Mt. Pleasant seals 6th straight trip to playoffs with win over Derry

Friday, October 18, 2024 | 11:16 PM

Mt. Pleasant is headed to the WPIAL playoffs for a sixth consecutive time.

Cole Chatfield passed for 210 yards before leaving the game with an injury, Jarret Garn figured in most of Mt. Pleasant’s scoring and the Vikings used a lightning-fast start Friday night at Viking Stadium to beat Derry, 31-14, and hand the Trojans their fourth loss in a row.

“This was our best game, for me and the team,” Garn said. “We played really well overall. We came into this game expecting a really close battle. It was good to see us exceed our expectations, and it was nice to see our defense hold up like that.”

Mt. Pleasant (5-4, 3-1) scored three first-quarter touchdowns — two by Garn — on a total of just eight plays and took control from the start of the Class 3A Interstate Conference game.

Chatfield left the game late in the second quarter with an apparent shoulder injury after leading Mt. Pleasant to a 31-7 halftime lead that held up and sent the Vikings to the playoffs for the sixth time in Jason Fazekas’ eight seasons as coach.

“It’s not easy to do,” said Fazekas, whose first two teams in 2017 and ’18 fell short of the postseason. “Everyone thinks you just show up and make the playoffs. It’s not. It’s hard to do.”

The Vikings were ready for a rebound a week after stumbling to a 28-7 loss to Southmoreland.

“Our kids did a great job of understanding how important it was to be ready to play,” Fazekas said.

Chatfield threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Garn on the game’s second play to give Mt. Pleasant an early 7-0 lead.

Derry (3-6, 0-4) answered on its third play to tie the score at 7-7 as Anthony Sacco fired a 53-yard pass to Karsen Weiers just 2 minutes, 2 seconds into the game.

Mt. Pleasant quickly went ahead again as Chatfield found Garret Eicher on a 35-yard touchdown pass on the Vikings’ third play of the drive for a 14-7 lead.

“It was a crazy beginning, exciting. It was back-and-forth for a short time there, and it was fun,” said Garn, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior, who totaled 73 yards receiving and 22 yards rushing.

Mt. Pleasant added on in the first quarter as Carter Strayer recovered a fumble, setting up Garn’s 4-yard touchdown run to give the Vikings a 21-7 advantage.

“He looked like that dominant player we know he can be,” Fazekas said of Garn. “Big game he had, for sure. No doubt.”

Garn kicked a career-long 45-yard field goal as time expired in the first, upping Mt. Pleasant’s lead to 24-7.

“He kicks the football, catches it, runs with it. I thought he played really well tonight,” Fazekas said.

Garn also intercepted a pass near the end of the second quarter to stop a Derry drive with time winding down before halftime.

After Chatfield, who completed 7 of 10 passes, went to the sidelines and was replaced by Dane Firmstone, Mt. Pleasant played more conservatively. The Vikings were shut out in the second half after scoring their final touchdown with 5:34 left in the second quarter.

Brady Brooks blocked a Derry punt and Brody Hutter recovered the ball in the end zone as Mt. Pleasant led 31-7.

“Derry’s shown where they can play well,” Fazekas said. “They can block. They’ve been solid on defense. We thought it was important for us to come out and get a strong start, and obviously that was important for us. We needed it.”

Sacco completed 10 of 22 passes for 133 yards but threw two interceptions.

“The kids never quit, down 31-7,” Derry coach Mike Arone said.

“Garn had a good game, and the quarterback (Chatfield) is a player. He made us pay. It just goes to show you at this level what one player can do because they didn’t have him in the second half and their offense was a little different.

“We’re missing a few of our skill guys, no excuses. Kudos to Mt. Pleasant. We gave up too many big plays.

Former Mt. Pleasant football player Dylan Pitzer caught a 4-yard pass from Sacco with 3:39 left in the game to account for Derry’s final score.

Pitzer, who also was a state place-winner in wrestling at Mt. Pleasant, transferred to Derry before the start of this season.

Tags: Derry Area, Mt. Pleasant