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Delone uses bevy of backfield weapons to blow out Fairfield


After leading the Delone Catholic Squires in carries and yards each of the last four games, head coach Corey Zortman gave senior Tavian Dorsey a bit of a break.

With that being said, Dorsey still carried the ball 14 times for 155 yards and four scores on Friday night at Fairfield.

However, he had help, as Delone amassed 452 rushing yards in the 51-28 win.

"It's easy to fall in love with using this guy," Zortman said while pointing to Dorsey. "I had tunnel vision these last few weeks. We have other capable backs, so we moved some people around and spread it around tonight and it worked. The Wing-T works best when the defense doesn't know who's getting the ball."

On this night, Zach Hart carried 14 times for 185 yards and was the home run hitter, while fullback Logan Panzer plowed for 72 yards and put a Fairfield defender on his back during a second-quarter touchdown run.

Even Ryan Hart got into the act with a 35-yard run, and Alec Maitland picked up two first quarter first downs.

"I'm really proud," Zortman said. "We worked really hard on the run game and it showed. We're not always east-west, either, sometimes, we can go downhill."

Dorsey went downhill for a 1-yard plunge to open the scoring three minutes in after Maitland and Zach Hart sliced the defense with some long runs.

After a Fairfield punt, Delone took a holding penalty, but even that couldn't stop them.

Panzer entered and helped the offense grind out two first downs before Dorsey shimmied through a pair of tackles up the middle and broke into open field for a 34-yard scoring run.

"I just kept the mindset on all those runs, that if we lose, the season is over and senior year is done," Dorsey said. "This is the last time we will play at Fairfield. We are guaranteed only two more games."

Fairfield fought back, starting with a Darian Mort-to-Aaron Moore connection for 13-yards on third down.

Moore was Mort's go-to guy in third-and-fourth down situations on the evening.

Mort scampered around right end for a touchdown late in the first quarter. The snap on the extra point was low, forcing the holder to heave up an incomplete pass.

Ian Clements and Moore came up with tackles for loss on the next defensive stand for the Knights, but Mort was intercepted by Brady Repasky deep in Delone territory on the ensuing possession.

After trading touchdowns, Delone went up by two possessions for good.

Ryan Hart bobbled the ensuing kickoff at the 19, but quickly recovered and fooled the first defender badly with a juke. He turned up field and burst down the middle for an 81-yard kick return touchdown.

Delone Catholic1417137—51Fairfield68140—28

First Quarter

DC — Tavian Dorsey 1 run (Brandon Hall kick), 9:04

DC — Dorsey 34 run (Hall kick), 5:36

F — Darian Mort 13 run (pass failed), 2:24

Second Quarter

DC — Logan Panzer 11 run (Hall kick), 5:41

F — Mort 1 run (Aaron Moore pass from Mort), 4:21

DC — Ryan Hart 81 kick return (Hall kick), 4:05

DC — Hall 25 field goal, 0:25

Third Quarter

F — Moore 30 pass from Mort (Matt Petrie pass from Mort), 7:30

DC — Dorsey 5 run (Hall kick), 6:19

DC — Dorsey 58 run (kick failed), 4:57

F — Charlie Burnett 1 run (run failed), 3:02

Fourth Quarter

DC — Zach Hart 66 run (Hall kick), 2:58

DCFFFirst Downs2118Rushes-Yards49-45233-76Passing3-8-016-36-1Passing Yards30303Total Yards482379Fumbles-Lost3-10-0Punts-Yards1-34.04-30.0Penalties-Yards7-636-70
Individual Stats

Rushing — DC, Zach Hart 14-185, Tavian Dorsey 14-155, Logan Panzer 12-72, Ryan Hart 2-39, Alec Maitland 2-18, Bryan Shermeyer 3-(-15), Team 2-(-2). F, Darian Mort 16-28, Tyler Karstetter 6-25, Matt Petrie 4-16, Charlie Burnett 7-7.

Passing — DC, Shermeyer 3-8-0-30. F, Mort 15-35-1-303, Petrie 1-1-0-(-1).

Receiving — DC, Dylan Hartlaub 1-15, Larry Lefler III 1-8, Cody Pfaff 1-7. F, Aaron Moore 7-151, Burnett 3-89, Karstetter 3-33, Petrie 2-40, Mort 1-(-1).