Frightful fourth foils Falcons

BOB ETTINGER
Star Beacon

October 11, 2008 04:02 am

— JEFFERSON — Making plays is good for a football team, but making plays at the right time can be the difference between winning and losing games.
Case in point, after Jefferson scored to get within a point of Gilmour Academy, the Lancers went on to score 20 unanswered points in the final 10 minutes of play to drop the Falcons, 33-12, Friday night at Falcon Pride Stadium.
With 9:56 to in the game, John Namey scored from five yards out to cap a 7-play, 35-yard drive as the Falcons (1-7) moved to within a point at 13-12.
The Jefferson score was set up by a 40-yard kick return by Jesse Tyus. Fifteen more yards were tacked on to the end of the run when Gilmour quarterback Billy Urban was flagged for pushing Tyus on the Lancers’ sideline, taking the ball all the way down to the Gilmour 35.
“That was a great return,” Jefferson coach Jimmy Henson said. “The guys up front gave him a nice hole and he hit it hard and fast. That created a seam. They executed very well there and that gave us a chance.
“I like that when the pushing and shoving started, Jesse kept his cool. That got us the 15 yards. I’m happy he did that.”
Henson elected to go for two and the one-point advantage with the hope his defense would get the ball back and the offense would run out the clock following Namey’s scamper. Namey’s pass fell incomplete and the Falcons trailed by one.
“There were still 10 minutes more to play,” Henson said. “Our kids were fine. We were excited. We were able to respond to (Gilmour’s) score. That’s something we’ve had trouble with this season. We had (the two-point conversion), we just missed it. I don’t think that got our heads down.
“I though t if we did get it and we got the ball back, we’d be able to grind it out on them. At that point, our defense was playing well.”
But Gilmour (7-1) had an answer of its own. The Lancers scored 20 unanswered points over the final 9:56 of play to put away the victory.
“They’re just a disciplined team,” Henson said. “They make plays when it’s time.”
“We were able to run the football and we’re in good condition,” Gilmour coach Bob Spleer said. “We don’t have many kids, but we’re in good condition.”
On the first play from scrimmage following Namey’s score, Ryan Teknipp raced 52 yards on a sweep to the left and the Lancers were up eight, 20-12, with 9:34 left.
“Ryan’s run kind of loosened things up a little bit there,” Spleer said. “That gave us a little bit of room to operate.”
On the ensuing drive, an 8-yard run by Josh Simon had the Falcons sitting pretty at second and two at their own 34. However, after Simon picked up a yard on second down, Namey was stopped for no gain on third down. Simon was then stopped for no gain on fourth down, giving the Lancers the ball at the Jefferson 35 with 7:17 remaining.
“I can’t explain (why couldn’t get it),” Henson said. “Their kids made the plays they had to. We had them off balance all night until that point.”
Tommy Hallal made the Falcons pay with a 10-yard run on a counter to the left to give the Lancers a 26-12 lead with just over three and a half minutes left.
“They’re a good, strong football team,” Henson said. “Their coach did a great job making that call at the right time. They were running that toss sweep all night and we seemed to bite on it a little bit, then they hit us with the counter.”
After sacking Namey at the Jefferson 13 on fourth down, Hallal found the end zone on a 13-yard run to close scoring with a little more than two minutes to play.
Jefferson took it’s only lead of the game on it’s first possession. Josh Simon carried eight times on the drive for 59 yards, setting up a 2-yard plunge by Kyle Hass.
“They came out and put eight men on the line,” Spleer said. “Their kids are hard-hitting, their running back ran hard and their quarterback did a nice job on the option."
Simon went on to record 149 yards on 31 carries.
The Lancers knotted the score at 6-6 with 8:29 to play in the first half on a 63-yard wheel route from Urban to Hallal.
The score remained tied until Urban hit Lou Cangelosi on a short out pattern and Cangelosi broke to for a 21-yard score with 59 seconds left in the third quarter.
“We were given a pretty good challenge tonight,” Spleer said. “The Jefferson players were prepared, they scouted well and we were outcoached at the beginning.”

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