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CUMBERLAND, Md. -- All you can ask for on the road in a hostile environment in the wind and rain against a three-time defending state champion is to have a chance to win in the fourth quarter.
Hollidaysburg had just that on Friday night, but botched snaps and yellow laundry meant the Golden Tigers couldn't get out of their own way as they fell, 28-14, to Fort Hill at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
Play of the game: Fort Hill defensive back Braelyn Younger intercepted a pass at the goal line with 2:21 to play on third-and-goal from the 6-yard-line. A Hollidaysburg touchdown and point-after try would have made it a 28-21 game with two timeouts remaining and potentially an onside kick coming up.
Player of the game: Younger's interception at the goal line was his second of the night. His first came on Hollidaysburg's second play of the third quarter trailing 14-0. Fort Hill scored five plays later to make it 20-0 after the Golden Tigers blocked the PAT.
Unsung hero: Hollidaysburg's Mitchell Baronner carried the ball 16 times for 105 yards and secured the rock on a night that brought rain from kickoff to the final whistle.
Most vital statistic: Fort Hill went for it four times on fourth down, converting three of them. The first two came on the Sentinels' opening drive, which ended in a touchdown with one second remaining in the first. The drive spanned nine minutes and 35 seconds on 16 plays covering 80 yards.
Fort Hill head coach Zack Alkire on Hollidaysburg's defense: "They were blitzing, and there wasn't a whole lot of consistency to it. It was like Tecmo Super Bowl … they guessed the right ones a bunch of times and we guessed the wrong ones a bunch of times. So they did a really good job mixing up their defensive play calls."
Hollidaysburg head coach Homer DeLattre: "A well-played game by both teams. I think there was two really good football teams out there tonight. We had a few mistakes offensively to kill our drives. That hurt us … just too many mistakes to beat a high-class team like that."
Notable: The Golden Tigers struggled to get things going through the air, finishing 5 of 16 for 83 yards and two interceptions. ... Of the 15 penalties the teams combined for, nine of them were for double-digit yardage -- it would have been 10 in double digits but a 15-yard penalty inside the 20 made it half the distance to the goal. Hollidaysburg was flagged eight times for 78 yards and Fort Hill was penalized seven times for 70 yards. ... Hollidaysburg had four fumbles as a result of faulty snaps, but lost none of them. ... Ryan Morningstar was part of a gaggle of Golden Tigers in on a punt block, as Morningstar fell on the blocked punt in the end zone for their first score. ... Gavin Bell's spectacular 9-yard touchdown catch in the fourth was outdone only by Brady Steiner's 27-yard grab late in the game where the senior wideout fought off a Fort Hill defensive back that was flagged for defensive pass interference. ... Fort Hill's Jabril Daniels carried the ball 28 times for 147 yards and over 60% of the Sentinels' rushing yards. ... Fort Hill had the edge in total offense, 304-216.
Records: Hollidaysburg (5-1); Fort Hill (3-1)
Next week: Hollidaysburg hosts Jersey Shore. Fort Hill hosts Briar Woods (Va.).
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Hollidaysburg 0 0 7 7 -- 14
Fort Hill 7 7 7 7 -- 28
First Quarter
FH--Daniels 7 run (Brauer kick), :01
Second Quarter
FH--Ross 52 run (Brauer kick), 7:16
Third Quarter
FH--Ranker 28 pass from Cassell (kick blocked), 6:08
H--Morningstar 0 punt return (Wedel kick), 1:33
Fourth Quarter
FH--Daniels 46 run (Twigg pass from Bender), 11:11
H--Bell 9 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 5:07
TEAM STATISTICS H FH
First downs 14 15
Total yards 216 304
Rushes-yards 31-133 44-242
Yards passing 83 62
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 5-17-2 4-6-0
Fumbles-lost 4-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-78 7-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Hollidaysburg, Baronner 16-105, Muth 4-20, Bainey 10-16, Bell 1-(-8); Fort Hill, Daniels 28-147, Ross 9-89, Bender 7-6.
PASSING--Hollidaysburg, Bainey 5-16-83-2, DeLattre 0-1-0-0; Fort Hill, Cassell 4-6-62-0.
RECEIVING--Hollidaysburg, B. Steiner 2-51, Mullin 1-15, Bell 1-9, DeLattre 1-8; Fort Hill, Ranker 1-28, Babo 1-20, Daniels 1-12, Bender 1-2.