McKeesport ends TJ’s long win streak

By JOSE NEGRON

jnegron@yourmvi.com

The final two and a half minutes of Friday night’s showdown with Thomas Jefferson may have been the most stressful of Matt Miller’s coaching career at McKeesport. 

Trailing by six, the Jaguars started their possession on the Tigers’ 30 yard line before, after seven plays, eventually getting down to the 9 and facing a fourth-and-6. 

TJ quarterback Jake Pugh attempted to run for a first down, but was stopped by McKeesport lineman Catrell Leggett, preserving a 20-14 upset for the Tigers in Big 8 Conference play. 

“I understand why some people don’t coach very long. I don’t have too many grays and I want it to stay that way,” Miller said with a laugh after snapping TJ’s 21-game winning streak in conference play. 

“We just wanted to really play well. We haven’t really played great and we didn’t play great tonight. There is room for improvement.”

TJ’s loss was its first in conference play since Oct. 13, 2017, and its first on its home field since Sept. 11, 2015. Both those losses came to Belle Vernon Area. 

The Jaguars (5-1, 5-1) didn’t just sit back and let the Tigers (6-1, 5-1) cruise to the upset. TJ trailed 20-0 after three quarters before capping a 17-play, 68-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Conner Murga early in the fourth. 

After McKeesport was forced to punt on its next possession, TJ once again came up with a huge drive, marching 73 yards on a possession capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass to the corner of the end zone from Pugh to Preston Zandier. 

With less than four minutes to go, TJ got the defensive stop it needed. 

McKeesport elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 rather than punt to send TJ deep into its own territory. A quarterback sneak by Caleb Reist went nowhere, forcing a turnover on downs and giving TJ its final opportunity. 

“That is a great football team over there,” Miller said. “We had them against the ropes and it would have been easy for them to just roll over.” 

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