John Shuster and Windber Area Football were coming off their first district title game appearance since 2017. The Ramblers hadn’t won since 2008. They faced top-seeded Westinghouse in District 5-8 Class 2A championship last season and fell in a heartbreaking 35-34 loss when a field-goal attempt went wide right at the end of regulation.
The Ramblers had 11 seniors on last year’s team but returned Shuster, who rushed for 1,284 and 22 touchdowns as a junior. Shuster and the Ramblers have been itching to start a new season and get that district championship loss out of their minds.
“We’re just trying to bounce back from last year and do our own thing this year,” Shuster said. “We want to take it farther.”
That frustration was released Saturday as Windber from District 5 blew out District 3 Fairfield 57-0 at the Chambersburg Peach Bowl. The lead ballooned to 35-0 by halftime with the Ramblers doing whatever they wanted on the ground. Shuster had 140 yards and three TDs. Colin Marx had 100 yards and a TD, and Luke Hostetler added another score on the ground.
With the running-clock rule in effect in the third quarter, Windber added to its advantage with a 39-yard touchdown run from Blake Klosky and Hostetler’s second touchdown of the day, this time from 23 yards. Lucas Rummel pounded it in for a four-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to expand the lead to 57-0.
Windber and Shuster, now the senior leader who recently picked up an offer from Clarion and has interest from Saint Francis, are aiming to keep the ground success up to get back to the district championship. Shuster hopes to rush for 1,000 yards or more in his fourth consecutive season.
Scoring Summary
Windber (1-0) 21 14 14 8 – 57
Fairfield (0-1) 0 0 0 0 – 0
1st Quarter
W-Shuster 22 run (Costa kick) – 10:26
W-Shuster 10 run (Costa kick) – 2:33
W-Hostetler 3 run (Costa kick) – :24.4
2nd Quarter
W-Marx 65 run (Costa kick) – 6:49
W-Shuster 34 run (Costa kick) – 1:15
3rd Quarter
W-Klosky 39 run (Costa kick blocked)-7:56
W-Hostetler 23 run (Chicarell run)-3:13
4th Quarter
W-Rummel 4 run (Chicarell run)-5:51
