Nativity crushes Holy Redeemer in season opener

Noah Dolbin caught two touchdown passes in Nativity's season-opening win over Holy Redeemer.

BY DOYLE DIETZ

SAINT CLAIR – Noah Dolbin has officially added to the tradition of elite receivers in his family, joining his late grandfather Jack of Denver Broncos fame and father Josh who excelled at Villanova.

Friday in Nativity’s season opener against Holy Redeemer at Memorial Stadium in Saint Clair, the Army-bound senior became the school’s career leader in touchdown receptions as the Green Wave rolled to a 52-0 victory.

Dolbin opened the scoring when he caught a pass from Ben Kreitzer at midfield and then used his PIAA gold-medal speed to run away from the defense and score on a 50-yard touchdown.

“Yes, we knew all about the record coming into the game and wanted to get it out of the way,” Dolbin said. “If you’re going to do it, it’s going to be in a game like this.

“It was one to tie and two for the record, but even with the score turning out the way it did, I think we got a lot out of the game. We came in knowing what we wanted to do and just concentrated on playing our game.”

Nativity scored on each of its seven first-half possessions. For good measure the defense also got into the scoring act when Evan Ritter opened the second quarter with a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown that gave the Green Wave a 34-0 lead.

Dolbin then set the school record with a one-play “drive” the next time Nativity had the ball. Taking a nearly perfectly thrown pass from Kreitzer, he spun away from the secondary and scored on a 49-yard play.

Those two passes were the only ones Kreitzer threw, but he was flawless in leading the offense. Nativity rushed for 380 yards, getting two touchdown runs from Sam Spolski, who carried nine times for 91 yards.

“I wanted to get Noah the record,” Kreitzer said. “We’ve been playing together forever, going back to before we transferred here from Blue Mountain.

“On the first touchdown he ran a post route; the second one was on a curl. We work out together all the time and I know what he’s going to do.”

Nick Wagner had the longest scoring play, giving the Green Wave a 21-0 lead in the first quarter with a 62-yard run. Sam Walborn made the score 28-0 at the end of the quarter with a 36-yard run and his fourth extra-point kick.

Junior Colt Mason came off the bench to rush seven times for 77 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown late in the half.

“We’re happy with this, but we know we’ve got a tougher test next week against Pine Grove,” Kreitzer said. “This was a good start.”

Game Summary

Nativity 52, Holy Redeemer 0

Holy Redeemer  (0-1)        0          0          0          0  —    0

Nativity (1-0)          28        24        0          0  —    52

N — Dolbin 50 pass Kreitzer (Walborn kick)

N — Spolski 1 run (Walborn kick)

N — Wagner 62 run (Walborn kick)

N — Walborn 36 run (Walborn kick)

N – Ritter 42 interception return (kick failed)

N – Dolbin 49 pass from Kreitzer (kick failed)

N – Mason 1 run (kick blocked)

N – Spolski 2 run (No attempt)

Team Statistics

Redeemer-Nativity

First Downs —- 3      15

Rushes-Yards — 25-18      33-380

Passes —- 3-15-3      2-2-0

Passing Yards —- 20      99

Total Yards —- 38      479

Fumbles/Lost —- 1-0      0-0

Penalties — 1-15      2-30

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Holy Redeemer — Ly 9-36, Kreider 4-9, Snyder 1-0, Nazario 5-(-4), Zbierski 1-(-5), Dugan 3-(-6), Orlando 2-(-12). Nativity — Spolski 9-91, Mason 7-77, Walborn 4-75, Wagner 1-62, Con. Felty 5-43, Co. Felty 5-24, Becker 2-8.

PASSING: Holy Redeemer — Dugan 3-13-3, 20; McDermott 0-2-0, 0. Nativity — Kreitzer 2-2-0, 99.

RECEIVING: Holy Redeemer — Ly 3-20. Nativity — Dolbin 2-99.

INTERCEPTIONS: Nativity — Daynorowicz. Ritter, Walborn.