Carter Schenk

SPRING MILLS — Central coach Jerry Albright said all season it has not been an issue of moving the ball, but the problem has been finishing drives for touchdowns.

That was a problem through the first half on Friday at Penns Valley as the Dragons ran twice as many plays as the Rams, but found themselves in a 6-6 tie.

And then Jesse Muthler and Carter Schenk put on a show when Central really needed it the most.

Muthler found Schenk for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 18.5 seconds left in the game to give the Dragons their first lead of the game, which ended with a 26-25 victory for Central’s second win of the season.

“It’s been a struggle, and we keep preaching we have to fight to the end,” Albright said. “We have to have each other’s backs. Good times and downs, good plays and bad. We just have to stick together, and they did that tonight. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Plays of the game: Down 25-20 with 3:16 left in the game, Central took over at its own 13-yard line. Muthler led the Dragons 87 yards in three minutes of time on 13 plays. The Dragons had fourth-and-18 from their own 15, and converted on a prayer to Schenk to keep their their hopes alive. Muthler threw to Schenk four times on the drive, including the game-winner from 8 yards for the win.

Players of the game: In his second game back from injury, Muthler threw for 186 yards and was 17-for-26 for the game. He also split out and caught a touchdown from Schenk in the first half on a fade to tie the game at 6. Muthler would be 1A, while Schenk would be 1B. Schenk threw for a touchdown, ran for one, and caught the final one from Muthler at the end. Schenk ran for 152 yards on 20 carries and caught six passes for 79 yards.

Unsung heroes: Hats off to all of Central’s receivers for the night. Even if you take away Schenk’s six catches for 79 yards, seven other receivers caught 12 passes for 138 yards.

Most vital statistic: Central ran 72 plays on offense to just 43 for Penns Valley.

Albright on Muthler: “He’s unbelievable. He wanted to come back and play. We didn’t think we would have him last week. He said he’d do whatever it takes to get on the field. (On Monday morning last week) he said he wanted to play. It might be on a limited basis, but he said, ‘Whatever it takes for the team to win.'”

Penns Valley coach Martin Tobias: “They made plays, and we didn’t finish.”

Muthler: “It pained me to be on the sidelines. I wanted to be out there for the seniors. It means everything to them, and it means everything to me.

“We needed this one. We just battled our hearts out.”

Notable: Penalties were a common theme for both teams. Central was flagged nine times for 82 yards, while Penns Valley was dinged seven times for 57 yards. … In Penns Valley’s series before Central’s game-winning drive, the Dragons were called for pass interference on third-and-goal from the Central 14. The Penns Valley public address announcer mistakenly announced that the PI resulted in an automatic first down. Defensive pass interference is an automatic first down in college and NFL, but not in high school. It was a half-the-distance penalty for 7 yards, and the Rams turned it over on downs two plays later. … Penns Valley quarterback Carter Ironside was 17-for-27 for 201 yards and three touchdowns.

Records: Central (2-5); Penns Valley (0-7).

Next week: Central travels to Central Cambria, while Penns Valley visits Johnstown on Thursday night.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central 0 6 8 12 — 26

Penns Valley 6 0 19 0 — 25

First Quarter

PV–F. Ironside 46 pass from C. Ironside (kick failed), 6:06

Second Quarter

C–Muthler 23 pass from Schenk (kick blocked), 5:24

Third Quarter

PV–F. Ironside 80 kickoff return (kick failed), 11:45

PV–F. Ironside 26 pass from C. Ironside (run failed), 9:46

C–Schenk 11 run (Schenk run), 5:17

PV–F. Ironside 10 pass from C. Ironside (Althouse kick), 1:42

Fourth Quarter

C–Harbaugh 1 run (run failed), 9:08

C–Schenk 8 pass from Muthler (run failed), :18.5

TEAM STATISTICS C PV

First downs 26 12

Total yards 437 250

Rushes-yards 42-220 16-49

Yards passing 217 201

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 19-30-0 17-27-0

Punts-avg. 2-23 2-32

Fumbles-lost 4-2 0-0

Penalties-yards 9-82 7-57

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Central, Schenk 20-152, Harbaugh 10-52, Musei 8-25, Muthler 4-(-9). Penns Valley, Althouse 2-16, Fetterolf 6-15, Stover 3-11, F. Ironside 3-10, C. Ironside 2-(-3).

PASSING–Central, Muthler 17-26-0-186; Schenk 2-4-0-31. Penns Valley, C. Ironside 17-27-0-201.

RECEIVING–Central, Schenk 6-79, Dickson 3-41, Myers 3-38, Muthler 1-23, Horn 3-15, Harbaugh 1-10, Loucks 1-8, Moushlian 1-3. Penns Valley, F. Ironside 6-98, Althouse 5-38, Reed 2-31, Fetterolf 2-18, Coursen 2-16.