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ALEXANDRIA -- If Friday night's ICC matchup between Juniata Valley and Meyersdale is any indication, both teams look ready to face a playoff game next week.
In the closing minutes, Meyersdale had one last shot to take control of the game for good, but it was the Green Hornet defense who delivered the knockout punch.
On the game deciding play, defensive lineman Trenton Norris off the edge rushed Red Raider quarterback Ryder Reese's pass to thwart a comeback attempt as Juniata Valley hung on for the 29-27 triumph at A.R. Simkins Memorial Field.
"It was just a clear shot to the quarterback," Norris said. "Eyes were so wide going to the quarterback. He made the throw, the throw was off, and the crowd went crazy, and I knew that was the last play of the game."
Sequence of the game: Going into the half, Meyersdale muffed a punt which Juniata Valley recovered, the Hornets turned that into an Andrew Clark touchdown to take the lead at the half. After the Red Raiders answered with a touchdown of their own, a botched hold was followed up by another Green Hornet touchdown by Clark from 58 yards out and they converted a second two-point conversion as Green Hornet quarterback Liam Lightner connected with Gavin Smith for the second time on 2-point attempt.
Player of the game: Hornet running back Andrew Clark had a monster game once again on the ground racking up 155 yards on 26 carries with two touchdowns.
Unsung hero: Norris
Sines of a great effort: Meyersdale running back Caleb Sines gave the Red Raiders every chance at a victory as he racked up a staggering 218 yards on 23 carries, and scored two touchdowns of 60 yards or more.
Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser on the decision to go for two in the third: "We also knew that they had a pretty good kicker, and we tried to build the points as we could. We saw that we had an opportunity with the play we had called, and we took advantage of it.''
Meyersdale coach Ryan Donaldson: "Offensively, the run game was there. A little too late based on the outcome at the very end. Defensively, the first half, it was tough against a good team, a good running back (Andrew Clark). We did buckle down, we got tough, we made a play when we had to. Just making too many mistakes (early in the game).''
Notable: Juniata Valley committed just two penalties for 20 yards while Meyersdale didn't record any. ... Both teams were separated by a combined 42 yards of total offense and four first downs, both stats the Red Raiders held the advantage in. ... The Green Hornet defense forced the Red Raiders into two turnovers on downs -- one in each half.
Records: Meyersdale (6-4), Juniata Valley (7-3)
Next week: Meyersdale will open the District 5 Class 1A playoffs and Juniata Valley will be entering the District 6 Class 1A postseason when it visits
Moshannon Valley.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Meyersdale 0 14 6 6 -- 26
Juniata Valley 6 15 8 0 -- 29
First Quarter
JV–Lightner 49 run (kick failed), 9:26.
Second Quarter
M--Whitfield 5 run (Fisher kick), 5:55.
JV--Glenny 40 pass from Lightner (Smith pass from Lightner), 3:12.
M--Sines 76 run (Fisher kick), 2:13.
JV--Clark 1 run (Rodkey kick), :00.
Third Quarter
M--Sines 64 run (run failed), 10:32.
JV--Clark 58 run (Smith pass from Lightner), 10:14.
Fourth Quarter
M--Sines 4 run (Fisher kick), 11:23.
TEAM STATISTICS M JV
First downs 17 13
Total yards 369 327
Rushes-yards 44-339 30-218
Yards passing 30 109
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 4-8-0 7-11-1
Punts-avg. 1-23 2-39.5
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 0-0 2-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Meyersdale, Sines 23-218, Whitfield 13-69, Reese 7-59, Paulman 1-3. Juniata Valley, Clark 26-155, Lightner 3-69, Harker 0-(-5), TEAM 1-(-1).
PASSING--Meyersdale, Reese 4-8-0-30. Juniata Valley, Lightner 7-11-1-109.
RECEIVING--Meyersdale, Vogt 2-25, Sines 1-1, Steinburg 1-4. Juniata Valley, Glenny 4-61, Norris 1-24, Smith 1-5, Norris 1-19.