Steelers' Statement: Wilson, Stewart star for Farrell in 40-0 Region 1 shutout of Sharpsville

Sep. 25—SHARPSVILLE — Farrell High Head Coach Amp Pegues and his Steelers seemed to enjoy Sharpsville's Senior Night pre-game fireworks display.

But once Friday night's Region 1 game began, that's when Farrell's fireworks exploded.

Anthony Stallworth sprinted for 256 yards, including touchdowns of 25 and 53 yards, and Kylon Wilson went a pair of TD receptions, as did Omar Stewart, as the Steelers shut out Sharpsville, 40-0.

To date, Farrell (4-0 Region 1, 4-0 overall) has outscored opponents 222-6. However Pegues professed, "We've got a lot of room for improvement. We've got a lot of room where we can get better and play a lot better," Pegues said from James M. McCracken's soggy sod.

"We've got bigger goals. The ultimate goal is to be playin' in Hershey and winnin' a state championship, but we've got a long way to go," Pegues continued, explaining in assessing areas of needed improvement, "Technique. And we had, maybe, twelve penalties, so we've gotta clean that part of the game up. Just little things — being technically sound and doin' things that we're supposed to do so you'll see a lot more improvement out of us."

A trio of Steelers' signal-callers was employed by Pegues. Collectively, Kabron Smith, Trian Holden and Lamont Samuels completed all 8 pass attempts for 197 yards.

Smith tossed 38- and 31-yard TDs to Stewart and Wilson, respectively, then Holden heaved 5- and 69-yard scoring strikes to Stewart and Wilson, respectively. The latter occurred on the 1st half's final play as Wilson weaved his way like a rabbit running through a meadow — he couldn't be tackled because no one knew which way he was going, except toward the end zone.

"You see how electrifying Kylon Wilson is," a pleased Pegues said with a smile. "Just get the ball in his hands and he's gonna make somethin' happen — he's that type of player. He's a big-time player, and he can run. He's really fast, and he's a good athlete."

Wilson also set up a Stallworth score with a 49-yard punt return.

According to archives at The Herald, Stallworth came into this campaign with 3,053 rushing yards, trailing only Christian Lewis (4,319) in Farrell's proud program annals. He had carried only 30 or 31 times in this season's first 3 games.

"He's our guy and we kind've turned him loose, and he showed what he can do," Pegues said of Stallworth. "He's definitely that kind of player, and we wanted to feature him (Friday) night."

"Yeah, a couple people disrespected Amp, so he just wanted to let the 'dogs' stay out, and we had to do what we do," Stallworth said. "I'm all right with my (amount of carries) right now ... but when we get deeper in the playoffs that'll go up."

Stallworth's humungous offensive line — Anthony Y. Jackson, Preston Williams, Jakai Burris, Brian Phillips and Jaiman Holden — provided plenty of running room.

"I give everything to our line; I wouldn't be me without them," Stallworth said without hesitation. "So those guys do their jobs. They come to practice every day and work, they don't complain. So, yeah, they got me where I'm goin'"

The Steelers' sacked Sharpsville signal-caller Caullin Summers a handful of times, including a pair apiece from Malachi Owens and Kien Wade.

Chris Roth ran for a hard-earned 50 yards for Sharpsville (1-1, 3-2), and Garen Levis latched onto a trio of Summers' strikes for 51 yards, but that was the extent of the Blue Devils' offense.

Veteran Sharpsville skipper Paul Piccirilli was sidelined by an unspecified illness, so former West Middlesex mentor Mark Means assumed the reins.

"Our hearts and our thoughts are with (Piccirilli)," Means said, before assessing Sharpsville's status at the season's midway mark:

"I think we're headed in the right direction. I think we've gotten better each week. I wish we were able to capitalize on some things (Friday) night when we were in the Red Zone," Means admitted. "I think we could've done the little things better than what we did, execution-wise. But I think we're headed in the right direction as a ball club."

During the 1st half after a 95-yard TD run was negated by an illegal downfield block, Stallworth seemed unconcerned. He said a PIAA championship, rather than a school career rushing title, is his ambition.

"I'd be happy, I'd be excited to get the school rushing record — a lot of greats, Braxton Chapman and Christian Lewis," Stallworth admitted. "They're great, so I just want to be up there with them.

"But, man, we can forget about that school rushing record," Stallworth emphasized. "I'd rather have the championship! I'd rather have one yard, even if we win. I'd rather win."

For Farrell (4-0, 4-0) forging forward is the only goal.

"It's early, it's four games in," Pegues assessed. "We're at our mid-point, and this is the time of the year when we start really gellin' and get things goin'. Hopefully, the way this COVID situation is, we're not gonna shut down, we can practice every day and play every day, and we'll really improve, and you'll see a really good Farrell team. But we haven't played our best game yet."

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FARRELL 6 20 14 0 40

SHARPSVILLE 0 0 0 0 0

Scoring plays

F — Stewart, 38 pass from Smith (pass failed)

F — Wilson, 31 pass from Smith (pass failed)

F — Stewart, 5 pass from Holden (pass failed)

F — Wilson, 69 pass from Holden (Allen pass from Holden)

F — Stallworth, 25 run (Stewart pass from Samuels)

F — Stallworth, 53 run (pass failed)

Team stats

FARRELL SHARPSVILLE

18 First downs 10

327 Rushing yards 52

198 Passing yards 56

8-8-0 Att-comp-int 9-4-0

526 Total yards 108

4-1 Fumbles-lost 1-0

10-85 Penalties-yards lost 6-35

Individual stats

Rushing: FARRELL — Stallworth 17-256, Chambers 2-36, Samuels 1-13, Smith 2-10, Strickland 3-2; SHARPSVILLE — Roth 18-50, Tedrow 5-10, Smith 4-10, B.Summers 2-9, Johnson 4-7, Hayward 1-(-8). C.Summers 6-(-25).

Passing: FARRELL — T.Holden 2-2-0, 105, Smith 4-4-0, 77, Samuels 1-1-0, 15; SHARPSVILLE — C.Summers 9-4-0, 56.

Receiving: FARRELL — Wilson 5-124, Stewart 2-43, Allen 1-31; SHARPSVILLE — Levis 3-51, Tedrow 1-5.