缅北禁地

Sep 5, 2026 By Rob Burchianti 9 min read

YORK RUN — The situation looked dire for Albert Gallatin.

The Colonials were facing second and 17 from their own 3-yard line while clinging to a 33-28 lead over visiting Connellsville with just over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“Not ideal,” AG head coach Drew Dindl said.

Albert Gallatin gathered itself and somehow managed to not only move the sticks on that series but three more times to successfully drain the final 9:12 off the clock and seal the non-conference football victory on Friday night.

Roman Smith ran for three of those final four first downs – two on fourth down – while churning out 227 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries in leading the way for the Colonials.

“I wasn’t really worried about that,” Smith said when asked about rushing for over 200 yards. “I was just worried about the points on the scoreboard, just trying to win the ball game.”

“That last drive showed everyone what Roman’s really about,” said Colonials quarterback Bronx Jamison, who also ran for 100 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.

“What a great game,” said Dindl whose team’s loss to Burrell last week snapped a 13-game winning streak. “It was good to see us bounce back. The kids fought hard tonight, and so did Connellsville’s kids. My coaching staff did a great job also, they deserve a lot of credit.”

The win was AG’s third straight over Connellsville in the Fayette County rivalry after it had lost the first 13 meetings in the series.

It was the second straight rivalry game for the Falcons who defeated Southmoreland in the newly branded “Battle of 119” last week. Linkon Keller led the Falcons with nine carries for 90 yards and a touchdown and Jeffrey Nicholson completed 5 of 12 passes for 95 yards and two scores and also ran for a TD.

After an explosive first half in which Connellsville twice fell behind by two touchdowns before rallying to take a 28-27 lead, there was only one score the rest of the way.

That came early in the third quarter after Albert Gallatin’s Tripp Handlin recovered a Falcons snap that went astray at the Connellsville 8-yard line.

Smith got the ball on the next four plays and barged over the goal line on fourth and 1 to put the Colonials ahead to stay, 33-28, with 9:18 left in the quarter.

The Falcons offense could only muster one more first down on the night but the punting of Keller kept their hopes alive.

Keller got his team out of a hole at its 20 with a 50-yard punt, then his 51-yarder pinned AG back at its 13.

Jamison’s 26-yard run got the Colonials into Connellsville territory but the Falcons pulled down Smith 1 yard short of the sticks on a fourth-and-8 play to take over on their own 35.

Nicholson completed an 11-yard pass to Jeremy Jenkins but Handlin came up with an 11-yard sack two plays later to foil the drive. Keller’s 51-yard punt pinned AG back at its 13 and after the Falcons defense forced a three-and-out, Connellsville got the ball back at the 50 early in the fourth quarter.

Two 3-yard runs by Nicholson and an incomplete pass brought up fourth and 4 at the AG 44. Connellsville head coach Jace McClean opted to punt and it seemed like a good decision after Keller dropped the kick at the AG 10.

“Coach (Rich) Rush up in the headset said, ‘Hey, we need a nine-minute drive here,'” Dindl said. “And they did it. They answered the bell.”

After a 2-yard run by Smith, two penalties led to Albert Gallatin’s second-and-17 scenario.

“I still had faith we could do this,” Smith said.

Gio Guerriere followed with a 10-yard run and Jamison added 6 yards on the next play to set up fourth-and-1 at the 19. Dindl waved off a punt and had his team go for it.

“Gio had a really nice run to get us back on schedule and I got us close,” Jamison said. “I knew Coach was going to go for it there, and we punched them forward just enough.”

Smith rammed into the line and managed to edge to ball over the 20 for the crucial first down.

“I’m thinking in my head, I’m a bull and I’ve got to get this yard,” Smith said.

“That was a big moment there,” Dindl said.

Two plays later Clayton Bollinger ran 13 yards for a first down and Smith did the same on the following play. McClean started to use his team’s time outs as Connellsville’s defense stiffened and it again needed a fourth-down stop at its own 45 with 2:17 remaining to get the ball back.

Facing fourth and 3, Smith broke through the line for an 11-yard gain. Three kneel-downs by Jamison ran out the clock and secured the victory.

“That drive, I can’t say enough about the kids, showing the toughness that they have,” Dindl said.

Smith and Jamison both credited Albert Gallatin’s offensive line.

“I can’t do it without my linemen,” Smith said. “I love them so much. Those are my boys, my brothers.”

“Our offensive line on that last drive was amazing,” Jamison said. “They were good all game.”

Albert Gallatin racked up 418 total yards with 408 of that rushing on 63 carries.

“This is a big win for us,” Jamison said. “Connellsville’s always one of our toughest games.”

Smith agreed.

“Every year we’ve played them since I’ve been here it’s been a close, hard-hitting game,” Smith said, “And I love a dogfight.”

“They were the better team tonight,” McClean said of AG. “We told them they’ve got to tackle. Running against that offense, we’re a very young defense and everyone had an assignment. Playing assignment football in high school is difficult to do, especially when you only have three days to prepare for a team.”

Albert Gallatin looked like it might roll to a lopsided win early on.

Smith and the Colonials offensive line asserted themselves on the opening drive that started with runs of 24 and 9 yards. Smith broke free for a 44-yard touchdown the next play and Eli Fisher’s extra point made it 7-0.

The Falcons fumbled the ensuing kickoff with Brennon Lennex recovering for AG at the Connellsville 28. Jamison ran for 3 yards on fourth and 1 three plays later and Colton Harvey scored on a 6-yard run the next snap to put AG ahead 14-0.

Keller got Connellsville right back in the game with an electrifying 65-yard touchdown run on the next play from scrimmage. After their defense forced a punt, the Falcons scored again on a 32-yard completion by Nicholson to Rocco Farrell and a fourth-and-7 play, and Tucker Beaman’s extra point tied it at 14-14.

The Colonials fired back with two touchdowns in a span of 2:09 early in the second quarter.

Jamison found a crease and raced for a 44-yard touchdown on the first play of the quarter.

Connellsville again fumbled the ball away on the kickoff with John Cerny recovering for AG. Smith’s 20-yard burst to the Falcon 9 was followed by three runs by Guerriere, the last of which resulted in a 1-yard TD and a 27-14 advantage.

The Falcons again regrouped and stormed back.

Connellsville moved 53 yards for a touchdown with 6:09 left in the half. The big plays were Nicholson completions of 19 and 28 yards to Jeremy Jenkins, the latter going for the score.

Connellsville’s defense stopped Bollinger 1-yard shy of a first down when AG gambled and went for it on fourth and 4 from its own 21 on its next possession. Keller ran for a 24-yard gain on first down to the AG 5 and Nicholson dove into the end zone on a 5-yard touchdown run two plays later as the Falcons went ahead 28-27 with 2:36 remaining in the quarter.

“I’ve got so much respect for Jace and those guys, I knew it was going to be a four-quarter battle,” Dindl said. “Even jumping out to that quick lead, I didn’t feel safe at all, There was a lot of football left. These guys always play us tough. Every year, no matter who gets in the lead, it’s always going to go down to the wire.”

Connellsville got the ball back with 40 seconds left at its own 43 when Myles Hollis recovered an AG fumble, but four plays later Nicholson spiked the ball to kill the clock with two seconds remaining near midfield not realizing it was fourth down and the half ended with the the Falcons holding a one-point lead.

Connellsville only had four possessions in the second half and they ended with a lost fumble and three punts.

“We shot ourselves in the foot way too many times,” McClean said. “Turnovers, center-quarterback exchanges, spiking the ball on fourth down at the end of the half, coming out and fumbling the very first drive after halftime. That kills you. That’s hard to come back from. As a team we just couldn’t get it together.”

Both teams made their share of mistakes. Albert Gallatin was flagged nine times to just once for Connellsville, but the Falcons fumbled the ball six times, losing three.

“We’ve got to fix some stuff up and get some guys back,” Dindl said. “We came into this one a little banged up. I always love these guys no matter what, win or lose. It’s a special group.”

The Colonials host Waynesburg Central next Friday, while McClean’s squad faces yet another nearby rival when it travels to Mustang Field to take on Laurel Highlands.

“We’re a young team but we’ll bounce back,” McClean said. “We’ll see what we have next week for Laurel Highlands.”