NATE HECKENBERGER – FOR MEDIANEWS GROUP Springfield’s Brad Barber carries the ball Friday night against West Chester Rustin. Barber rushed for 58 yards and like all of his teammates, no touchdowns. Rustin won the District 1 Class 5A title with a 34-2 victory over the Cougars.
By Matthew DeGeorge
One trip to the red zone in which it came up empty of points might have been enough for Springfield to overcome Friday night.
But two in the first half? Even with a jolt from its special teams unit, two was too much against a team of the caliber of West Chester Rustin.
Rustin’s defense pitched a shutout, three times turning Springfield away in the red zone for a 34-2 victory Friday in the District 1 Class 5A championship game. The second-seeded Golden Knights (13-1) move on to face the winner of District 12 champ Roman Catholic and District 6 winner Hollidaysburg in a PIAA semifinal.
Rustin led 14-0 in the blink of an eye. Quarterback David McClain hit Jojo Magolon for a 56-yard sideline route on third-and-10 on its opening series. Then six snaps later, Nate Pechin jumped a Jackson Kennedy crossing route, picked it and dashed 34 yards to paydirt. The game wasn’t seven minutes old, yet Springfield was in a 14-point hole.
“It’s just a crazy momentum shift at the beginning of the game,” Pechin said. “Both teams are fired up and you come in and punch them in the mouth like that, it definitely is a demoralizer for them. It boosted our morale and we were ready to go for the rest of the game. It fired us up pretty good.”
