Sportsbeat Game of the Week Preview: Westmont Hilltop at Bishop McCort-Carroll

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) – There is no love lost in the rivalry between Westmont Hilltop and Bishop McCort-Carroll.

“It goes back a long way,” Hilltoppers head coach Pat Barron said. “These are your neighbors, people you see every day and obviously it’s bragging rights for the whole year.”

“It gives that rivalry a real sense of tradition because both schools have been here for a long time,” Crushers head coach Tom Smith said.

Last year, Bishop McCort-Carroll took home the bragging rights in a 14-13 win. The Crushers have also dominated the series recently, winning 16 of the last 19 matchups.

Despite a winless record this year, Westmont feels ready for this edition of the rivalry.

“You can never overlook anybody,” Barron said. “Every week can be a dogfight. You’re going to need your best every single week for 48 minutes to get it done.”

The Hilltoppers (0-6) are still trying to stay optimistic to find their first win since September of 2023.

“They keep coming back to work,” Barron said. “(There’s) good optimism around the program. We’re hoping to put together a good performance this Friday.”

The Crushers have taken an unorthodox road to a 3-3 record. Quarterbacks Bentley Bainey and Angelo Gallucci have been splitting the lion’s share at the position.

However, both went down last week in the city rivalry game against Greater Johnstown. Third-string QB Garrett Farabaugh led the Crushers in a second-half comeback to walk away with a win, but it leaves a lot of uncertainty on who will start for them against Westmont Hilltop.

“With our quarterbacks and the three that we have, it’s not fair to say anything,” Smith said when asked who will start. “Any one of the three can show up on Friday night and play and we think that’s to our advantage.”

“Come Friday night, it might surprise me who’s at quarterback to be quite honest with you, because we have faith in all three of those guys,” Smith added.

No matter who plays at the quarterback position for the Crushers on Friday, they will continue to lean on the ground game with an established offensive line paving the way for running backs Jon Delia and Marquez Gordon.

“(Our offensive line has) the guys that never get glory or a whole lot of love,” Smith said. “This group that we have this year has come a long way. I think they’re really pretty tough upfront and I think that that’s something that we’ve been trying to build our program around.”

Meanwhile, Westmont Hilltop has built its program around its unique rushing attack, which averages 225 yards per game behind sophomores Bryce Goodman and Landon Valente.

“It’s never too big for (Valente),” Barron said. “He might be 5’4″, but in his mind, he’s 7’2″ and he’s a guy that’s explosive and does a lot of dirty work.”

Smith has plenty of experience facing the Hilltoppers offense with his years of experience as a head coach and defensive coordinator.

“It is a big challenge because it’s the only offense you face like that all year long,” Smith said. “They’re very good at what they do, and we need to try to create matchups where we can slow that thing down and get them off schedule.”

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The Crushers are hoping that a win against Westmont can help propel them as one of the better teams in the LHAC but are also being cautious to not overlook the Hilltoppers.

“Their record is their record but in a game like this right now, you throw those records out,” Smith said. “I know (the caliber of kids Westmont has) and I know they’re coming to play.”

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