PLUM TWP, Pa. — Pine-Richland (4-0, 2-0) head coach Jon LeDonne has the Rams in position to make another run at the Class-5A title after his team improved to 4-0 with a 43-7 win against Plum (1-4, 0-3) on Friday night.
The Rams entered Friday’s game with two signature wins already under their belt after defeating Hillard Davidson (Oh.) and Pittsburgh Central Catholic to open their season.
Coming in as a heavy favorite on the road is not always an easy thing to do but the Rams made it look that way. Using a resilient offensive attack and a stifling defensive scheme, the Rams easily downed the Mustangs to pick up their fourth straight victory to open their season.
The Mustangs opened the game with the ball but quickly went three-and-out. In fact, the Mustangs only picked up two first downs throughout the entire first half.
The Mustangs’ punt traveled a decent bit in the air but with a big return and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, the Rams were set up at the plus-15.
The Rams eventually scored on a 25-yard field goal by Grant Argiro.
The Rams quickly got the ball back after forcing a second consecutive three-and-out. They cashed in for their first touchdown just a few plays later when Aaron “Oobi” Strader found Elijah Wents 36 yards down the field on a post route.
While the Mustangs broke their three-and-out streak on their next drive, it was not in a good way as Dajaun Higgs intercepted a tipped pass.
The Rams added another field goal following the turnover.
Then on the Mustangs’ fourth offensive drive, the Rams’ defense forced another turnover on a fumble.
The Rams added two more field goals after the fumble recovery which pushed their lead to 16-0 before the end of the first quarter.
The Rams added a fourth first-half field goal late in the second quarter and took a 19-0 lead into the intermission.
Argiro finished his night hitting 5 of his 6 field goal attempts (46, 44, 35, 34, 25) while only narrowly missing a 52-yarder.
The Rams started the third quarter with the ball and looked to put the game on ice, which they did. Strader broke contain on the Mustangs’ 22-yard line and rushed in for the Rams’ second touchdown of the game.
Strader’s rushing score pushed the Rams lead to four possessions.
If Strader’s rushing touchdown did not put the game on ice, the Rams quickly scored again on a 9-yard reception by Tanner Cunningham to officially “ice” it.
The Rams would go on to score one more touchdown and one more field goal before the game finally concluded.
The Mustangs scored a garbage-time touchdown with less than 30 seconds to play.
Next week, the Rams return home to play host to Fox Chapel while the Mustangs travel to Penn-Trafford.
