Dieruff earns second win of the year, 20-16 win over Pius X

Written by: David Mika on Saturday, September 21st, 2013. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

ROSETO – Dieruff’s quarterback Chris Marks’ 52-yard touchdown pass to Tyshyn Harmon with 2:23 remaining in the game was the difference Saturday afternoon in a 20-16 win over Pius X (1-3) at Amelio Scott Alumni Stadium. “This was a great game. It was back and forth,” said head football coach Kyle Beller. “Our kids just keep battling and they are starting to see that hard work pays off.”

“It starts with the offensive line and they were the reason we had some big plays.” The Huskies (2-2) out rushed the Royals 327 to 167, behind the running of Shakur Lester, who finished the game with 187 yards rushing on 25 carries and one score. “We want to get him the ball in open space and let him make plays,” said Beller. “Today he made plays.”

Pius X got on the scoreboard first when Eric Marbury took the Huskies’ punt and followed his blockers all the way to the end zone for an 81-yard return. The kick failed and Pius X led 6-0.

Dieruff got a big stop in the second quarter when Brian Sutton sacked Tre Johnson for a 13-yard loss. The Huskies put together a drive to the Pius 17. They were facing a 4th down when Chris Marks found Kasey Myers who went 17-yard for the touchdown pass with 4:48 remaining in the first half.

Dieruff went into halftime with some momentum and the game was tied at 6. “Both defenses played well the first half,” said Beller.

On Dieruff’s second possession of the second half they marched 57-yards on seven plays finishing when Brian Sutton went in for the 15-yard touchdown run. His two-point conversion put the Huskies up 14-6.

Pius seemed to put a nice drive together until Tyshyn Harmon intercepted a Jordan pass which ended the threat. “We need to get more consistent at all the crucial times and we had major mistakes,” said head football coach Phil Stambaugh. “We need to cut down on the penalties.”

Late in the game, Jordan called his own play and sliced through the Dieruff defense for a 44-yard touchdown run with 3:34 remaining in the game. Dashon Russell’s two-point conversion tied the game up at 14.

Russell finished the game with 87-yards rushing on 18 carries.

But as fast as Pius had momentum in the game, Dieruff answered the scoring drive. Chris Marks hit Tyshyn Harmon on a 52-yard touchdown pass with 2:23 left in the game to put the Huskies up 20-16.

Marks finished the game with 70 yards passing and 65 yards rushing.

Pius drove to the Huskies 32 and faced a fourth down and 17. Jordan’s pass fell incomplete and Dieruff took over on downs as time ran out.

Note: With the win today, Dieruff has won 3 of their last 5 games