You live by the two-pointer and you die by the two-pointer.
After losing last week on a botched two-point conversion, this
time Brookville gambled and won as the Raiders registered a 15-14
District 9 League victory over the Bradford Owls on a rainy Friday
evening.
The Raiders (2-4, 1-3), failed on a pass-play in the final nine
seconds of a 7-6 loss to Clarion-Limestone a week ago, but their
successful two-point conversion with 3:47 left in the third quarter
proved to be the difference versus the Owls.
“It worked,” said Steve Ackerman, Bradford head coach. “It
worked for them (Raiders) this week.”
Once again, the Owls (2-4, 2-2) were plagued by untimely
penalties and two critical turnovers as their postseason
aspirations are reduced to a win at DuBois in two weeks.
“Same book, different chapter,” Ackerman declared. “Every time
we get something going, we had a turnover or a penalty.”
Bradford did score on its first possession of the game when Josh
Holleran broke two tackles on his way to a 37-yard touchdown run.
Steve Butler drilled the extra point and it was 7-0 Owls with 8:22
left in the first quarter.
“It (touchdown) was a jet sweep,” Ackerman noted. “It was the
same play that we started the third quarter with, but that 50-yard
run was called back because we had a tackle lined up in the
backfield.”
Brookville answered with a 13-play, 75-yard drive that was
capped by a two-yard run from Joe Galbraith. Levi Singleton’s PAT
was good and it was deadlocked at 7-up with 2:22 remaining in the
opening stanza.
The Owls’ next scoring drive was lean and mean and not too far
between after John Lonzi recovered a backward pass at the
Brookville 38 with 3:48 left in the half.
After Taylor O’Brien had a 24-yard carry to the 3, Nick Johnson
crossed the goal line on a six-yard jaunt and Butler’s kick put
Bradford up 14-7 at the half.
“That (fumble recovery) was a big play for us,” Ackerman
recalled. “It put us in a short field so we didn’t have to make a
long drive. We put our goal line package in and Nick Johnson took
it in on the sweep.”
After the teams traded punts to start the third period, the
Raiders’ Matt Berfield scooped up a fumble at the Bradford 29 and
scampered down to the 8.
On a third-and-goal from the 3, Galbraith found a hole up the
middle the semis on I-80 could’ve slipped through and it was 14-13
with 3:47 left in the third.
Galbraith then lined up under center, moved to his right, faked
the pitchout and dove into the end zone for the game-winning
two-pointer.
“We put the ball on the ground and they (Raiders) only had to go
eight yards to get the lead,” Ackerman lamented.
On the Owls’ next possession, O’Brien rumbled from the
Brookville 47 to the 22. Bradford couldn’t advance the chains and
then Butler, out of a Jim Milbrandt hold, saw his 39-yard field
goal attempt fall short and to the right.
Once again, the long-time rivals traded punts as Brookville took
over on its own 25 with 8:12 remaining.
Galbraith earned a first down on a third-and-two with a generous
spot and then Max Kautz applied a back-breaker with a 12-yard gain
right up the gut on a third-and-eight with 3:57 showing.
“Was it a bad spot?” Ackerman asked rhetorically. “Yes, but you
can’t blame the officials for the loss. On the third-and-eight, we
told the kids during that timeout exactly what they (Raiders) were
going to run and they still picked up the first down.”
Brookville finally had to punt and the ball rolled out at the
Bradford 17 with 3:02 left.
The Owls then lost five yards on a reverse pass and then
quarterback Ben Walter was set back another five on a sack by
Justin Smith.
On a third-and-20, Walter’s receiver slipped down on the soggy
grass as Galbraith intercepted the aerial at the 22 and took it
inside the 2 with 1:29 remaining.
With Bradford out of timeouts, quarterback Korey Brownlee took
three kneeldowns and Brookville’s homecoming crowd went home wet
but happy.
