Blue Jays' late rally cut short on fumble inside field goal range
By BRAD PRICE
Fourth Quarter Media
SOUTH CENTRE TWP. — Central Columbia fell to Lewisburg in a heart-breaker, in front of the birdcage on Saturday night, 7-6, to Lewisburg in the first round of the Class 3A District 4 Playoffs.
Central had a shot to win the game at the end, driving all the way down to the Green Dragons’ 25-yard line as time wound down in the fourth.
Trae Devlin attempted to avoid a sack and scrambled as the senior has so many times in his career. However, he did not see Lewisburg linebacker Ethan Spaulding, who forced the fumble from behind and Lewisburg recovered it to win the game without giving Brendan Gregory a chance to win the game.
Central’s kicker, Gregory, scored all six points for the Blue Jays on two short field goals on drives that were well within Lewisburg territory.
“I thought we were in range right where we fumbled the ball. I thought if we could get down to the 25 we’d be ok,” Dennis said.
In a hard-fought game by both defenses, Lewisburg broke it open in the fourth with a huge 42-yard pass from Lewisburg quarterback Nick Shedleski to Dylan Farronato.
It paved the way for a Max Moyers 6-yard touchdown run to take their first lead of the game.
These two plays proved to be the game winners for Lewisburg but the were not without controversy.
The Blue Jays’ coaches thought the Farronato pass should’ve been ruled incomplete and felt that Moyers had fumbled previously to crossing the goal line.
“He dropped the ball on that play,” Central head coach Scott Dennis said of Farronato’s 42-yard catch before adding about Max Moyers' touchdown run. “I also believe he fumbled before he scored.”
The Blue Jays’ led the entire game, prior to Lewisburg's big plays, and rode its defense to an early lead.
Central had held the high power Lewisburg offense to a shutout for the first 46 minutes.
“ I was really happy with our defense, I thought they played exceptionally well," Dennis said. "The linebackers filled well, the defensive line played well so I was pretty happy with the defense."
Central had its chances to put more than six points on the scoreboard but cost itself with a few mistakes.
In the first quarter, Central fullback Ky Seesholtz had a 47-yard touchdown catch from Devlin called back due to a block in the back.
This flag was thrown well downfield and the drive eventually stalled out after an Isaac Gensemer’ fumble.
Dennis stated how the errors were a big reason for Central’s loss.
“Penalties, turnovers, take your pick, everytime we put ourselves in a good spot we made a mistake,” Dennis said.
The Green Dragons defense also played well, holding record-breaking running back Gensemer to only 42 yards on 20 carries. Many of these plays big plays came in the red-zone.
Central loses a senior class that has one of the most successful seasons for the school in recent memory.
Despite the losses of seniors, Dennis is confident the underclass will build on what the seniors have built.
“There’s a lot of guy there with (wide receiver) Eli (Morrison), (running back) Troy Johnson, there’s a lot of guys, the whole sophomore class is talented, we have a few talented juniors, going forward we’ll have to rely on everybody,” Dennis said.
Lewisburg 0 0 0 7 - 7
Central 0 3 3 0 - 6
Second quarter
CC- Brendan Gregory 28 field goal, 0:26
Third quarter
CC- Gregory 25 field goal, 4:40
Fourth quarter
LE- Max Moyers 6 run (Jack Dieffenderfer kick), 1:43
L C
First Downs: 12 14
Rushing-yds: 31-133 41-104
Passing- yds: 153 128
Comp-Att-Int 14-24-1 14-21-0
Total yds: 306 232
Fumbles-lost: 2-1 2-2
Penalties-yds: 9-90 8-45
Individual Statistics
Rushing- Central: Isaac Gensemer 20-42; Ky Seesholtz 9-41; Jack Schechterly 3-14; Trae Devlin 9-7. Lewisburg: Max Moyers 26-134, TD; Ethan Dominick 2-1; Nick Shedleski 3-(-2).
Passing- Central: Devlin 14-21-0 128 yds. Lewisburg: Shedleski 14-23-0 153 yds; Dylan Farronato 0-1-1.
Receiving- Central: Jared Verse 4-87; Eli Morrison 5-15; Zander Bradley 1-12; Zach Smith 1-11; Schechterly 1-2; Seesholtz 1-1; Gensemer 1-0. Lewisburg: Farronato 8-88; Charlie Blough 1-29; Dakotah Snyder 2-20; Coleman Witherite 1-7; Romale Brown 1-6; Shedleski 1-3.