Last-Moment Heroics
JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley's hopes on the gridiron this fall hinge largely on the performance of many players who must step into more prominent roles.
Despite showing some flashes last week against Moon, the Raiders ultimately fell to the Tigers.
So when SV's offense took the field Friday with one minute, 47 seconds remaining in the game and trailing Pine-Richland 20-17, maybe the moment would prove too big for the Raiders.
Maybe not.
A false start penalty pushed SV back to its own 30, but guided by junior quarterback Graham Hancox, the Raiders picked up two clutch first downs.
Facing a 3rd-and-10 from P-R's 24, Hancox's pass found receiver Brandon Ross wide open in the middle of the end zone with just nine seconds on the clock. Following Camden Bush's extra point, the Rams' desperation pass fell incomplete as SV celebrated a 24-20 victory at NexTier Stadium.
The Rams (0-2) had taken the lead on quarterback Cole Boyd's 48-yard scoring run with 1:53 left.
“Our mentality was, “We're going to do it,'” said SV coach Ron Butschle of his team's final drive. “There was no panic.”Hancox had already thrown a pair of touchdown passes in the game — a 39-yard strike to Jacob Rape to tie the game at 7 in the second quarter. In the third quarter, Luke Lawson turned a 20-yard pass into a 56-yard scoring play for a 14-7 edge.Prior to his team's game-deciding march, Hancox felt no extra pressure.“I was confident that coaches (Ryan) Lehmeier and (Tim) Sasson would call great plays,” he said. “It was just about executing.”The first big play of the final drive was a 21-yard pass to Lawson on a 2nd-and-18 from SV's 27.Hancox tried to hit Ross two plays later and it led to a pass interference penalty on the Rams, setting the Raiders up at P-R's 37.Hancox was 9-of-22 passing for 215 yards. He was intercepted once by Jeremiah Hasley in the third quarter, but SV soon got the ball back on a fumble recovery by Brian Olan.The Rams' passing attack, which yielded over 200 yards and three touchdowns against Harrisburg in the opener, was grounded for much of the game by the Raiders (1-1).
Boyd was sacked four times on the first three drives, two of them coming from linebacker Aiden Lyczek. But the former capped the third drive of the game with a 3-yard touchdown run to give the Rams a 7-0 lead with 7:36 left in the second quarter.Boyd finished the game completing 13 of 30 passes for 129 yards. He added 71 yards and the two touchdowns on 12 carries.“He made some bad throws and some good throws,” said P-R coach Steve Campos. “He did run the ball well.”“I thought we played well defensively tonight,” said Butschle. “Compared to last week, we really cut down on the mistakes.”P-R cut its deficit to 14-13 with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter when Brooks Eastburn raced 34 yards, but the point-after attempt failed.Bush pushed SV's lead to 17-13 with a 25-yard field goal in the final period.“It's not how you start, it's how you finish,” Campos said. “We haven't played a conference game yet and just need to get back to work.”Nolan Dworek gained 82 yards rushing for the Raiders, who travel to North Hills next Friday.Pine-Richland 0 7 6 7 — 20Seneca Valley 0 7 7 10 — 24Second QuarterPR — Cole Boyd 3 run (Joey Perry kick), 7:36SV — Jacob Rape 39 pass from Graham Hancox (Camden Bush kick), 2:49Third QuarterSV — Luke Lawson 56 pass from Hancox (Bush kick), 11:17PR — Brooks Eastburn 34 run (kick failed), 8:51Fourth QuarterSV — Bush 25 field goal, 7:22PR — Boyd 48 run (Perry kick), 1:53SV — Brandon Ross 24 pass from Hancox (Bush kick), :09Individual StatisticsRushing: Pine-Richland, Ryan Palmieri 10-19, Alex Gochis 1-5, Cole Boyd 12-71, Brooks Eastburn 12-83, Cam Wells 1-2. Seneca Valley, Graham Hancox 16-16, Nolan Dworek 24-82.Passing: Pine-Richland, Cole Boyd 13-30-129-0. Seneca Valley, Graham Hancox 9-22-215-1.Receiving: Pine-Richland, Brooks Eastburn 5-43, Jeremiah Hasley 1-13, Andrew Mellis 1-19, Alex Gochis 3-26, Luke Rudolph 3-28. Seneca Valley, Brandon Ross 5-83, Jacob Rape 1-39, Luke Lawson 3-93.
