Maine West scores 6 first-half touchdowns in rout of Maine East
Before Friday night's football game against visiting Maine East, Maine West inducted three outstanding coaches into their coaching hall of fame.
Michael Murin, Andy Trotter and Ray Pettenuzzo were honored by the Warriors in pregame festivities, and current coach George Klupchak said that longtime football head man Pettenuzzo addressed his squad prior to the contest.
"He's obviously done so much for our school and our program," said Klupchak of Pettenuzzo. "He talked to our team about all the history associated with Maine West football, and about how alumni are watching right here in 2021. That's important not only for the kids playing now, but for all the kids who have come through this program.
"It was very exciting and it was an honor to have him spend some time with our team."
Once the game began, the Warriors took care of business early in a 48-6 win over the Blue Demons.
Maine West scored 6 touchdowns in the first half, led by the strong play of its offensive line, and keyed by the performance of center Armend Ujkashi.
Warriors quarterback Connor McAndrews threw for 158 yards and teammate Isaac Pittman rushed for 126 yards, with all those yardage totals coming in the first 2 quarters.
"It all started last week at halftime against Prospect (a win by the Knights)," said Klupchak of the motivation for Friday's stellar game against the Demons. "We talked about the goal of that second half was reaching our best and playing our best."
Maine West scored 3 times in the first 12 minutes.
First, Pittman ran up the middle for a 60-yard touchdown, then McAndrews threw 11 yards to Anthony Jones for a score, and the quarterback capped the quarter with an 8-yard scoring strike to Matt Lowery.
It was more of the same in the second quarter as McAndrews connected again with Jones, this time from 48 yards away, and Pittman rushed in from 3 yards out.
The Warriors took advantage of Jaidyn Diaz's second fumble recovery of the first half and closed out the barrage with a 13-yard touchdown run, again by Pittman.
Maine West led 42-0 at halftime, but Maine East broke through late in the game on an 80-yard touchdown drive.
Senior Hassan Omari had 50 tough yards on the ground for the Demons, and the visitors scored in the final minutes on a 4-yard touchdown catch by senior Christopher Kish.
Maine West, which held East to 37 yards of offense in the first half, got its only touchdown of the second half on a 15-yard run by Claudio Castellanos.
"We emphasized in that second half that we played at Prospect all week long," Klupchak said, "and we emphasized it again coming into the game today. Our kids came out tonight and they played close to a perfect game in a lot of ways."