Commodores’ late comeback stuns Bulldogs
PERRYOPOLIS — Beth-Center bottled up Kenny Fine most of the game and easily won the statistical battle against host Frazier during their Century Conference battle Friday night.
However, the talented Commodore junior made just enough plays, including a huge one on defense, to give his team the edge on the scoreboard, 19-18, when the dust had cleared.
Fine’s 65-yard interception return for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter got Frazier back in the game and his 36-yard reception led to quarterback Brayden Boggs’ 3-yard, game-tying score with 38 seconds left. Tristan Scott booted the crucial extra point to give the Commodores, who trailed 12-0 at halftime and 18-6 early in the fourth quarter, a stunning victory.
“It’s the best feeling in the entire world,” Boggs said of scoring his clutch TD.
“That was crazy,” Fine said. “We had a rough first half, but in the locker room our seniors picked us up. We just kept doing what we were doing and just kept fighting.”
The Bulldogs had the game’s leading rusher (Devin Dingle with 130 yards) and leading passer (Andrew Bower also with 130 yards) in out-gaining Frazier 390-138, but were hurt by Fine and 10 penalties for 96 yards.
“We beat them in every facet of the game,” said B-C coach Joe Kuhns, who watched his injury-ravaged team end the season at 1-9 overall and 0-7 in conference play. “We were more physical than them, we moved the line of scrimmage all night, they couldn’t get a first down. But we found another way to lose. We completely dominated the football game and we come out of here losing.”
Kuhns was irked by the slew of flags that came his team’s way.
“The referees kept them in it in the first half,” he said. “I don’t usually say that, but it should’ve been 30-0 at halftime.”
Beth-Center went up 6-0 on its opening drive, marching 71 yards in five plays with Dingle, playing the final game of his stellar career, breaking free for a 45-yard touchdown run on a direct snap. Fine stopped Nick Martin short on the two-point attempt.
Bower made it 12-0 when he connected with Kamden Studnicki for a 21-yard touchdown pass with 5:09 left in the second quarter. Again the two-point try was foiled as Mathew Kordich stopped Bower.
The Bulldogs threatened again late in the first half but Fine intercepted Bower’s pass in the end zone as time ran out and raced to midfield before Dingle made a touchdown-saving tackle.
After being limited to just three first downs — two by penalty — in the first half, Frazier finally put together a scoring drive to start the third quarter. The Commodores went 50 yards with the final 32 coming on Boggs’ short pass in the flat to Fine, who broke through B-C’s defense for the touchdown. Scott’s extra-point kick was blocked, leaving the hosts down 12-6.
“I hand it to our seniors,” Frazier coach Greg Boggs said. “At halftime is was a matter of the seniors bringing the team together to battle us back. We told them we’re still in this. Then we came out in the second half and Kenny made a big play for us.”
Both defenses dug in at that point, forcing three-and-outs. Beth-Center threatened on its next possession when Aiden Symcheck ran for a 29-yard gain with Fine making a TD-saving tackle at the Frazier 27. The Commodores’ Robert Murphy stalled the drive when he tackled Martin — along with Bower as he handed the ball off — for a six-yard loss.
Austin Schoch them came up with a big play for B-C, recovering a fumble at the Frazier 24 late in the third quarter, which led to Martin’s three-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Bower’s two-point pass was incomplete but B-C had an 18-6 advantage.
The Bulldogs seemed to have the game in hand when Dajion Devers intercepted a Boggs pass and returned it 25 yards to the B-C 39. Three plays later it was Bower’s turn to make a mistake after completing an 11-yard pass to Dingle for a first down at the Frazier 45. On the next play his throw sailed high, into the hands of Fine at the Frazier 35, and he turned it into six points.
“I didn’t expect him to throw it because the receiver wasn’t looking, but he threw it, I caught it, and I saw nothing but green grass,” Fine said. “The next thing I know I was in the end zone. It was like a dream.”
The extra point was foiled by a bobbled snap and Beth-Center still held an 18-12 lead.
The Bulldogs got one first down on a seven-yard run by Dingle but Frazier’s defense forced a turnover on downs with 3:52 left when Bower was stopped one yard short of the first down on a fourth-down scramble to the Commodores 37.
Two plays later Boggs connected with Fine on a pass down the middle to the B-C 22.
“That’s probably the best pass I’ve hit in my life, not accuracy-wise, just feel-wise,” said Boggs said, who completed 8 of 16 passes for 94 yards.
“I told my quarterback to trust me, he threw it up, it was a perfect pass and I was right there,” said Fine, who had five catches for 80 yards.
Boggs picked up eight yards on two runs sandwiched around a four-yard pass to Fine for a first and goal at the B-C 10. After an incomplete pass, Fine ran for seven yards to the three and Boggs scored behind a strong push from his offensive line on the next play.
That left it up to Scott’s leg.
“In those type of situations you really should stay calm,” Scott said. “Everything played out, the snap (by center Nicolas Vitale) was perfect, the hold (by Colton Arison) was perfect and it just kind of worked its way in there.
“It’s a great feeling especially in a rivalry game like this.”
In a last gasp, the Bulldogs threw two incomplete passes — one a long toss to Dingle broken up by Fine — and one completion that led to a lateral parade which, fittingly, Fine ended with a tackle of Martin at the B-C 43.
Frazier, which won three of its last four games after an 0-6 start, ends the season at 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
“We’ve got a lot of young players right now, a lot of sophomores,” coach Boggs said. “It’s great to see these kids grow as the season went on and know that we have a lot to build off of for next year.”
Century Conference
Beth-Center 6-6-0-6 — 18
Frazier 0-0-6-13 — 19
First Quarter
BC: Devin Dingle 45 run (run failed), 9:28
Second Quarter
BC: Kamden Studnicki 21 pass from Andrew Bower (run failed), 5:09
Third Quarter
F: Kenny Fine 32 pass from Brayden Boggs (kick blocked), 9:13
Fourth Quarter
BC: Nick Martin 3 run (pass failed), 11:55
F: Kenny Fine 65 interception return (run failed), 7:25
F: Brayden Boggs 3 run (Tristan Scott kick), 0:38
Records: Beth-Center (0-7, 1-9), Frazier (2-5, 3-7).