Valiant effort: Colonials fall short in tough battle with Allegany, 26-14
YORK RUN – Allegany came into Thursday night’s non-conference football game at Albert Gallatin with an 0-3 record.
Colonials coach Drew Dindl wasn’t fooled, however.
“I know their record doesn’t show it but this is a really good team,” Dindl said of the Campers, who fought off a valiant effort by AG to earn their first victory, 26-14, in front of a surprisingly large crowd.
“They’re probably one of the top small schools in the state of Maryland. They’re going to end up with a good record and in the playoffs and they’re going to do some damage when they get there.”
Dindl wasn’t wrong in his assessment of the Campers (1-3). Their three losses came against teams with a combined 10-1 record.
In a clash of strong running squads, Jackson Resh had 27 carries for 129 yards and three touchdowns and Khiante Bible added 13 attempts for 101 yards as Allegany ran the ball 52 times for 247 yards and rebounded from an early 7-0 deficit.
Campers quarterback Sebastian Stewart completed all three of his passes – two of them for first downs – for 31 yards and also ran for a score.
Caleb DeHaven led the way for Albert Gallatin (3-3) with 21 carries for a game-high 136 yards and a touchdown and Adam Pegg followed with 11 attempts for 86 yards and a score as the Colonials ran the ball 37 times for 263 yards. Quarterback Bronx Jamison completed one of his two passes for 25 yards to Tee Guesman.
The Colonials did most of their damage on the outside against an Allegany defense with a notable size advantage in the trenches.
“They’re just so big and physical up front, we had a hard time getting inside,” Dindl said. “We did have some luck getting outside and they eventually changed (their defense) so we went to our heavier packages and kind of had success with that at the end of the game.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight. I’m super proud of my guys. They played a really good team tonight and fought till the end. I told them I’m very, very proud to be their coach tonight.”
Albert Gallatin struck first with a five-play, 77-yard drive highlighted by runs of 38 and 40 yards by DeHaven, the second of which went for a touchdown with 2:19 left in the first quarter. Sam Evans added the first of his two extra-point kicks to make it 7-0.
Allegany answered with two touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 14-7 halftime lead.
The first came on a 12-play drive covering 74 yards that Resh ended with a 2-yard run. The second was an eight-play, 63-yard drive, helped out immensely by a 15-yard personal foul penalty against AG that wiped out what would’ve been a third-and-15 situation. Stewart capped the march with a 1-yard plunge. Trevin Cox added both extra points.
The Campers upped their lead to 20-7 in the third quarter with a nine-play, 65-yard drive, also helped out by a 15-yard penalty against the Colonials. Resh finished it off with a 5-yard run at the 7:25 mark.
Albert Gallatin seemed to get back in the game when Pegg broke an apparent 75-yard touchdown run on its next possession but a holding call negated the play.
“A couple penalties here and there … we just shoot ourselves in the foot sometimes at some very key moments,” Dindl said. “Anytime you get a big play like that and then you see that laundry on the field it’s frustrating. I’ll give our kids credit. They could’ve easily folded up right there but they didn’t. Even after that happened it didn’t stop them, they kept fighting.”
Albert Gallatin’s defense dug in and stopped the Campers on a fourth-and-2 play late in the third quarter when Jeremiah Darnell and Luke Wilson combined to tackle Gresh a yard short of the sticks to give the Colonials the ball at their own 28.
Down two scores, the Colonials went for it on fourth and 9 at their own 34 early in the fourth quarter all fell short, but their defense got the ball back two plays later when CJ Colgan recovered an Allegany fumble at the AG 14.
The Colonals then drove 86 yards out of a single wing formation with Pegg breaking a 39-yard touchdown run to pull the hosts within 20-14 with 7:25 remaining.
“When things aren’t going our way we just give a little change-up and got some momentum going,” Dindl said of the offensive change.
The Campers responded with a game-clinching 14-play 74-yard drive that Gresh capped with a 1-yard dive, leaving just 1:03 on the clock. Allegany converted a fourth and 2 from the AG 37 when Gresh broke a 15-yard run.
It was senior night and Dindl commended the school for helping with the date switch and his players.
“Thanks to Christy Wolfe, Joyce Umbel and the administration, AD Coach (Duane) Dupont, they did a nice job with all the chaos we went through to get this moved to Thursday and have us still be able to pull senior night off,” Dindl said. “Hats off to them.”
The Colonials honored seniors DeHaven, Wilson, Darnell, Xavier Rice, Josh Jenkins, Nasir Moore, Jason Myers, Matthew Gaborko and Kyle Dranbauer before the game.
“This is another group I’ve had for all four years,” Dindl said. “They’re special. I’ve grown great relationships with them. They do a lot for us with their leadership and keeping everything going and helping build this program back to where we need it to be to be successful down the road.
“They’re part of it and I’m going to miss them when they’re gone, I know that.”
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