Colts Upset By South Park

SOUTH PARK - couldn’t get on the scoreboard in its final regular season game as the South Park Eagles shut out the Colts for the second year in a row.

The Colts gobbled up large chunks of yardage but either fumbled away opportunities or couldn’t convert on fourth down.

Even with the 14-0 loss, Chartiers Valley (5-4, 4-3) still clinched a playoff spot after finishing third in the Big Eight Conference. The Colts will find out on Monday who they play next week in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.

But Friday night was not the way the Colts wanted to enter the playoffs.

Chartiers Valley lost quarterback AJ Mazzarini, who is substituting for Wayne Capers, after he was injured while making a tackle following an interception late in the third quarter. Wide receiver Zach Chapman replaced Mazzarini and ran a “wild cat” style offense that nearly got the Colts back in the game.

Chapman passed for 92 yards, completing 10 of 24 attempts, and ran for another 55 yards. He got the offense moving late in the third quarter both with his legs and by dumping off short passes to the sidelines. A twisting and turning 27-yard touchdown run by Chapman, though, was nullified by a holding penalty.

Eventually, the long drive stalled when Chapman’s pass on 4-and-Goal from the 5-yard line was batted away with 7:21 left in the game.

South Park (3-6, 3-4) got its offense rolling on third play of the game when quarterback Nick Yobbi threw a 70-yard pass to receiver Stefan Isbell. Yobbi plowed into the endzone two plays later on a keeper from the 1-yard line.

Chartiers Valley tried to respond with a heavy dose of running back Michael Boulos, who had 61 rushing yards in the first half. But the lengthy drive ended at South Park’s 16-yard line when running back Juliano Coury fumbled the handoff from Mazzarini.

The two offenses sputtered through much of the rest of the game, and Chartiers Valley’s defense came up big on a goal line stop on fourth down. But Mazzarini threw and interception that was returned back to the 1, and South Park junior Zach May plowed into the end zone on the next play.

It was not immediately clear what injury Mazzarini suffered or his availability would be for the playoffs if Capers still can’t play. However, Chapman’s play late in the game might put Colts fans at ease if he’s able to take snaps under center at practice this week.

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