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Warriors advance to title game

Montoursville coaches did not even know if Dylan Moll could play before Saturday’s District 4 Class AAA semifinal. An elbow injury kept Moll sidedlined last week, but the sophomore cornerback soldiered on Saturday, repeatedly delivering hard hits.

By the fourth quarter Moll really was hurting, but he would not exit. So Cameron Wood did his best to assist Moll and end his night in style.

Wood sacked Lewisburg quarterback Nick Shedleski with 63 seconds remaining Saturday at Memorial Stadium, forcing a fumble that he recovered. Moll then made a tackle as time expired after Lewisburg regained possession with 5.6 seconds left as Montoursville edged the Green Dragons, 21-17 in a hard-fought semifinal.

“Dylan Moll was hurt and nothing was going to keep him off the field. He had that bad elbow and he was sticking people out there,” Montoursville coach J.C. Keefer said. “That’s the type of effort we got from our kids.”

That old-school effort earned Montoursville a fourth district final appearance in five years. A season after going 2-8, the Warriors will play for the championship next Saturday at top-seeded Danville. Hunter Shearer completed 18 of 24 passes for 176 yards, Jaxon Dalena caught eight passes and a stifling defense surrendered just three second-half points as Montoursville (10-2) won its fifth straight game.

Montoursville never trailed, taking 7-0 and 14-7 first-half leads before Lewisburg tied it 14-14 at halftime. Logan Ott’s 3-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter made it 21-14, but Lewisburg tried making its second straight last-minute comeback after using a 90-yard scoring drive to beat Central Columbia last Saturday.

The Dragons (7-5) took over at their 35-yard line with 2:28 remaining and moved to midfield on three plays. That is when Wood delivered the game’s biggest play. Charging in from left side, Wood hit Shedleski a split second before he could throw a pass. In the same sequence, Wood dropped Shedleski and scooped up the fumble. Although Lewisburg ultimately had one last shot at a miracle play on the game’s last play, Wood’s sack really was the dagger and paved the way to Danville.

“We knew what they did last week when they broke Central’s heart and we didn’t want that to happen,” said Wood, who had three tackles for loss. “I just wanted to make a play and help the team win. That’s all I wanted to do so it felt great. They’re so big that you’re not just going to overpower them. I came off the edge and crossed him up and they guy ducked underneath it and I was just going for the ball. I was trying to end it. It felt great just to end the game like that.”

Lewisburg running back Max Moyers capped a fabulous sophomore season, running for a game-high 169 yards and a touchdown while going over 2,000 yards. His 60-yard first-quarter touchdown on a 3rd-and-4 tied the game 7-7 and his 42-yard second-quarter run set up Shedleski’s game-tying 1-yard touchdown. But take away those two plays and Montoursville’s defense allowed just 102 yards on 54 plays.

Montoursville limited Moyers to 38 second-half yards and played well at all three levels to take away the passing game. Linebackers C.J. Signor, Logan Balouris and Connor Morse delivered strong performances, Ryan Keen helped the defensive line thrive and Dalena, Ott, Moll and Jacob Reeder provided lockdown coverage in the secondary. Wood dropped Moyers for a loss on a 3rd-and-3 that forced Lewisburg to settle for Jack Dieffenderfer’s 31-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 21-17 late in the third quarter. Dalena broke up a deep third-down pass on the next series and Signor’s tackle for a two-yard loss forced a punt on a promising early fourth-quarter drive that reached the Warrior 39.

“We just knew we had to play our toughest defense we had all game,” Dalena said. “We had to do whatever we could to stop them. They’re a good team and we just locked down and played good defense.”

“Moyers is ridiculous and I can’t imagine what he’s going to be like in two years. We knew that one guy wasn’t going to bring him down, it was going to take multiple guys,” Wood said. “Other than (those two big runs) our defense played great. We were flying to the ball. We just stayed with it and found a way to win.”

Dalena sparked the offense throughout the first half, catching six of his eight passes during that time. Four of those catches came on Montoursville’s second scoring drive, an 8-play 67-yard series. Dalena capped it with three straight catches as he and Shearer improvised on a broken play, connecting for a 20-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone.

Montoursville needed little time setting an early tone with freshman Rocco Pulizzi returning the opening kickoff 59 yards. That and a facemask penalty set up Montoursville at the Lewisburg 16 and three plays later, Reeder scored from two yards out. Moyers responded with a 60-yard touchdown, but Dalena gave Montoursville the momentum again.

“I have to thank our o-line for the blocking they give us,” Dalena said. “Our backs were pass-blocking great and that helped.”

Draven Doebler made 10 tackles for Lewisburg, going over 100 for a second straight season. He partially blocked Montoursville’s punt, giving Lewisburg one last shot a miracle play in the final seconds from its 38-yard line. Montoursville quickly pressured Shedleski and his short pass to Dylan Farronato was quickly swallowed up as Montoursville earned a second chance at Danville, a team that beat it 52-26 back in Week 7.

“All you can ask for is another opportunity,” Keefer said. “Sitting at 10-2, we’re in the district championship game after a 2-8 season with some great senior leadership and a bunch of young kids out there just having fun playing football. That’s all you ask for as a football coach.”

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