Forest Hills forced a total of four turnovers.

Central Cambria coach Don Fyfe: “When the guys saw him (Pittsinger) go down, it just kind of deflated us. It was a ballgame. The sad thing is what the score looks like. But with three minutes to go in the third quarter it was 14-6 and we had them on their heels.”

More from coach Fyfe: “(The switch) changed what we were doing offensively. We were running an offense that I’m not sure they were prepared for. We were moving the ball. And then when we had to go to our freshman quarterback, that kind of changed things for us.”

Forest Hills coach Justin Myers: “Our guys played tough. In the first half, Central Cambria played very well, trailed 14-6 at halftime. Our guys battled, battled, battled. In the second half, we made a couple of minor adjustments on offense. The defense made some major adjustments. And we were able to come out and make plays.”

Notable: Central Cambria senior Grady Snyder rushed for a game-high 126 yards on 18 attempts. … Liam O’Brian (25 and 23 yards) kicked first-half field goals for Central Cambria. … Williamson caught two touchdown passes (53 and 25 yards) and caught a game-best five passes for 99 yards. … Jared Mangus returned an interception 33 yard for a fourth-quarter touchdown. … Josh Myers’ 2-yard scoring run came with 6:08 left in the final period and caused enactment of the mercy rule.

Team records: Central Cambria (0-7), Forest Hills (0-7).

Next game: Central Cambria visits Tyrone, and Forest Hills travels to Huntingdon on Friday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central Cambria 3 3 0 0 — 6

Forest Hills 14 0 7 21 — 42

First Quarter

FH–Papinchak 16 run (Carpenter kick), 7:17.

CC–O’Brien 25 FG, 2:53.

FH–Williamson 53 pass from Cornell (Carpenter kick), 0:00.

Second Quarter

CC–O’Brien 23 FG, 0:03.

Third Quarter

FH–Papinchak 28 run (Carpenter kick), 2:32.

Fourth Quarter

FH–Williamson 25 pass from Cornell (Carpenter kick), 10:12.

FH–Mangus 33 interception return (Carpenter kick), 8:08.

FH–Myers 2 run (Carpenter kick), 6:08.

TEAM STATS CC FH

First downs 19 15

Total yards 260 315

Rushes-yards 48-212 16-112

Yards passing 48 203

Passes-comp.-int. 5-17-2 12-12-0

Punts-avg. 1-30.0 0-0.0

Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0

Penalties-yards 4-35 5-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing–Central Cambria, Snyder 18-126, H. Pittsinger 6-39, R. Chappel 6-23, A. Chappel 20-10, Ray 2-11, Stevens 1-9, Estep 1-9, Galli 1-3, M. PIttsinger 1-(-7), TEAM 2-(-21). Forest Hills, Papinchak 7-48, Mayes 1-39, Custer 1-8, Williamson 1-8, Cornell 1-6, Myers 1-2.

Passing–Central Cambria, H. Pittsinger 5-13-0-45, M. Pittsinger 0-4-2-2. Forest Hills, Cornell 11-11-0-168, Myers 1-35.

Receiving–Central Cambria, Burkett 4-34, Stevens 1-11. Forest Hills, Williamson 5-99, McGough 3-23, Pramuk 2-17, Mangus 1-35, Wirfel 1-29.