HS Football: Nativity grinds out win over Mahanoy Area
Nativity coach Pat Mason talks to his team following Friday’s 20-6 win over Mahanoy Area. (Photo by Mike Carnahan)
SAINT CLAIR — At 5-foot-7, freshman Bentley Werez is one of Nativity’s smallest players, size-wise.
But there’s been nothing small about his play the past two weeks.
Werez scored twice and the Green Wave rallied from a halftime deficit to down Mahanoy Area 20-6 in a Schuylkill-Colonial Blue Division contest Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Werez had two touchdown receptions during last Friday’s come-from-behind, 14-6 win over Shenandoah Valley: an 80-yarder on a shovel pass, while another covered 31 yards.
Werez came up big again Friday.
His first score of the night came on a 74-yard kickoff return to open the second half to tie the game at 6. He then scored on a 16-yard run with 1:41 remaining in the contest to ice Nativity’s win.
“Bentley Werez is a player,” Nativity coach Pat Mason said. “He makes plays. I think at the end of the day, the ball gets in his hands, you just never know. It could be six. He’s done it two weeks in a row.”
Green Wave quarterback Colt Mason scored the go-ahead touchdown with 7:42 left in the game, as Nativity (4-3, 3-3 Blue) overcame a horrible offensive first half to win its second consecutive game.
The Golden Bears (1-6, 1-5), who won their first game of the season with a victory over Pine Grove last week, took a 6-0, first-quarter lead on a 31-yard touchdown run by freshman Quintin Rucker. Mahanoy Area’s defense was stout in the first half and held Nativity to minus-2 yards of total offense, while Damian Contreras and Rucker had interceptions.
Contreras’ pick set up Rucker’s touchdown as he went around right end two plays after the interception to score with 7:45 left in the first quarter.
But the Golden Bears never could get going offensively, while Nativity made all the plays over the final 24 minutes, starting with the second-half kickoff.
Werez took the ball at the Nativity 26, went right up the middle, found a small gap at around the 40, and then broke away from the pack, racing to the end zone to tie the game at 6.
“Beginning of the second half, on kickoff, I just told them to block up the middle,” Werez said. “That’s what they did.”
Nativity’s second touchdown drive started late in the third quarter. It was helped set up on a blitz by Green Wave linebacker Danny Trezise as he sacked Mahanoy Area quarterback J.D. Kowalchick at the Nativity 48 on a fourth-and-10 play.
A delay of game penalty started the possession. But Nativity followed with a nine-play, 57-yard march, with Colt Mason hooking up with Connor Felty twice on the drive, one for 11 yards and another for 19.
Then on a second-and-goal from the 3, Mason went around left end. He was hit at the line of scrimmage, but kept pushing and went across the goal line to put Nativity in the lead for good.
Another blitz by Trezise on Mahanoy Area’s next possession forced an interception as the Green Wave’s Cooper Felty picked off a pass at Mahanoy Area 49 and returned it to the 17 with 5:52 left in the game.
Mason ran the ball six consecutive plays as Nativity milked the clock during the possession. Facing a third-and-goal from the 16, the Green Wave crossed up the defense and ran a reverse left to Werez. He almost went down at the 1, but managed to stay on his feet and score to put the game away.
“Don’t think,” Werez said of his score. “You just have to run. That’s what I do. Run through the holes.”
Added Nativity coach Pat Mason: “We put that play in this week. That’s two weeks in a row we put a play in to Bentley and we ran it and it went for a touchdown. Last week it was the shovel pass to Bentley and this week it was the sally play to Bentley. If you watch him, he does a little spin around. He did a nice job. I was a little worried about calling the play because you have motion coming across, then you have to make the handoff, so you don’t want to fumble in that situation. At the end of the day, they executed perfectly.”
Werez led the Green Wave, who only had 93 yards of offense, with 21 yards rushing.
Rucker had 58 yards rushing on four attempts for Mahanoy Area, while Kyler Quick ran for 53 yards on 19 carries.
The victory keeps Nativity’s hopes alive for a spot in the District 11 Class A playoffs. But the upcoming schedule is challenging, starting with Minersville next week, followed by Schuylkill Haven and Marian.
“We needed this one big,” Pat Mason said. “This was a big game for us with these next three coming up.”
Game Summary
Nativity 20, Mahanoy Area 6
