By BILL ALBRIGHT
EasternPAFootball.com Senior Writer
ALTOONA — There was both good and bad news for Central Mountain in its District VI Class AAAAA playoff game with Hollidaysburg Saturday at Mansion Park.
The good news was that the Wildcats dented the scoring column first to take the early lead in the game.
But as for the bad news, that came when Terry Turnover took control of the game as the Golden Tigers, thanks to a bunch of giveaways, rattled off 35 unanswered points to take a commanding lead.
Turnovers killed the Wildcats as they gave up the ball no less than six times in the loss.
After the two teams exchanged possessions with a pair of turnovers through a scoreless first period, the Wildcats dented the score column first when fullback Micah Walizer bulled in from five yards for the touchdown. The rush for two failed, but with 10:42 left in the period, it was CM 6, Hollidaysburg 0.
Wasting no time, the Golden Tigers took the lead for keeps when quarterback Bryce Martellacci hooked up with receiver DeShawn Moss for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Ben Sosnoski’s PAT gave the Tigers a 7-6 lead.
Pinned deep in their own territory, the Wildcats coughed up the ball for a lost fumble inside the red zone. Three plays later, Martellacci took it in from 6 yards out for the score. Sosnoski’s kick was good and with 1:35 remaining before the break, the Hollidaysburg lead ballooned to 14-6.
Bouncing back, Central Mountain drove into the red zone, but lost a fumble as time ran out in the first half.
The CM fumbleitis carried over to the second half as the Wildcats coughed up the ball three times in the first six minutes, Hollidaysburg capitalizing on the third miscue for a 1-yard TD run by Gage Shawley. Sosnoski made it 21-6 Tigers.
Again it was Shawley finding the end zone for a 14-yard TD run and Sosnoski made it 28-6. For the game, the Wildcats turned the ball over no less than seven times in the loss.
During the final six-plus minutes of the game, the two teams took turns trading scores to the final of Hollidaysburg 35, Central Mountain 12.
Trailing 35-6, Central Mountain completed its scoring when Anton Stratts returned an interception to the house for a pick-six to set the final.
With the result, Central Mountain ends its season with a 4-4 mark, while the Golden Tigers improve to 4-2 as they prepare to face Erie Cathedral Prep in the first round of the state tournament.
