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Senior night is traditionally the last home game for graduating seniors, whether they're on the football team, cheer squad or marching band. It's one last time to play at home in front of not only the fans, but family and friends.
The bad news for the Williamsport Millionaires on Friday night was they lost theirs, 14-11 to the Hazleton Cougars in a steady rain in a game that also decided the Wyoming Valley Conference large school title.
Only about 700 tickets were sold, thanks to the weather, and by the end of the game only the most loyal and hardy of those family, friends, and fans remained.
The good news for Williamsport (5-5) is the loss means another home game. Even though the Millionaires' lost their chance to earn a bye, they will host Altoona next weekend in the first round of the District 4-6 Class 6A playoffs. That winner will meet State College, which beat Altoona Friday night, 21-7, to earn the bye in this three-team field.
Bad breaks compounded by mistakes helped dig Williamsport a 14-0 hole Friday night, before Frankie Morrone and Nasir Hennigan tried to rally.
"We couldn’t capitalize," said Williamsport coach Chuck Crews. "We shut them down effectively in the second half, but not consistently. We have them short fields, they flipped them and ate us up. Kudos to them, they earned it."
Hazleton (7-3) scored first when Williamsport punter Connor Poole was called down when his knee touched the ground fielding a low snap. That gave the Cougars the ball on the Williamsport 13, and Tyler Wolfe threw a 6-yard touchdown to Matthew Buchman four plays later.
Buchman returned a Lajear Whaley fumble 8 yards on the next possession. The Cougars first tried to score on a field goal, but Santino White fumbled away the return on his blocked field goal return and Hazleton kept possession, albeit back near midfield. A Nariq Burks sack of Wolfe set up a third-and-20, which Hazleton converted with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Connor Shamany over double coverage.
Poole kicked a 33-yard field goal two possessions later, but Hazleton blocked his 34-yard try to end the first half.
Crews replaced George Whaley with Frankie Morrone at quarterback in the second half, saying it was to let Whaley continue to make plays on defense, and Morrone responded with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jamaire Harden at the goal-line pylon. Nasir Hennigan ran in the two-pointer to cut the deficit to 14-11, but Williamsport punted on its final two possessions of the game.
Hazleton ended the game with a 10-play drive going 85 yards before kneeling out the clock, thanks to a 29-yard pass from Wolfe to Connor Kundrat and a 21-yard run by Wolfe to the Williamsport 7 on a fourth-and-2.
"Our defense, it's what our program stands for," said Hazleton coach Dennis Buchman. "When we got hired two years ago, we knew we had to be more physical and tonight, to win 14-11 at a very good opponent's place, the defense has to travel and it was a tremendous performance."
The Millionaires had hoped for a league title and a bye, but instead they'll turn their attention to Altoona, a historical rivalry they've somewhat rekindled lately with two meetings in the last three years, including last year in a D6 playoff game Altoona won.
"We'll see the triple, and you have to stop it," said Crews. "It's the devil you know. We have to play (Altoona and State College) both now. At least, that's our goal, to play them both."