Breaking through: Colonials earn first ever win over Connellsville in 29-26 thriller
YORK RUN – Thirteen times in the past Albert Gallatin had lined up against Connellsville on the football field and came out on the losing end.
Colonials head coach Drew Dindl exhorted his team to put an end to that dubious streak on Friday night in front of a large crowd against the visiting Falcons.
“I told these guys all week, Connellsville is coming to town and we’re going to be in a four-quarter dogfight,” Dindl said. “We kept saying we want to make history, we’ve never beaten those guys.
“They wanted this game.”
And they got it.
Albert Gallatin churned out 313 yards, all on the ground, and scored the final 10 points to pull out a 29-26 win in a thrilling battle that wasn’t settled until Connellsville missed a potential game-tying 24-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds.
“They gave it to me, they gave me all they had,” Dindl said of his team. “I couldn’t ask more of them. We had big plays all around.”
Bronx Jamison’s 26-yard touchdown run on fourth down and Nassir Moore’s two-point conversion run put the Colonials (2-1) ahead by three with 1:47 left.
Connellsville quarterback Caden Matthews led his team down field on its final possession, sparked by his 28-yard run and completions of 14 yards to Grayden Gillott and nine yards to Jayden Mickens, to set up a field goal attempt by Derek Routzahn with 17.2 seconds left.
Dindl used his final timeout to try and ice the left-footed Routzahn, who booted a 37-yard field goal earlier in the game, and his kick from the right hashmark then sailed wide left, setting off a wild celebration by the AG players and fans.
Jace McLean, one of the Falcons three head coaches, didn’t put the blame for the loss on Routzahn.
“We had a real good drive at the end of the game but we wish we could’ve capitalized on a few other plays before that,” McLean said. “We had other chances to win it.”
It was the second consecutive heart-breaking loss for Connellsville (0-3), which fell at home to Meadville last week, 48-41 in four overtimes.
“Two weeks in a row, two tough games, two tough football teams, well coached teams,” McLean said. “We got the short end of the stick again.
“Our kids fought to the last play. They were just the better team tonight. They beat us up physically. They deserved to win. Drew is a heck of a coach. He’s got a good thing going on here.”
Matthews completed seven of 19 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a team-high 57 yards and a score but was intercepted twice by Roman Smith.
“Roman was a key part of our offense and made some big plays on defense, too,” Dindl said. “He was all over the place tonight. We kept hammering at them inside and he really stepped up for us tonight. What a game he had. Roman and also Jeremiah Darnell, we kept rotating them in and out. Our main concern was that B-back position and those two kept pounding and set everything up and let us get some big plays outside.”
Five different Colonials rushed for over 40 yards led by Caleb DeHaven with four carries for 85 yards. Moore followed with eight attempts for 71 yards, Adam Pegg had four carries for 59 yards and a touchdown, Smith chipped in with 11 attempts for 47 yards and Darnell added eight carries for 41 yards.
Points were hard to come by in the first half.
Connellsville got on the board first after recovering a fumble in AG territory that led to Routzahn’s 37-yard field goal.
Albert Gallatin took a 6-3 lead with an eight-play, 72-yard drive sparked by DeHaven’s 36-yard run and capped by his eight-yard touchdown burst with 1:26 left in the second quarter.
Smith’s first interception and 22-yard return to the Falcons 18 gave the Colonials a chance to add to their lead in the final seconds of the first half by Connellsville’s defense held.
Albert Gallatin increased its lead with a special-team’s touchdown early in the third quarter. Aidan Garcia blocked a Connellsville punt and Xavier Rice picked up the bouncing ball and took it 21 yards into the end zone to make it 12-3.
The Falcons answered with a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that included a 17-yard pass by Matthews to Major Stash and a 25-yard run by Matthews, who finished the long march with a seven-yard pass to Geno Farrell. Routzahn added the extra point to make it 12-10.
The teams exchanged turnovers on the next three possessions.
Connellsville’s Trent Huffman recovered a fumble at the AG 32, but Smith picked off a Matthews pass at the AG 23 on the next play, Two plays later Wyatt Hall scooped up a Colonials fumble and ran 28 yards for a touchdown with Matthews’ two-point pass to Jayden Mickens putting the visitors ahead 18-12.
Albert Gallatin scored on the second play of the fourth quarter when Pegg scampered 65 yards for a touchdown and Sam Evans’ extra point put the Colonials ahead 19-18.
The Falcons needed just three plays to retake the lead as Matthews completed a 43-yard pass to Linkon Keller, Mickens broke free for an 18-yard gain and Matthews dove into the end zone on a four-yard run. Matthews’ two-point pass to Farrell made it 26-19.
Albert Gallatin was forced to punt on its next possession but Evans’ 45-yard boot pinned Connellsville back at its own 12 and Rice’s nine-yard sack of Matthews backed the Falcons up to their own four-yard line.
“Xavier Rice was a beast today,” Dindl said.
Rather than punt from its own end zone with a seven-point lead, the Falcons coaching staff opted to take a safety and kick off from its own 20 with a five-point lead.
The Colonials advanced to the Connellsville 26 but faced a fourth and seven as the clock ticked under two minutes. Jamison faked a handoff and zipped around the right side for the go-ahead score.
“A lot of mistakes, a lot of mental mistakes, guys running wrong routes, the line blocking the wrong guys,” McLean said in assessing his team’s performance. “Defense, the exact same thing. They run that triple option well but we had guys on every player and that last play there, all of our guys went to the dive and they pulled it. That’s what won them the game.”
“That’s just the triple option for you,” Dindl said. “Any of those three guys could touch it at any time. Bronx is getting better each week with all this game experience. He’s only a sophomore. I keep asking big things of him and he just keeps answering the bell. I just love watching him grow.
“It was fourth and seven and he called his own number and not only got us the first down but the touchdown.”
Dindl deflected credit for his team’s landmark win over the Falcons.
“This is the coaches, this is the players, that’s all on them,” Dindl said. “They did everything to prepare themselves this week. Jeff (Rush) and Danny Moore, all those guys had a great defensive game plan and the kids executed everything. They’re the ones that won this game today.”
Dindl commended the Connellsville coaching staff.
“I love Jace and all those guys over there,” Dindl said. “I think they’re doing good things with that team. I have a good relationship with those guys.
“This is what we wanted when we went independant, games like this, crowds like this, and that’s what we got tonight.”