Falcons rally past Scotties in first ‘Battle of 119’
The first 鈥淏attle of 119鈥� between Southmoreland and Connellsville had a tremendous buildup with a boisterous crowd, a trophy on the line and great entertainment on and off the field at Falcon Stadium.
But the night took a dark turn early on for the Falcons.
Connellsville quarterback Cooper Wilson went down with an arm injury on their first possession, but the Falcons refused to let that setback spoil their return to the WPIAL.
Jeffrey Nicholson courageously stepped in at quarterback and Linkon Keller scored two long touchdowns as the Falcons rallied from an early deficit to earn a gutsy 21-15 win Friday night.
The Falcons鈥� reward was seizing control of the 鈥淏attle of 119鈥� traveling trophy for the first year of what both schools intend to keep as their annual opening game.
鈥淭he kids were talking, they haven鈥檛 experienced that amount of support in a long time,鈥� Connellsville head coach Jace McClean said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we do this.鈥�
Nicholson connected on 7 of 12 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns with one interception after taking over for the injured Cooper. Three of those completions went to Keller for a whopping 179 yards, including an 80-yard catch-and-run for what proved to be the winning score in the fourth quarter.
The night started out well for second-year head coach Dustin Shoaf and the Scotties in an explosive first quarter.
Dawson Wolfe gave Southmoreland the lead with a 2-yard touchdown run that capped a five-play drive and Liam Smith鈥檚 extra point made it 7-0. The senior quarterback/linebacker ran the ball 28 times for 161 yards and added 67 yards passing on six completions.
Connellsville got a double dose of adversity in the first quarter with Cooper, who managed to stay in the game one play after his injury before departing, throwing a long touchdown pass that was negated by a penalty.
鈥淗aving your starting quarterback break his arm the second play of the game, stay in for a play and throw an 80-yard touchdown the very next play shows what kind of kids we have,鈥� McClean said. 鈥淯nfortunately, it was called back.鈥�
Nicholson entered and threw an 84-yard touchdown pass to Keller to get the Falcons within 7-6 after a missed extra-point kick.
Southmoreland increased its lead with a six-play drive that Reese Jordan finished off with a 9-yard touchdown run and Seth Grosser ran in the two-point conversion after picking up a fumble to put the visitors up 15-6, still in the first quarter.
The Falcons defense stiffened from there, holding the Scotties scoreless the rest of the way.
Nicholson鈥檚 second TD toss went 19 yards to Jeremy Jenkins in the second quarter with Tucker Beaman鈥檚 extra point slicing Connellsville鈥檚 deficit to 15-13.
The score remained that way until the fourth quarter when Nicholson and Keller teamed up again for the go-ahead score.
鈥淚t was a screen pass,鈥� McClean explained. 鈥淭hey were getting pressure on us all night and it was a perfect call at the perfect moment.鈥�
McClean gushed about the night overall.
鈥淭he atmosphere was electric,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e had a few surprises for the fans, including the Kick of Destiny, fireworks, and with a little bit of Neil Diamond.鈥�
The Kick of Destiny featured fan Jake Pritts who won a drawing and then a cash prize by successfully kicking a field goal during the break between the third and fourth quarters.
Diamond鈥檚 song 鈥淪weet Caroline鈥� was played to rev up the crowd even more.
鈥淲hen we played that, the student section went crazy,鈥� McClean said. 鈥淭hey were electric all night and even caused a (Southmoreland) false start during the game.
鈥淭hey brought the energy from the kickoff to the fireworks in the end.鈥�
Rocco Farrell had four receptions for 76 yards for Connellsville, which out-gained the Scotties, 316 to 262, although Southmoreland produced more first downs, 15 to 12.
Mason Pergar was the Scotties鈥� leading receiver with four catches for 18 yards.
McClean lauded his team鈥檚 performance.
鈥淚 think overall, winning a close game like this speaks volumes about these kids,鈥� McClean said. 鈥淎ll that we had to battle throughout the game and to pull off the comeback win is amazing.鈥�