H.S. Football: Susquenita escapes Juniata with a 20-16 win
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MIFFLINTOWN — Returning home for Week 4, the Juniata football team was looking to pick up win No. 1 after falling to three tough teams in Selinsgrove, West Perry and Middletown.
Friday night, Susquenita made the trip to Klingensmith Stadium sporting a 1-2 record.
This one was not for the faint of heart as the Blackhawks scored with zeros on the clock to steal a win from the Indians. Susquenita took a 20-16 win in dramatic fashion.
"We've been facing adversity all season long, and I wanted the kids to come in here and fight for a win, and that is a heartbreaker," said Juniata coach Kurt Condo. "They (Juniata) certainly showed their resiliency the entire game to go back and forth and bounce back. We certainly had our opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on either, but, you can’t teach effort and the kids, they had effort. That’s a hard one. But, you know, with this sport, you just got to be resilient and bounce back."
Going into the final stanza, the Blackhawks held a 14-10 advantage.
Juniata had the ball with a chance to take back the lead.
With mostly working the ground game, the Indians drove the field after starting on the Susquenita 40.
With long runs from quarterback Jason Condo and Ty Rowles, the Indians marched down for a 3rd and goal at one. From there Condo called his own number, taking it in from their one for the touchdown with 9:07 left.
After forcing Susquenita to punt on their following possession, the Indians ground game again churned out some much needed yardage taking precious minute off the clock.
Juniata punted the ball late in the game, giving Susquenita the ball at the two with 2:26 left.
Susquenita went to its air attack which came alive in the second half as quarterback Kalen Fleisher took his team on a 98-yard drive.
The Juniata defense forced the Blackhawks to numerous fourth down attempts but each time Fleisher came up with the clutch pass. With the game quickly winding down, the Blackhawks stood at the 25 of the Indians with 1.1 seconds left. Fleisher ended the game as he found Hunter Mitchell at the front corner of the end zone where he caught the ball at the buzzer.
Coming into the third quarter, the Blackhawks came out inspired and moved the ball down the field.
Seven plays in, Julian Boyer scampered for a 10-yard run and the AJ Castellucio kick was good cutting the Juniata lead to 10-7 with 7:57 still left in the quarter.
The Blackhawks forced an interception on the Indians next possession, Carter Foose stepped in front of a Juniata receiver taking the ball down to the Juniata 20.
From there Kalen Fleisher found Hunter Mitchell for a 19-yard TD pass with 41.7 ticks left in the third, setting the stage for the thrilling final stanza.
It would be a tale of two halves as the Indians dominated the first while the Blackhawks battled back in the second.
Early on the Juniata offense grinded things out on the ground on its first possession. Starting at their own 40 via an attempted onside kick by Susquenita to start their night with a 17-play drive that took up a majority of the first quarter.
Despite being stopped at the one on a failed fourth down attempt, the Indians made the best out of their situation, handing over the scoring duties to the defense.
On Susquenita's first play from scrimmage the Blackhawks were called with a hold in the end zone resulting in a Juniata safety and the ball back leading 2-0 with 4:38 left in the first.
After exchanges of possessions, Juniata ended the first with the ball and the lead.
The defense made a key play early in the second half when Josh Nace recovered a Blackhawk fumble at the Susquenita 16.
Two plays later Ty Rowles blasted his way into the end zone. The two-point conversion was successful when Jason Condo took it in to up their lead to 10-0. As the two went into the intermission, Juniata out rushed Susquenita 163-33.
Tye Rowles led the rushing statistics with 71 yards in the first half.
But the momentum shift was too much for the Indians to overcome at the buzzer.
Juniata is back at it next Friday against Steel-High at home.
Susquenita 20 , Juniata 16
SU – 0 0 14 6 – 20
JU – 2 8 0 6 – 16
First Quarter
JU – Safety, 4:38
Second Quarter
JU – Ty Rowles 1-yard TD run (2-point conversion good), 7:13
Third Quarter
SU – Julian Boyer 10-yard run (AJ Castellucio kick),7.57.
SU – Kalen Fleisher to Hunter Mitchell 19-yards TD pass (Castellucio kick), 41.7.
Fourth Quarter
JU – Jason Condo 1-yard run (kick failed), 9:07.
TEAM STATISTICS SU JU
First downs 10 16
Total Yards 216 287
Rushes-yards. 22-46 46-251
Yards passing 150 35
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 10-20-0 3-8-1
Fumbles-lost 1 – 1 3-0
Penalties-yards 5 -50 3-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: SU – Hunter Mitchell 2-17, Julian Boyer 10-44, Rex Wilson 3-18, Christian Boyer 1-0, Kalen Fleisher 3 -(-10). JU – Jason Condo 10-62, Colton Hutchinson 8-45, Ty Rowles 26-115, Jeremiah Alonso 1-2.
PASSING: SU -Rex Wilson 3-6 25, Kalen Fleisher 9-14 125. JU – Jason Condo 3-8 35.
RECEIVING : SU – Hunter Mitchell 4-74, Julian Boyer 1-14, Joel McNaughton 5-60, Jake Herrera 1-2. JU – Rowles 1-0, Quentin Houtz 2-35.