Petersburg Middle School collected a 14-nil advantage entering the final stanza and thwarted a comeback rally by the Cougars with a pair of two-point conversion denials to seal a 22-20 win in Baker last Wednesday.
“They played great in the fourth quarter. If we could have three quarters of that or all quarters we would have been great. They came out in the fourth quarter and showed heart and resilience and we know that they have it. They just have to do four quarters of that. We came out flat in the first half. We talked about it at halftime to the boys and lit a fire under them and they came out playing better in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was our quarter, but we need all four of them,” East Hardy Middle School coach Clay Skovron commented.
The first quarter highlight was East Hardy Middle School’s Nate Champ jarring the ball loose from Vikings quarterback Parker Metheny with the recovery made by Cougars teammate Chance Dove.
Unfortunately, that magic evaporated in the red zone on the ensuing possession.
It was a stalemate for nearly another whole frame, however, the Vikings hit pay dirt with 14 seconds left in the first half for an 8-0 edge as Parker Metheny made two big runs before capping off the drive with a three-run score and conversion.
Early in the third quarer, East Hardy Middle’s Luke Holliday recovered a bad snap fumble on a punt and nearly reached the first down marker and the Vikings got the ball back on the turnover on downs.
The Cougars forced a Petersburg Middle punt with a huge return by Holliday to the Vikings 25-yard line where Metheny made a touchdown saving tackle.
Petersburg Middle’s defense stopped the Cougars in the red zone for a turnover on downs.
Metheny garnered a 36-yard touchdown run with Holliday stopping the conversion as the Vikings took a 14-0 lead with 28 seconds left in the third quarter.
After two errant passes, Holliday dashed twice for long distances to place the Cougars in the red zone to conclude the third quarter.
East Hardy Middle’s Holliday made a stiff arm move and dodged Vikings defenders to reach the end zone on an 18-yard run to start the final stanza at 7:49.
After an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Petersburg Middle coach during the two-point conversion attempt, the Cougars next attempt was flagged for assisting the runner.
Petersburg Middle’s Ethan Lyon tackled the Cougars’ Dalton Nicholson on the conversion attempt for a 14-6 score.
Metheny fumbled the ball moments later as East Hardy Middle’s Dominic Rossman made the recovery.
Holliday dodged trouble in the backfield and raced to the one yard line, but a blindside blocking penalty negated the huge run placing the Cougars back near midfield.
Nicholson covered a big chunk of yardage, but a personal foul on the Cougars moved them back again.
Nicholson almost made a catch on a deep pass, but the ball slipped through his fingers and there was an ineligible receiver penalty.
It was fourth down and super long with Holliday scrambling and halted short of the chain marker by Lyon.
Petersburg Middle’s Noah Rumfelt fumbled the ball back to the Cougars on the first play as Rossman made the recovery inside Vikings territory.
Holliday converted a third down eluding defenders to reach the 32-yard line.
Nicholson made two carries to get the Cougars down to the 24-yard line.
East Hardy Middle got into the red zone as Holliday zig zagged for 12 yards.
Holliday capped off the Cougars drive with a 12-yard touchdown run and added the conversion to tie the game at 14-all with 2:54 remaining.
The Vikings responded quickly as Metheny executed a 50-yard touchdown pass to Rumfelt with Metheny adding the conversion to create a 22-14 lead at 2:08.
Nicholson plowed ahead to reach the 32-yard line on the Cougars kickoff return.
A pass went too far, then Holliday created a big run with great blocking to get into Petersburg Middle domain at the 45 with 1:48 to go.
Nicholson snatched a pass and dashed 32 yards getting deep into the red zone at the 11-yard line.
Holliday punched the ball into the end zone from 11 yards out as the Cougars pulled within two points with 1:24 remaining, but the game tying conversion attempt turned into a fumble crossing the goal line as the Vikings kept the 22-20 edge.
The Vikings denied the comeback and sailed for Petersburg with the 22-20 victory in tow.
“We have 14 players and we ended with 11, so the first half will always be big for us. I know East Hardy doesn’t have a large team either. We are going to be a better team in the first half, than the second half regardless of how in shape they are. It is always good for us to have a big first half and come out strong. [Midfield strike] It was a play that I had seen the whole game, but our personnel doesn’t allow us to do a lot of things. We have to have people in the right spots and I felt it was a good time to do it. We were down on timeouts and they took a timeout to give me the chance to move people around. It was a two-point conversion away from a big play and our line came up huge. I am glad we won and the game ended, because overtime would have been a disaster for us,” Petersburg Middle School coach Brent Metheny stated.
