Published: October 18, 2008 01:22 am      

Johnstown rips Cambria Heights

Whoever first said speed kills forgot to mentioned that it can also kill quickly.

Such was the lesson in a 49-14 Greater Johnstown victory over a spirited Cambria Heights squad who, despite the score, held a huge advantage in time of possession.

The visiting Highlanders actually managed the game’s first score using the running of Jeremy Priester and a fumbled punt by the Trojans.

Cambria Heights quarterback Caleb Vescovi hit Priester with a 16 yard scoring strike at the 7:52 mark of the first quarter.

That was the good news for the Highlanders. The bad news was a kickoff and four plays later the Trojans had an 8-6 lead.

The first Johnstown drive took just 45 seconds.

Cambria Heights (1-7) then chewed close to four minutes off the clock but failed to score. Johnstown (5-3) got the ball back and 1:36 later had a 14-6 lead.

Cambria Heights ate up the rest of the first quarter before earning their second score of the game, a 14-yard halfback pass from Priester to Bryon Stanek and a tie at 14.

That is when the football game started looking like a track meet.

The ensuing kickoff landed in the capable hands of LaQuinn Stephens-Howling at the Trojan 22-yard line. It took all of 16 seconds for Stephens-Howling to weave 78 yards through the Cambria Heights kickoff coverage unit for the Trojans’ third score and the beginning of the end for the Highlanders.

“I guess when you score fast you don’t need to have the ball real long to put up points,” said Johnstown coach Kevin Marabito. “We really have some good athletes and the line was blowing open a few holes and the guys made the most of it.”

No one made more of it than Trojans running back Quadir Christian, who finished the first half with three touchdowns, a two-point conversion run for a score, a two-point conversion catch for score, 192 yards rushing and an interception.

Oh yeah, he was also named homecoming king at half, slowing down long enough for last year’s king to hand him the crown.

Christian finished with 239 yards rushing on the day on 15 carries.

“He is a quality player and once he gets going he can be really tough,” said Marabito.

Cambria Heights entered the game looking to control the clock and use the talents of Priester to make a game of it. For a quarter it was working and even by game’s end the Highlanders held a two-to-one advantage in time of possession over the Trojans.

But the Highlanders inflicted some of their own pain with, dropped passes, over throws, turnovers and 10 penalties worth 50 yards.

“We knew coming in we could not afford to do those sorts of things to ourselves,” said Highlanders coach Justin Myers. “The score of course does not show it but we did a lot of good things out there. But you have to convert third downs, not miss chances to get yards. We did that and then of course Johnstown has that speed so they make you pay for it fast.”

Priester actually had 54 first-half yards and had busted off a few impressive runs of his own before being knocked out of the game with an ankle injury on the second play of the second half.

“He is really a special ball player and I think he can grow and play beyond the high school level,” Myers said. “He was showing (Friday) that he belongs with some of the best backs in the area before he got hurt.”

Putting an exclamation point on the useless nature of time of possession in such a contest, the Trojans scored twice in the final three minutes of the half and twice in the final three minutes of the third quarter to set the final.