Sabers fall to Mid Valley

BY CONOR FOLEY, Times-Shamrock Writer

Susquehanna succumbed to a persistent Mid Valley offense on Monday afternoon, as the Spartans came back from a halftime deficit to defeat the Sabers, 18-12.

“We did some things – we weren’t in position to make the play when we knew what play they were running – but it was a heck of a football game,” Susquehanna coach Dick Bagnall said. “This is a tough loss against a very good football team.”

Mid Valley sophomore quarterback Martin Walsh connected on six straight passes over the third and fourth quarters, and hit wide out Chris Rebar on a deep pass down the line with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game to lead Mid Valley to an 18-12 victory.

Mid Valley (5-4, 3-1) moved into third place in the District 2 Class AA playoff standings, where four teams qualify. The Spartans finish the regular season at Montrose (0-9, 0-4).

Susquehanna (5-4, 2-2) tumbled to sixth place, and will travel to Old Forge (7-2, 4-0) next week,

With the game tied at 12-12 in the closing minutes of the third quarter, Walsh started his team on a nine-play, 91-yard drive that ended with him finding a streaking Rebar, who had a step on the Susquehanna defender, in stride down the sideline.

Things didn’t go as well for Mid Valley in the first half when Susquehanna’s option offense kept the game clock in the Sabers’ favor.

Susquehanna quarterback Sean Stanley brought his team back from a 6-0 deficit with a pair of fourth-down touchdown passes in the second quarter. Facing a fourth-and-goal on the 6-yard line with seven minutes to go in the half,Stanleyrolled out and fired a strike to Greg Price in a crowd of Mid Valley defenders. Just more than three minutes later, he lofted a fourth-and-5 pass from the 15 that Austin Cowperthwait tipped at the goal line and caught while laying on his back in the end zone.

But Mid Valley managed to solve the Susquehanna offense after the half, just as Walsh and their offense started to gel.

Stanleyfinished the game with 67 passing yards on eight completions.

Antonio Russo added 100 yards on the ground for Mid Valley, while Ron Tomasetti led all receivers with 66 yards on four catches.

Mid Valley      6    0    6    6 – 18

Susquehanna  0   12   0    0 – 12

Team Statistics

                               MV      SUS

First Downs              8          9

Rushing-Yards    32-123  30-108

Comp-Att-Int       9-13-0  8-14-2

Passing Yards         137        67

Total Yards             260      175

Punts-Average      2-22.0  2-17.0

Fumbles-Lost          1-0       1-0

Penalties-Yards      4-16     8-75

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SUS – G. Price 15-49; S. Stanley 8-39; J. Pruitt 6-36; T. Maby 1-1; Team 0-(-17).

Passing: SUS – S. Stanley 8-14-2, 67, 2 TDs.

Receiving: SUS – G. Price 3-25, 1 TD; A. Cowperthwait 2-20, 1 TD; J. Pruitt 1-1; J. Marino 1-8; C. Monks 1-13.