Prep Football: 'Dogs Get It Done
Al Way, a true baseball fan and Harrisburg head football coach, paid homage to the late Yogi Berra Friday night in a "It isn't over till it's over" dramatic 34-30 win over Massac County.
Harrisburg, who trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, stunned the winless Patriots, outscoring Massac County 27-8 to improve to 4-1 on the season and go to 2-0 in the Southern Illinois River-To-River Ohio Division.
Way, emotional following the conclusion, said the back-and-forth affair just provided a gambit of feelings.
"You're upset and you're happy at the same time," he said. "You're so upset because you played so bad for so long that you gave (Massac County) the opportunity to win, but then you're thrilled to death because your kids don't give up on themselves and they make great plays at the end to save the game."
Harrisburg trailed 22-7 after the Patriots (0-5, 0-2) had scored their fourth straight touchdown on a Jay Benard one-yard run with 4:41 to play in the third and looked to have put the game away.
In the town known for Superman, Harrisburg was looking for its own hero.
They found more than one - it was more of an alliance.
First, Aaron Stephens completed a 10-play drive, 49-yard drive when the 5-foot-10, 170-pound running back scored from 15 yards out with 2.9 seconds left in the third.
Then the Harrisburg defense responded, forcing the Patriots to fumble to start the fourth and took over at the Massac County 35 when Tylor Marler punched in his second of three touchdowns on the night from 14 yards out to get Harrisburg to within two at 22-20 with 10:44 to play in the fourth.
The Patriots tried to put some padding between themselves and Harrisburg when Devon Wade broke loose on a 65-yard run down to the five-yard line before Benard scored from four yards up to go up 30-20.
Massac County, who had recovered one onside kick on the night, went for the squib again, coming up unsuccessful and gave Harrisburg good field position at the Patriot 42-yard line where the Bulldogs made them pay.
Harrisburg used about five minutes worth of clock, using a 12-play drive, resulting in a Kane Carrigan three-yard run with 3:48 to play to get Harrisburg to within three at 30-27.
Following the TD, Harrisburg forced Massac County into a three-and-out, but had to go 79 yards for the win.
Noah Vallette and the offense went to work as the senior quarterback hit Corbin-Crim Harbison on a speed out down to the 50 and again hit the 6-3, 175 wide receiver for a gain of 13. Marler then picked up 20 yards, getting Harrisburg down to the 22-yard line. And quite possibly the play of the game was when Vallette, after not being able to find an open receiver, eluded some would-be tacklers, spun off a couple of more and got down to the five yard line with 1:44 to play.
Sixteen seconds later, Marler dove in from five yards out with 1:28 to play to put Harrisburg in front 34-30 and gave the Bulldogs their first lead since Marler scored from 12 yards out with 5:34 to play in the first quarter.
Vallette's run was one of the many big plays that Way knew his team had to come up with time ticking off the clock.
"They're reeling right there and are back on their heels," Way said after Vallette's run. "Tylor ran great tonight. Stephens had a big TD run and Carrigan, in crucial short-yard situations got some big first downs for us. It was a team effort."
Statistically, Marler finished with 168 yards on 23 attempts and three scores, while Stephens had six rushes for 33 yards and a TD and Carrigan had 30 yards on eight carries with a touchdown.
Vallette who passed for 46 yards on 2-of-8 had all of his passes go to Crim-Harbison.
Massac County, who gutted the defensive front of Harrisburg through most of the first half, finished with 239 total yards, 214 of which came on the ground.
Wade had 164 yards on 20 carries and one touchdown, while Malik Miller finished with 50 yards on 13 carries and a pair of TD's.
The two headed monster was something that didn't catch Way off guard, but knew his defense was going to have to shore up any issues in the second half to come away victorious.
"We worked on it all week about trying to get our linebackers to stay home because they are great at cutbacks. Most of their long runs were starting one way, cutting back and going the other. Our linebackers would not stay home and we had no one there. Again, give Massac County some credit, they made some great throws and catches when they had to on third and long when it looks like we had them stopped. Part of the credit has to go to them, but it was like I said before the game, they have two great running backs, I knew that and it scared me to death."
Way called the game "frustrating," but credited his Bulldogs for not quitting.
"We did so many things wrong. I made a terrible call when we tried to pass the ball on a second and long drive and lost big yardage and we didn't score. We don't cover an on-side kick and it just seemed like every time they were third and long, we never made a play, (Masssac County) always got it. We couldn't get our linebackers to stay home. The thing they didn't do was quit. We got the big stop that we had to have, the three-and-out and just made some tremendous plays. We got the ball back and again, we had guys step up. I don't remember every play, but Corbin caught a big pass on a speed out, we ran speed option to Tylor for big yardage. Noah had a big run. We made the plays when we had too.
"You hate to be thinking that you're happy to beat an 0-4 team," Way said. "The alternative is losing to an 0-4 team. Maybe this will wake us up and make us understand there is no time to take off."
Harrisburg now hasn't lost to Massac County since 2009 and hold a six-game win streak over the Patriots.
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter:
@spydieshooter.
Massac County 15 0 7 8 - 30
Harrisburg 7 0 13 14 - 34
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
HBG - Marler 12 yard run (Owen kick), 5:34
MC - Miller 4 yard run (conversion failed), 43.7
Second Quarter
MC - Wade 33 yard run (Wade conversion), 2:00
Third Quarter
MC - Benard 1 yard run (Wade conversion), 4:51
HBG - Stephens two yard run (conversion failed), 2.9
Fourth Quarter
HBG - Marler 14 yard run (Owen kick), 10:44
MC - Benard 4 yard run (Benard conversion) 8:55
HBG - Carrigan 3 yard run (Owen kick), 3:48
HBG - Marler 5 yard run (Owen kick), 1:28
Team Statistics
HBG MC
First Downs 18 10
Rushes-Yards 43-357 39-214
Passing 2-8-0 3-3-0
Passing Yards 46 25
Total Yards 303 239
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: HBG - Marler 23-168, Stephens 6-33, Carrigan 8-30, Vallette 4-13, Crim-Harbison 2-13. MCHS - Wade 20-164, Miller 13-50, Legram 2-5, Benard 4-(-5).
PASSING: HBG - Vallette 2-8-0 46. MCHS- Benard 3-3-0 25.
RECEIVING: HBG - Crim-Harbison 2-46. MCHS - Costello 2-22, Hughes 1-3.