District 11 AA Semifinals: Schuylkill Haven rolls past Executive Eduction
The captains for Schuylkill Haven and Executive Education participate in the pre-game coin toss prior to Saturday's District 11 Class AA semifinal at Rotary Field (Photo by Eli Doyle).
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — It took just seven plays for Schuylkill Haven’s defense to prove it could handle Executive Education’s speed-oriented offense.
Niko Carestia and the Hurricanes’ pounding running attack did the rest.
Carestia rushed for 198 yards and five touchdowns and Schuylkill Haven’s defense forced four turnovers in a 53-14 rout of the Raptors in a District 11 Class AA semifinal Saturday night at Rotary Field.
The victory, Schuylkill Haven’s 10th straight, sets up a district championship game rematch with Williams Valley on Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. at Blue Mountain’s Eagles’ Nest. The Vikings pounded Pen Argyl 49-14 in the other semifinal.
“We knew we were going to be able to run on them,” said Leyden Hertz, who had a 41-yard fumble return for a score and an interception. “We just had to make sure our defense held up so it wasn’t a shootout.
“Our defense did a really good job. Adam (Malinoski) got a pick, Colton Reber got a pick, I had an interception. … When plays come, you have to take advantage and make a play.”
Executive Education (6-5-1) opened the game with a 39-yard pass down the middle from quarterback Zion Brake to Jaiden Perez. A 7-yard pass from Brake to Tahir Edmondson had the Raptors at the Haven 34 just two plays into the game.
Carestia then sacked Brake for a 16-yard loss. The Raptors tried a screen pass on third down and Malinoski picked it off and returned it to the Executive Education 38.
Three plays later, Carestia rumbled in from the 14 for a touchdown. His two-point conversion run gave the Hurricanes an 8-0 lead 3:22 into the game.
“That’s a momentum thing,” Carestia said of his sack. “They were driving down the field and you get a big sack, a big tackle for loss, that’s going to set them back. That’s going to make the offensive coordinator on the other team call a different play. It’s a momentum shift.”
Both Hertz and Carestia praised Malinoski, a senior who moved out to tight end this season from an offensive lineman position and doesn’t start on defense. He was in the game on that play as part of Haven’s five-man front.
“He’s a good player and sneaky athletic,” Hertz said of Malinoski, a 6-foot, 220-pounder. “We knew he was going to make that interception if the ball came to him. It’s a momentum shift. When they completed those two passes, they had their morale up. That’s just a complete morale shift.”
Three plays later, Haven’s defense made another big play. This time it was Reber who swiped a Brake pass, setting up the Hurricanes at the Raptors’ 27.
Just like the first time, three plays later Carestia scored, this time from 13 yards out. Niko Castillo’s two-point conversion run made it 16-0 with 6:14 left in the first.
Schuylkill Haven (11-1) made it 22-0 on its next possession. After forcing a three-and-out, the Hurricanes took advantage of a short punt and went 41 yards in five plays. Carestia capped the drive with his third touchdown on a 7-yard run.
Executive Education’s only drive of the first half came next, a 16-play march that set the Raptors up with a first-and-goal at the Haven 6 early in the second quarter.
The Raptors came up empty when on fourth-and-goal from the 1, Chase Williams, Aaron Gilbert and Triston Davis combined to stuff Yaseen Mirza for a 2-yard loss. Wyatt Keefer had a pair of key stops in the stand.
The Hurricanes piled it on from there, with Carestia’s 5-yard TD run capping a 13-play, 97-yard drive that made it 30-0. On Executive Education’s next play, Brake hit Caz Richardson over the middle. Carestia drilled Richardson, the ball popped out, and Hertz scooped it up and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.
The Hurricanes led 38-0 at the half, holding Executive Education to 20 yards rushing and 119 total yards over the first two frames.
“Defense, overall I thought we controlled the box,” Schuylkill Haven coach Mike Farr said. “They caught us in our special look a couple of times. I thought when they brought (Mirza) in he ran hard.
“Overall, defensively we had really good run fits, we were pressuring him just enough and letting him make throws he didn’t want to make. Then we got those takeaways. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”
Schuylkill Haven’s defense got big performances from some of its younger players, with Gilbert, a junior defensive end, constantly applying pressure on Brake; Keefer, Williams and Davis clogging the middle and freshman Logan Goad making a pair of pass break-ups at cornerback.
Goad blanketed Richardson, who had 10 catches for 162 yards in the Raptors’ quarterfinal win over Minersville, all night. Richardson hauled in five passes for 44 yards, with three receptions coming on Executive Education’s scoring drive in the final minutes of the game.
“Unbelievable,” Farr said of Goad. “We had him on their best player with an overhang. The kid runs a 4.6, so we knew he would go stride-for-stride with him. He’s a strong kid. I can’t be more proud of him. He steps up in this game and does a number… they had no answer for him guarding their best player. He gets the game ball.”
Executive Education scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half, one on a 4-yard run by Mirza in the third quarter and another on an 18-yard pass from Brake to Edmondson with 23 seconds left.
Castillo reached the end zone on a 33-yard run in the third quarter and Carestia tallied his fifth TD on an 18-yard run in the fourth.
Despite missing starting center Ethan Kline to injury, the Hurricanes rushed for 289 yards on 37 carries and did not attempt a pass. Nate Chamberlain stepped in at center and the Hurricanes didn’t miss a beat.
“We just got to get healthy this week,” Farr said, looking ahead to Williams Valley. “We’ll focus on being healthy and deal with some Xs and Os stuff. The football stuff is done. Now it’s all preparation.”
