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Last-second field goal lifts Montclair State past Lycoming in football 30-28

By Jon Gerardi 8 min read

Lycoming had the chances and opportunities to come up with a huge defensive stop on Montclair State's final possession. There was a third-and-fourth pass that Lycoming broke up. That play got Lycoming's players and fans more than hyped up and loud as Montclair State’s offense stayed on the field for fourth down.

But on fourth-and-four with the game on the line, Montclair State quarterback Luke Henrich found Ali Lee Jr. for a five-yard pickup and a first down.

Then, five plays later, a penalty drove the Red Hawks back to the 39 with a second-and-18. But again, Henrich came up with a key play, this time a 21-yard pickup for the first down.

Whenever Lycoming had something go its way, Montclair State seemingly responded.

And fans could only sit back and watch as Henrich got the Red Hawks down to the Lycoming 4 with three seconds left.

Brendan McGonigle kicked a 21-yard field goal and gave the Red Hawks a dramatic 30-28 win against Lycoming on Saturday afternoon at David Person Field at Girardi Stadium.

"They really surprised us a little bit by running the ball in passing situations I feel like (on final drive)," Lycoming's Aiden Barlett, a Hughesville graduate, said. "We just have to stop the run, that's really what killed us today. Stop the run and limit deep balls."

That final drive for Montclair State saw the Warriors start on their own 37 and it took the Red Hawks 12 plays in 2:29 to get to the four before kicking the game-winning field goal. The go-ahead kick also was the first time Montclair State since 1:12 was left in the first quarter on the game's first touchdown.

"I think we won three of the four quarters, but that doesn't necessarily mean we played well. Offensively in the first half didn't necessarily capitalize, right? We left points out there on the first drive. Whether it's not converting on the touchdown or not taking the points on the field goal. Defensively, luckily we forced a turnover, but we were not good at stopping the run today," Lycoming coach Mike Clark said.

Montclair State's running game did outstanding as the Red Hawks ran it 44 times for 243 yards. And of those 243, 180 came from Diante Wilson who had 31 carries and found the endzone three times. Henrich also had success passing, throwing for nearly 300 yards as he finished 18 for 29 for 298.

"Bend but don't break is one thing, but I think they wore us down a little bit that way," Clark said. "The special teams play for the most part was OK. Any time you score two special teams touchdowns that's probably a reasonable day, but lets try to score more. Look, it was not our best day or we would have won the football game."

Lycoming went into the half up 14-7, but both touchdowns came by special teams.

After Wilson had a 31-yard touchdown run with 1:12 to play to give the Red Hawks an early 7-0 lead, Lycoming's Barlett returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards to tie the game with 59 seconds left in the first quarter.

And with 6:37 remaining, Lycoming sophomore Evan Woodward got his hand up and blocked a punt, allowing Christon Mitchell-Brown to return the loose ball 20 yards for a touchdown to go into the break up 14-7.

But while the special teams and defense shined early, the offense wasn't able to put up points in the first two quarters as Montclair State kept it close.

In the third quarter, McMonigle kicked a 46-yard field goal with 10:00 to play to cut the deficit to 14-10. Lycoming would respond however on the next possession when Joe Lyons found Terrence Oliver for a 45-yard touchdown down the left-side of the field and put the Warriors ahead by 11 points.

But with 2:35 to go, McGonigle kicked a 37-yard field goal and chipped the deficit to 21-13.

"Listen, they're a big physical group. We aren't the world's biggest group defensively. I don't think we got off the blocks in the RPO game. They had a lot of pull throws to the flat that we're complaining about holding. We have to get off the blocks," Clark said. "You can call holding in every play in football, so we have to be better. They ran the ball again. Any time you run for 243 yards, their No. 7 (Wilson) had 180 yards, right? We've got to better and get off the field, We want to be a team that runs the football and we only ran the football for 119 yards. We threw it better in the second half. But we need more points in the first half. We have to be better."

Lycoming's defense came up big again early in the fourth quarter. After Wilson ran it in for a 3-yard touchdown with 10:39 to play, Montclair State went for a two-point conversion to attempt to tie it. But Lycoming's defense covered the receivers well, not allowing Henrich to convert and stayed ahead, 21-19.

The Warriors' made it a 28-19 lead when Lyons found Loyalsock graduate Brendan Clark for an 8-yard strike with 6:38 to play, making it a two-possession game.

But Montclair State was able to pull off the comeback in those final six and a half minutes.

Wilson had a 1-yard run with 4:17 to play and Christopher Arnold converted a two-point conversion run which made it a 28-27 deficit with 4:15 remaining.

Lycoming got the ball in Red Hawks' territory at the 44, but Lycoming turned it over on a fourth-and-two pass attempt that was broken up, setting the stage for Montclair State's final drive.

Montclair State was just 3 of 11 on third-down conversions, but the Red Hawks were 2 for 2 on fourth-down attempts, including on the final drive to keep it going.

"You just can't do that," Clark said of the third- and fourth-down conversions.

Oliver led Lycoming's ground game by running it 20 times for 80 yards, averaging 4.0 per carry. But the Red Hawks did well limiting Oliver, who's a playmaker who can turn nothing into something big whenever he has the ball. Lyons finished 14 for 27 for 169 passing yards and two touchdowns as Jared Zimmerman had five receptions for 93 yards, Oliver had three for 55, Clark had three for 25 and Wesley Horsman caught two for 14.

Montclair State saw TJ Kachala catch nine passes for 119 yards while Ali Lee Jr. had four catches for 93 yards, Anthony Rogie had two catches for 48 and Khalil Forbes had two for 17.

"They dared us to throw the ball in the first half and we weren't good at it, right? They weren't going to let Terrence beat them, they weren't going to let Brendan Clark beat them. We had to find some ways to be creative and I thought we were much better offensively in the second half," Clark said. "We were up nine points with six, six and a half minutes to go and give them 30 yards of penalties. On a late screen, we have a false start on a play where I'd love those yards too because then they’re never in situation to score and kick at the end of the game."

The loss puts Lycoming at 1-1 early in the season. The Warriors begin a two-game road stint coming up at Dickinson next weekend and Rowan the following before return home to host Catholic on Oct. 3.

Montclair State 30, Lycoming 28

Montclair State 7 0 6 17 -- 30

Lycoming 7 7 7 7 -- 28

First quarter

MS--Diante WIlson 31 run (Brendan McGonigle kick), 1:12.

L--Aiden Barlett 94 kickoff return (V. Granitto kick), 0:59.

Second quarter

L--C. Mitchell-Brown 20 blocked punt return (Granitto kick), 6:37.

Third quarter

MS--McGonigle 46 field goal, 10:00.

L--Joe Lyons 45 pass to Terrence Oliver (Granitto kick), 7:21.

MS--McGonigle 37 field goal, 2:35.

Fourth quarter

MS--Wilson 3 run (pass failed), 10:39.

L--Joe Lyons 8 pass to Brendan Clark (Granitto kick), 6:38.

MS--Wilson 1 run (Christopher Arnold run), 4:17.

MS--McGonigle 21 field goal, 0:00.

TEAM STATISTICS

MS L

First downs 25 17

Rushes-yds 44-243 35-119

Passing yards 298 206

C-A-I 18-29-1 15-28-0

Total yards 541 325

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0

Penalties yards 7-75 8-58

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Montclair State, Diante Wilson 31-175 3 TDs; Luke Henrich 935; Christopher Arnold 2-17;Ali Lee Jr. 2-16. Lycoming, Terrence 20-80; Jacob Lajara 2-17; Spencer Ferguson 4-13; Joe Lyons 6-11.

PASSING--Montclair State, Luke Henrich 18-29-1 298. Lycoming, Joe Lyons 14-27-0 169 2 TDs; Jason Lajara 1-1-0 37.

RECEIVING--Montclair State, TJ Kachala 9-119; Ali Lee Jr. 4-93; Anthony Roige 2-48; Khalil Forbes 2-17. Lycoming, Jared Zimmerman 5-93; Terrence Oliver3-55 TD; Brendan Clark 6-25 TD; Wesley Horsman 2-14.

INTERCEPTIONS--Lycoming, Aiden Barlett 1.

SACKS--Montclair State, Jehu Andrews 1. Lycoming, Mason Woodward 1.

Starting at /week.