Colgan’s Ground Attack Too Much in 2nd Half in Victory over Abilene

The Abilene Cowboys fell to 0-5 for the first time since 2012 with a 26-0 setback to Pittsburgh St. Mary’s Colgan Friday night in Augusta.  The Panthers improved to 2-3 with the victory and avenged last year’s 22-20 lost to Abilene at Towanda-Circle.

After a scoreless first quarter, Colgan got on the board first with a 12 play, 71 yard drive, that took 6:58 seconds and included two fourth down conversions.  The score came on a Domenic Bevilacqua 1 yard run with 6:31 to play in the first half.  The Panthers would add the extra point to take a 7-0 advantage.  Colgan would add their second touchdown with just 14 seconds left in the half on a Gianni Piccini to Jalen VanBecelaere 26 yard pass play to extend the lead to 14-0 after the PAT.  The play was big because Colgan converted for the score and had no timeouts.

The Panthers dominated on the ground in the second half as they would rack up 207 of their 297 yards after the intermission.  Bevilacqua, the fullback, softened up the Cowboy defense and then Blaise Dawson, Colgan’s leading rusher entering the game, took over with two touchdown runs.  He scored on a 20 yard run with 3:24 to play in the third to give the Panthers a 20-0 lead.  He would then add his second score on a 40 yard run with 10:46 left in the game to end the scoring.

Colgan unofficially finished with 362 yards of total offense while Abilene was limited to 155.  Bevilacqua finished with 107 yards on 18 carries.  He entered the game with just 57 yards in his first four games.  Dawson added 91 yards on just eight carries.

The Cowboys will return home next Friday to face Coffeyville.  The Golden Tornado are 1-4 on the season and fell to Mulvane 47-12 in Coffeyville Friday night.  Abilene won at Coffeyville last year 30-25.