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SIDMAN -- In a battle for a home first round playoff game, two District 6 3A teams fought in a game that came down to the very last minute.
The Forest Hills Rangers used a big defensive night to propel themselves to a 22-21 victory over the Central Dragons at G.H. Miller Memorial Field.
After failing the two point conversion to take the lead in the final two minutes, Central recovered an onside kick. Then with a little under a minute on the clock, Chase Williamson intercepted a pass to seal the game for Forest Hills.
Play of the game: Williamson's game-sealing interception with less than a minute remaining.
Player of the game: Williamson finished with seven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown to go with his interception.
Unsung hero: Mason Papinchak ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Most vital statistic: Forest Hills picked off Central three times.
Forest Hills coach Justin Myers: "We've had a lot of ups and downs this year with injuries and things going on," Myers said. "We came back tonight against a great Central team. They were missing their starting quarterback tonight, but the young freshman played a pretty good game himself. Our guys came through in the end and that's what matters."
Central coach Jerry Albright: "We never gave up," Albright said. "No matter what the case was, down by five, down by eight, or up by 10. We still played hard to the very end. We've been doing it all year, but we always come up short in all of these games."
Forest Hills' Chase Williamson: "Getting a big win like this is always gonna get you big momentum," Williamson said. "This is obviously our fourth in a row. We are gonna keep building off of this and see what we can do in the playoffs."
Notable: Freshman Jesse Muthler replaced his injured brother, Eli, at quarterback. He finished with 181 yards and two passing touchdowns.
Records: Central (5-5), Forest Hills (6-4).
Next week: Central travels to Penn Cambria, Forest Hills hosts Tyrone.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central 8 7 0 6 -- 21
Forest Hills 14 6 0 2 -- 22
First Quarter
FH--Williamson 50 pass from Cornell (Carpenter kick), 11:10.
FH--Papinchak 8 run (Carpenter kick), 3:15.
C--Black 1 run (Black pass to Beach), 0:46.
Second Quarter
C--Detterline 15 pass from Muthler (Hummel kick), 3:33.
FH--Papinchak 1 run (attempt failed), :12.
Fourth Quarter
FH--Safety, 11:53.
C--Baird 17 pass from Muthler (attempt failed), 2:03.
TEAM STATISTICS C FH
First downs 8 18
Total yards 229 356
Rushes-yards 12-48 39-142
Yards passing 181 214
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 18-25-3 14-22-1
Punts-avg. 2-30.5 1-52
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-23 7-63
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Central, Beach 8-47, J. Muthler 2-(-2), Black 1-1. Forest Hills, Papinchak 24-121, Mayes 2-6, Cornell 12-6.
PASSING--Central, J. Muthler 18-25-181. Forest Hills, Cornell 14-22-214.
RECEIVING--Central, Mickel 2-46, Baird 4-42, Hoenstine 7-41, Beach 2-27, Detterline 1-15, Klotz 2-11. Forest Hills, Williamson 7-124, Wirfel 3-30, Pramuk 2-23, Papinchak 1-20, McGough 1-14.