Breaking through: Colonials earn first ever win over Connellsville in 29-26 thriller
YORK RUN 无毛视频� Thirteen times in the past Albert Gallatin had lined up against Connellsville on the football field and came out on the losing end.
Colonials head coach Drew Dindl exhorted his team to put an end to that dubious streak on Friday night in front of a large crowd against the visiting Falcons.
无毛视频淚 told these guys all week, Connellsville is coming to town and we无毛视频檙e going to be in a four-quarter dogfight,无毛视频� Dindl said. 无毛视频淲e kept saying we want to make history, we无毛视频檝e never beaten those guys.
无毛视频淭hey wanted this game.无毛视频�
And they got it.
Albert Gallatin churned out 313 yards, all on the ground, and scored the final 10 points to pull out a 29-26 win in a thrilling battle that wasn无毛视频檛 settled until Connellsville missed a potential game-tying 24-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds.
无毛视频淭hey gave it to me, they gave me all they had,无毛视频� Dindl said of his team. 无毛视频淚 couldn无毛视频檛 ask more of them. We had big plays all around.无毛视频�
Bronx Jamison无毛视频檚 26-yard touchdown run on fourth down and Nassir Moore无毛视频檚 two-point conversion run put the Colonials (2-1) ahead by three with 1:47 left.
Connellsville quarterback Caden Matthews led his team down field on its final possession, sparked by his 28-yard run and completions of 14 yards to Grayden Gillott and nine yards to Jayden Mickens, to set up a field goal attempt by Derek Routzahn with 17.2 seconds left.
Dindl used his final timeout to try and ice the left-footed Routzahn, who booted a 37-yard field goal earlier in the game, and his kick from the right hashmark then sailed wide left, setting off a wild celebration by the AG players and fans.
Jace McLean, one of the Falcons three head coaches, didn无毛视频檛 put the blame for the loss on Routzahn.
无毛视频淲e had a real good drive at the end of the game but we wish we could无毛视频檝e capitalized on a few other plays before that,无毛视频� McLean said. 无毛视频淲e had other chances to win it.无毛视频�
It was the second consecutive heart-breaking loss for Connellsville (0-3), which fell at home to Meadville last week, 48-41 in four overtimes.
无毛视频淭wo weeks in a row, two tough games, two tough football teams, well coached teams,无毛视频� McLean said. 无毛视频淲e got the short end of the stick again.
无毛视频淥ur kids fought to the last play. They were just the better team tonight. They beat us up physically. They deserved to win. Drew is a heck of a coach. He无毛视频檚 got a good thing going on here.无毛视频�
Matthews completed seven of 19 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a team-high 57 yards and a score but was intercepted twice by Roman Smith.
无毛视频淩oman was a key part of our offense and made some big plays on defense, too,无毛视频� Dindl said. 无毛视频淗e was all over the place tonight. We kept hammering at them inside and he really stepped up for us tonight. What a game he had. Roman and also Jeremiah Darnell, we kept rotating them in and out. Our main concern was that B-back position and those two kept pounding and set everything up and let us get some big plays outside.无毛视频�
Five different Colonials rushed for over 40 yards led by Caleb DeHaven with four carries for 85 yards. Moore followed with eight attempts for 71 yards, Adam Pegg had four carries for 59 yards and a touchdown, Smith chipped in with 11 attempts for 47 yards and Darnell added eight carries for 41 yards.
Points were hard to come by in the first half.
Connellsville got on the board first after recovering a fumble in AG territory that led to Routzahn无毛视频檚 37-yard field goal.
Albert Gallatin took a 6-3 lead with an eight-play, 72-yard drive sparked by DeHaven无毛视频檚 36-yard run and capped by his eight-yard touchdown burst with 1:26 left in the second quarter.
Smith无毛视频檚 first interception and 22-yard return to the Falcons 18 gave the Colonials a chance to add to their lead in the final seconds of the first half by Connellsville无毛视频檚 defense held.
Albert Gallatin increased its lead with a special-team无毛视频檚 touchdown early in the third quarter. Aidan Garcia blocked a Connellsville punt and Xavier Rice picked up the bouncing ball and took it 21 yards into the end zone to make it 12-3.
The Falcons answered with a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that included a 17-yard pass by Matthews to Major Stash and a 25-yard run by Matthews, who finished the long march with a seven-yard pass to Geno Farrell. Routzahn added the extra point to make it 12-10.
The teams exchanged turnovers on the next three possessions.
Connellsville无毛视频檚 Trent Huffman recovered a fumble at the AG 32, but Smith picked off a Matthews pass at the AG 23 on the next play, Two plays later Wyatt Hall scooped up a Colonials fumble and ran 28 yards for a touchdown with Matthews无毛视频� two-point pass to Jayden Mickens putting the visitors ahead 18-12.
Albert Gallatin scored on the second play of the fourth quarter when Pegg scampered 65 yards for a touchdown and Sam Evans无毛视频� extra point put the Colonials ahead 19-18.
The Falcons needed just three plays to retake the lead as Matthews completed a 43-yard pass to Linkon Keller, Mickens broke free for an 18-yard gain and Matthews dove into the end zone on a four-yard run. Matthews无毛视频� two-point pass to Farrell made it 26-19.
Albert Gallatin was forced to punt on its next possession but Evans无毛视频� 45-yard boot pinned Connellsville back at its own 12 and Rice无毛视频檚 nine-yard sack of Matthews backed the Falcons up to their own four-yard line.
无毛视频淴avier Rice was a beast today,无毛视频� Dindl said.
Rather than punt from its own end zone with a seven-point lead, the Falcons coaching staff opted to take a safety and kick off from its own 20 with a five-point lead.
The Colonials advanced to the Connellsville 26 but faced a fourth and seven as the clock ticked under two minutes. Jamison faked a handoff and zipped around the right side for the go-ahead score.
无毛视频淎 lot of mistakes, a lot of mental mistakes, guys running wrong routes, the line blocking the wrong guys,无毛视频� McLean said in assessing his team无毛视频檚 performance. 无毛视频淒efense, the exact same thing. They run that triple option well but we had guys on every player and that last play there, all of our guys went to the dive and they pulled it. That无毛视频檚 what won them the game.无毛视频�
无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 just the triple option for you,无毛视频� Dindl said. 无毛视频淎ny of those three guys could touch it at any time. Bronx is getting better each week with all this game experience. He无毛视频檚 only a sophomore. I keep asking big things of him and he just keeps answering the bell. I just love watching him grow.
无毛视频淚t was fourth and seven and he called his own number and not only got us the first down but the touchdown.无毛视频�
Dindl deflected credit for his team无毛视频檚 landmark win over the Falcons.
无毛视频淭his is the coaches, this is the players, that无毛视频檚 all on them,无毛视频� Dindl said. 无毛视频淭hey did everything to prepare themselves this week. Jeff (Rush) and Danny Moore, all those guys had a great defensive game plan and the kids executed everything. They无毛视频檙e the ones that won this game today.无毛视频�
Dindl commended the Connellsville coaching staff.
无毛视频淚 love Jace and all those guys over there,无毛视频� Dindl said. 无毛视频淚 think they无毛视频檙e doing good things with that team. I have a good relationship with those guys.
无毛视频淭his is what we wanted when we went independant, games like this, crowds like this, and that无毛视频檚 what we got tonight.无毛视频�