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Speed wins football games, and defense wins football championships.

An aroused, well-coached and well-prepared District 10 champion Hickory team arrived at Mansion Park Friday night for its PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal-round game against previously unbeaten Central with a solid game plan in mind and executed it very well on both sides of the ball.

With agile 6-foot-3, 165-pound quarterback Zander Telesz rushing for 107 yards on 12 carries and one touchdown, and throwing for 95 yards and another score, and the Hornets’ secondary confounding Central’s potent passing attack, Hickory secured a 26-13 victory.

After winning District 6 and Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championships this season, Central (12-1) fell short in its bid to reach the PIAA semifinals for a third straight year.

“It was a great year,” Central coach Dave Baker said. “We played a lot of good competition, we won district and conference championships, and we won three games this year on the last play of the game. This team we played tonight was very, very good. I thought that we played a strong game, but they beat us.”

Hickory (11-2) will advance to the semifinal round to play defending PIAA Class 3A state champion Belle Vernon at a District 7 site next weekend. Belle Vernon moved on with a 26-0 quarterfinal-round win over Avonworth Friday in a battle of unbeaten WPIAL teams at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” Hickory coach Bill Dungee said. “Every publication we read this week expected us to lose this game, but our guys did a great job tonight. The linemen blocked very well, and our running game got going and a lot of different players touched the ball for us tonight.”

After a 27-yard field goal by senior kicker Lukas Jones gave Hickory points on its first possession of the game, Telesz took a direct snap and ran 40 yards for a second-quarter touchdown to give Hickory a 10-0 halftime lead and get the Hornets rolling.

“I just saw a hole there, I jump cut it, and I was gone,” Telesz said of his touchdown run. “Nobody expected us to win this game, so we came in with a chip on our shoulder, our line worked really hard tonight, and we ran the ball really well. Not too many teams can keep up with our speed.”

The Telesz scoring run came after the second of three interceptions on the night by Hickory freshman cornerback Jadon Phillips.

Telesz and freshman running back Kelvin Morrison teamed up on another big play midway through the third quarter as Hickory took a 17-0 lead.

Telesz hit Morrison with a screen pass on the left flat, and the speedy back cut to the middle of the field and eluded a couple Central tacklers en route to a 17-yard touchdown play with 8:05 left in the third period.

“One of our (assistant) coaches up in the booth actually gave our head coach a reminder about running that play, and I got the ball to my freshman and he made a hell of a play to score,” Telesz said.

Central senior back Hunter Smith rushed for 179 yards on 22 carries and a 1-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter, but Hickory’s secondary did an excellent job of limiting Central’s air game to 102 yards.

“Their quarterback is very good and they have a really good passing game,” Dungee said of the Scarlet Dragons and junior quarterback Eli Muthler, who threw for 2,300 yards this season. “When you’re facing a team like that, your defense can’t afford to be stagnant against its passing game.

“So we changed looks and mixed up coverages,” Dungee added.

After Muthler tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to senior wideout Jack Dunn with 5:36 left in the third quarter to get Central on the board, Hickory promptly responded with a 74-yard, six-play scoring drive that was capped off by senior halfback Keenan Scullin’s 6-yard TD run later in the period that put the Hornets firmly back into the driver’s seat with a 23-6 lead.

“They’re a fantastic team,” Central’s Smith — a four-year, two-way standout at running back and linebacker — said of Hickory. “We played hard, but they just made a couple more plays than we did, and they beat us tonight. You’ve got to give them props.”

Play of the game: None was bigger than the screen pass from Telesz to Morrison that went for the 58-yard touchdown play.

Player of the game: Telesz orchestrated Hickory’s offensive attack that rolled up 400 yards in total offense.

Unsung heroes: Hickory’s defense, and particularly its secondary, came up big against Central’s passing game and rendered the Scarlet Dragons’ offense largely one-dimensional.

Most vital statistic: With senior back Sean Kennedy rushing for 100 yards on 10 carries to complement Telesz, Hickory rolled up 305 yards on the ground.

Central defensive lineman Sawyer Howard: “We gave it all that we had. We have an amazing group of players who played their hearts out tonight. We just came up a little short.”

Notable: Jones kicked two field goals for Hickory — the 27-yarder in the first quarter and a 23-yarder with 3:46 left in the game that put a padlock on the outcome.

Records: Hickory (11-2), Central (12-1).

Next week: Central’s season is complete. Hickory advances to the PIAA semifinal round and a game with Belle Vernon at a District 7 site.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Hickory 3 7 13 3 — 26

Central 0 0 6 7 — 13

First Quarter

H–Jones 27 FG, 5:20.

Second Quarter

H–Telesz 40 run (Jones kick), 5:49.

Third Quarter

H–Morrison 58 pass from Telesz (Jones kick), 8:05.

C–Dunn 6 pass from Muthler (kick failed), 5:36.

H–Scullin 6 run (kick failed), 2:22.

Fourth Quarter

C–Smith 1 run (Smith kick), 9:50.

H–Jones 23 FG, 3:46.

TEAM STATISTICS H C

First downs 16 14

Total yards 400 296

Rushes-yards 40-305 28-194

Yards passing 95 102

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 5-8-0 13-24-3

Punts/avg. 4-33.5 3-25.3

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 9-90 5-23

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Hickory, Telesz 12-107, Kennedy 10-100, Acrie 3-37, Morrison 5-33, Scullin 9-32, Nevil 1-(-4). Central, Smith 22-179, Muthler 5-12, Marko 1-3.

PASSING–Hickory, Telesz 5-8-0-95. Central, Muthler 12-23-3-87, Benton 1-1-0-15.

RECEIVING–Hickory, Scullin 2-29, Morrison 1-58, Acrie 1-8, Tylon Cousins 1-0. Central, Dunn 5-56, Benton 4-38, Smith 4-8.

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