Serra shuts out SA in heated rivalry game

By JEREMY SELLEW

jsellew@yourmvi.com

In a game marred by undisciplined plays, penalty flags, two ejections and a fight, Serra Catholic opened the season Saturday with a shutout win over rival South Allegheny.

The teams are geographical rivals, but the feud reached bitter levels on a muggy night at “the Nest” on the Serra Catholic campus. It took over three hours, but when the final horn sounded the Eagles had a 24-0 win over their rivals from across the Youghigheny River. 

The jawing started from the moment the teams were on the field together, and it was a sign of things to come as the Eagles were whistled for a staggering 24 penalties for 251 yards. Eleven of those were personal fouls.

The events took a more heated turn in the third quarter after an Eagles punt return ended with a fight along the South Allegheny sidelines that led to the Gladiators’ Eric Wehrer and Serra Catholic’s Paul Pearson being ejected.

Needless to say, Eagles head coach Jose Regus wasn’t happy with the lack of composure and discipline showed by his team.

“Oh, we’re going to handle it. Let’s just say we’re going to be a track team for the next couple days,” Regus said. “The positive out of this is we picked up the win. We wanted to bring the intensity and we hit. We hit them hard over and over.

“There were a lot of calls, but I’m not going to talk about the officiating.” 

The Eagles (1-0) set the tone early with their defense as the opening drive for the Gladiators ended with Pearson sacking Wehrer on a third and long to force a punt.

It was the beginning of a long night for Wehrer. He was sacked seven times and hit over and over.

“We wanted to make them uncomfortable, and our defensive line was fantastic,” Regus said. “I’m really excited for them because they set a bar here tonight.”

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