Published: September 26, 2009 01:12 am      

Richland stops two-point conversion attempt in overtime to edge Johnstown

JOHNSTOWN — Richland took a wild and unorthodox path to remain unbeaten and make history on Friday night.

The Rams stopped Johnstown’s two-point conversion run attempt in overtime to win 21-20 and beat the Trojans for the first time in nine games since the LHAC teams began playing in 2001.

That statement breaks down the final result in simple terms.

But so much more happened in this battle between the 4-0 Rams and 2-2 Trojans.

“What a game,” Richland coach Brandon Bailey said. “This is why you coach football. This is why you play football.”

Johnstown had the ball for

18 minutes, 1 second of the opening half and posted statistical advantages in first downs (10-1), rushing yards (110-14) and passing yards (41-30). Yet the Trojans only led 6-0 as a result of Kashmir Pretlor’s 8-yard touchdown run at 6:34 of the first quarter.

Pretlor had 32 rushing yards on five first-quarter carries but left with an injury after one run in the second quarter.

The Rams came up with an interception to stop one deep Johnstown drive, and the Trojans misfired on three straight passes to turn over the ball on downs from the Richland 27-yard line late in the first half.

“We had our opportunities,” Johnstown coach Kevin Marabito said. “They’re a good football team. You leave them in the game. ... We left them there and made a couple mistakes in the third quarter. But I’m proud of our kids. They played their hearts out. It was a heck of a football game. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We moved the ball. We did some things. But you’ve got to score points and that’s something we didn’t do.”

Bailey and his staff apparently made the right halftime adjustments.

“We talked about how hard we’ve worked and how far we’ve come,” Bailey said. “We’re in a big-game situation. We haven’t played well and we were only down 6-0 at the half. We were confident we could come out and win the ballgame. We went with an unbalanced line and decided we were going to run the ball at them.

“We challenged our kids. I don’t think we passed for many yards tonight but that doesn’t matter as long as we won the game.”

Richland grabbed the momentum in the third quarter, moving down the field on the first drive before punting. After a Johnstown punt, the Trojans got the ball back on Alkwan Williams’ interception near midfield. But Johnstown lost its starting center to an injury, and Richland quickly capitalized on a high snap to take possession at the Johnstown 34-yard line. Six plays later, quarterback Gino Ramires scrambled in from a yard out. John George’s extra-point made it 7-6 with 1:59 left in the quarter.

Trojans quarterback John Siciliano tried to scoop up another errant snap on the ensuing drive.

But the ball got loose and Richland lineman Tyler Crawford grabbed it and ran two yards for another score that made it 14-6 with 55 seconds on the third-quarter clock.

“We watched a lot of film and we watched the game last week at Westmont,” Bailey said. “We told our kids, which is a little unconventional, ‘When that ball is on the carpet, pick it up and go.’ That’s our philosophy. It’s different than conventional football. If you miss it, it’s probably going to be second-and-20. But if you get it, it’s going to be a game-changing moment. Tyler Crawford made that game change right there.”

Johnstown didn’t buckle.

The Trojans used a 47-yard run by Jordan Jefferson to the Richland 10 to set up Siciliano’s

6-yard touchdown pass to Richard Agurs with 5:04 left in the game. Siciliano ran for the conversion to tie the score.

“That’s the type of kids we have. They played with their hearts,” Marabito said. “We could have packed it in when we were down. They believed they could get it in and they did.”

Richland moved to the Johnstown 14 late, but two plays for negative yardage were followed by Greg Sichak’s 37-yard field goal attempt. Johnstown’s Daveon Simms blocked the kick and Agurs broke free for a 41-yard return before being tackled as time expired.

In overtime, Richland put tackle Crawford at the tight end position and made regular end Jordan Rozich a tackle who also was an eligible receiver. Rozich was alone in the end zone when he caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Ramires. George booted the extra-point to make it 21-14.

“It was a trick play,” Bailey said.

“We snuck an eligible number in at tackle and he threw to the tackle. That’s why he wasn’t covered.”

Siciliano’s 2-yard touchdown run set up the dramatic finish.

After a timeout, the Johnstown quarterback rolled to his right, looked for a receiver, and then took off. He got within a yard of the end zone before a Rams defender stopped him.

“The two-point call at the end, we felt we could get the win,” Marabito said. “Our kicker didn’t kick all week because he was banged up a little bit. We felt we could put it on one person’s shoulders or put it on 11 persons’ shoulders. It just didn’t work out.”