Mechanicsburg smothers West Liberty-Salem, 31-0

Is there any team in the Ohio Heritage Conference that can give powerhouse Mechanicsburg a serious challenge?

After Friday night’s home game against rival West Liberty-Salem, the answer remains a resounding “no.”

The Indians rolled for 405 yards of offense, 289 accounted for by senior quarterback Kaleb Romero, en route to an easy 31-0 victory at Indians Stadium.

The win leaves undefeated ’Burg at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the OHC. WLS fell to an uncharacteristic 2-4, 1-2.

West Liberty showed signs of moving the ball, and played a tough second half of defense. But it was just too much Romero. He ran for 197 yards on 24 carries and was 7 of 13 passing for another 92 yards. Romero established a new school record with touchdowns in 29 consecutive games.

The Tigers also shot themselves in the foot with mistakes and penalties, 105 yards worth of them, which several times snuffed successful offensive drives.

Mechanicsburg wasted no time grabbing the momentum, driving 85 yards on 12 plays, with 76 of those yards coming from the rushing of Romero. Romero, ’Burg’s all-time scoring, passing and total offense leader, scored from 1 yard out, but the kick failed, leaving the Indians up 6-0.

WLS came back with a first down to midfield. But a Dustin Hartley sack threw the Tigers out of their rhythm, and the Indians got the ball back.

And it was more Romero on the second drive, as he ran for another 49 yards, the last four for the score. The two-point run failed, but the Indians were up 12-0.

The Tigers again looked as if they were going to make a game of it, driving to the ’Burg 30 before a bad snap from center over quarterback Luke Woods’ head on a third-and-1, forcing them to punt again.

The Indians made them pay quickly, in two plays — a 41-run by junior running back Dustin Knapp and a 29-yard touchdown run by Romero. The run failed again, making it 18-0.

Mechanicsburg had 276 yards of offense in the first half, 245 coming on the ground. WLS managed 58 yards of first-half offense.

West Liberty’s best chance to get back in the game came with 3:20 left in the third and Mechanicsburg up 18-0. After recovering an Indians fumble, Woods broke off a 41-yard run to the ’Burg 17. But a holding penalty nullified the big gain and the Tigers again had to punt. Another big shovel pass play going for 60 yards deep into Indians territory was also brought back due to a holding penalty.

The Indians scored first in the second half with 10:30 left in the fourth quarter as Joey Mascadri scored on a 12-yard pass from Romero. Again, the run failed.

’Burg added one more score with 1:07 left, on a 2-yard Knapp run.

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