Pioneers Beat Cheyney 42-27

Matt Saur

  The C.W. Post football team began the season 0-3. Sophomore running back Jeff Mack ran for 51 yards in the three losses, and freshman quarterback Steven Laurino was struggling to learn the offense.  Since then, Mack and Laurino have been the cornerstones of the Pioneers’ offense, leading the team to victories in four of five games after the Pioneers beat Cheyney 42-27 on Saturday, November 5th, 2011.

Steven Laurino threw for 156 yards and four touchdowns, and Mack did his part, rushing for 164 yards and a touchdown of his own. Post kicked off the scoring with a 21-yard pass from Laurino to junior wide receiver Ryan Derham.

Throughout most of the first half, the Cheyney Wolves kept themselves in the game. Just three minutes after Laurino connected with Derham, the Wolves responded with a score of their own. Quarterback Chris Anderson rushed the ball into the end zone for a five-yard score to tie the game.

Joe Botti gave the Pioneers the lead right back with a 27-yard catch to give the Pioneers a 14-7 lead. But, again, the Wolves countered back with another Anderson rushing touchdown, but a missed PAT gave Post a 14-13 lead.

The Pioneers managed to increase their lead right before halftime when Laurino found Kyle Hardy for a 38-yard touchdown to increase the C.W. Post lead to 21-13.

In the second half, the Pioneers dominated the ball, especially in the third quarter when they kept the Wolves off the board completely.  Mack ignited the scoring with a 57-yard rush, and later in the quarter, fellow running back Anthony Brunetti caught a four-yard dump off from Laurino to give the Pioneers a 35-13 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Wolves got two more scores on the board. The first was a 13-yard pass from Anderson to wide out Prince Stewart.  Laurino followed up with a 56-yard rush into the end zone for the Pioneers final score.

Before the game was over, Anderson also found Wasserleben with a 10-yard touchdown pass to make the final score 42-27 in favor of the home team.

Laurino finished the day with 74 rushing yards to go along with his 156 passing yards. Of Laurino’s ten completions, he managed to hook up with seven different receivers.

Linebacker Anton Rukaj led the Pioneers in tackles with 10; Ronnie Modik intercepted a pass, and Kadeem Huggins racked up 2.5 sacks in the Pioneers’ victory.

With the win, the Pioneers guaranteed themselves a finish above .500 this season and will look for their seventh win to end the season Saturday, November 12th, when they face Slippery Rock at noon for the final game of the season.