Harrisburg was not celebrating yet, but the Cougars appeared to have Central Dauphin beat with five minutes remaining on a glorious fall Saturday afternoon at Severance Field.
A two-fold mistake by Harrisburg second-year coach Calvin Everett and quarterback Kyle Cook opened the door for the defending PIAA Class AAAA champion Rams.
Once the Cougars opened the door, Central Dauphin came barreling through and rallied for a thrilling and improbable 24-21 Mid-Penn Commonwealth overtime victory in a game the Rams trailed 21-7 with less than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
“We knew this was going to be a war all week. Coach preached all week we just had to find a way,” said Central Dauphin senior Drew Scales, who was at the center of the Rams’ comeback storm. “We battled hard and we battled back and came up with the win. But boy was it hard.”
Nothing came easy on this day, as these two state ranked clubs went back-and-forth in a brutally physical game.
“When we came out for the coin flip in overtime one of their guys said this was the 12th round of the fight,” said Central Dauphin linebacker Zayd Issah. “And that’s exactly what it was like out there.”
Five minutes to play the Cougars have the ball at their own 26 facing second-and-7 with a 21-7 lead.
Everett calls for a short pass — a play the Cougars had run all day with great success.
Only this time Cook, who threw for 190 yards and touchdown, floated the ball after scrambling and Scales stepped in front of the pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown with 4:37 to play.
“That mistake will never happen again. I should have run the ball and used the clock. That was my mistake and I take responsibility for that call,” said Everett, whose club outgained CD 494-211 in total yards.
“Kyle played phenomenal and should have not been put in that position. That was my fault and the fault of the coaching staff for putting him in that position.”
What happened on the ensuing kickoff was just bizarre.
Central Dauphin (6-1, 4-0) kicked off and the Cougars’ Robert Martin just stood and watched the ball roll. Martin was a one-man wrecking ball for Harrisburg on both sides of the ball. He had 257 yards of total offense with two touchdowns and spent the day making big hits and play from his linebacker position.
But on the kickoff he froze and never picked up the ball.
The Rams recovered at the Harrisburg 3-yard line, and one play later Scales scored for the second time in 10 seconds to make it 21-21 with 4:27 to play.
“Today our team really showed its resilience, heart and togetherness— three things we work really hard at. I’m so proud of our kids for displaying that on such a big stage,” Central Dauphin coach Glen McNamee said. “Drew Scales is so competitive, I know I say that every game. But he showed that today.”
Scales wasn’t done, either.
After the teams traded punts, Harrisburg had one last gasp at snatching a richly earned victory on the final play of the game.
From the Rams’ 38, Cook let fly to the right corner of the end zone for Jalen Kent — who for a couple seconds appeared open. But Scales came flying across and knocked the perfectly thrown ball away at the last second.
“It was close. I actually should have played that a lot better,” Scales said. “I got caught, saw the ball in the air and just broke on it as fast as I could to break it up.”
One more time Scales vaulted himself to the center of the stage and came up with a big play.
After Harrisburg (5-2, 3-1) stalled in the first overtime, the Cougars set up for a 25-yard field goal attempt by Mekhi Hicks only to see Scales block the kick.
The Rams took no chances and Casey Hartzell kicked the winning field goal on third down that set off a wild celebration.
Harrisburg used big plays offensively and stellar defense to build that 21-7 lead. Martin had a 97-yard run in the second quarter to give the Cougars a 7-0 halftime lead.
After the Rams squared the contest on a 5-yard touchdown run by Scales, who carried a warrior-like 33 times for 145 yards, midway through the third Harrisburg answered with a screen from Cook to Martin that went for 75 yards.
Jalen Williams’ 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter came on the heels of a series of three turnovers by the two teams in the span of play early. Combined the Rams and Cougars turned the ball over nine times. But it wasn’t sloppy football by any means.
“Somtimes turnovers are the case of sloppiness. Today it was a hard hitting game between two teams with a very strong desire to win. And in that case mistakes are going to be forced,” McNamee said. “I love the way our kids came back today. But I also have a lot of respect for what Harrisburg and coach Everett are doing. I hope we don’t see that team again.”
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