Armstrong Beats McKeesport in an Overtime Thriller

by Jake DeLuca

On Friday, the Armstrong River Hawks traveled to McKeesport to take on the Tigers in what proved to be both the toughest test of their young season as well as a game for the ages.

Zane Dudek came into the game with over 500 yards in the first two games of the season, and he continued his ridiculous ways Friday at McKeesport. In a back and forth game, it was clear that Dudek was a man on a mission.

Dudek, who scored all nine of the River Hawks touchdowns leading up to the game against McKeesport, added to his impressive total.

Zane started out strong with three rushing touchdowns in the first half and would finish with five rushing touchdowns in the game, including the game tying touchdown to send the game into overtime.

Dudek would end the game with 301 on a whopping 45 carries, but his biggest play came in overtime.

The River Hawks needed to score as they found themselves down 42-35 in the extra quarter of play. That is when wide-out Shawn Giddings took a screen pass from Michael Lhote 10 yards for a touchdown.

The next play was really one that you had to see to believe. In what River Hawks Head Coach Frank Fabian called a “muddle huddle”, the Hawks were able to pitch the ball to Zane on the 2-point conversion to win the game 43-42 in overtime.

Coach Fabian said that Zane “made lemonade out of lemons” on the last play on that “muddle huddle” play, but was very excited with his team and their 3-0 start to the season.

To put this win into perspective, the River Hawks went 2-4 on the road in 2015. In 2016 the River Hawks are 3-0 on the road this year, and they will have their first home game of the season this week against Gateway.

You can listen to the game live on 1380 AM WTYM, the WTYM App, or WTYMradio.com. The game will also be re-aired Saturday at 10:00 AM.