Johnson's new position leads to winning TD
Sep. 15—DANVILLE — How often had Aaron Johnson lined up at quarterback, and ran the Wildcat for the Danville Ironmen?
"Tonight," Danville coach Carl Majer said. "It was something we decided to do, and he came through."
After taking a quick two-touchdown lead in the first quarter, the Ironmen found themselves trailing late in the fourth quarter, and its offense sputtering after starting quarterback Madden Patrick left with an injury in the third quarter.
Johnson took over on the final offensive drive, running six times, the last time for the game-winning 32-yard TD run with 1:58 left, and Bo Sheptock picked off a pass with a minute left to seal Danville's 28-25 victory in a rematch of last year's District 4 Class 3A title game.
Patrick, who had two touchdown passes in the first quarter to give him 17 in four games, was sacked for a 10-yard loss by Loyalsock's Isaiah West, and left with a leg injury on the first play after the Lancers drew within 21-13.
Danville went three-and-out on its next possession after stopping a Lancers drive on fourth down. Loyalsock took over on the Danville 40, and drove to the Danville 15. The Lancers' Chris Cooley gave Loyalsock (2-2 overall, 0-1 HAC-II) a 22-21 lead with a 32-yard field goal, but the Ironmen roughed the kicker.
Loyalsock opted to take the points off the board, and take the first-and-goal at the Danville 7. After a loss on first down, and an incomplete pass, quarterback Tyler Gee threaded a bullet between two defenders to Jamaire Harden for a 10-yard TD. The two-point play was unsuccessful as the Lancers took a 25-21 lead with 4:39 left in the game.
Danville went from its spread offense to an I-formation with Patrick out, but Johnson — who had five grabs for 98 yards and a score as a receiver — lined up in the shotgun as the quarterback.
"We've never done it before. It's just something we felt we needed to try," Johnson said. "It was just to try and see if we could end up with something that could get us the win."
Johnson converted a third-and-eight with his legs on a 26-yard run up the left sideline, and his 32-yard go-ahead touchdown run came on a third-and-four. Garrett Hoffman's extra-point kick made it 28-25 with 1:58 left in the game.
However, the Ironmen (4-0 overall, 2-0 HAC-II) weren't out of the woods yet. Danville got called for a little shove of the quarterback after a screen pass, and the 15-yard roughing the passer penalty put the ball on the Danville 39. After an incomplete pass, Sheptock stepped in front of a ball in the middle of the field for the game-clinching interception.
It looked like Danville would run away with this one quickly. Gee fumbled the ball away on the opening possession of the game, and Danville took advantage with a 46-yard TD drive. Danville converted a fourth-and-seven when Patrick found Johnson for a 28-yard TD with 8:07 left in the game.
Then after a Loyalsock punt, the Ironmen covered 93 yards in nine plays capped by Cole Duffy's five-yard TD catch for a 14-0 lead with 3:36 left in the first quarter.
The game remained that way until the Lancers offense got untracked, covering 81 yards in 13 plays. Gee ran 17 yards for a touchdown on a read-option keeper to cut the lead to 14-7 with 1:30 left in the game.
It didn't take Danville long to answer, needing just three plays to cover 60 yards after recovering a Loyalsock onside kick. Two passes — the second one to Johnson covering 43 yards, set up Patrick's 6-yard TD run with 39.2 left in the first half for a 21-7 lead.
However, we weren't done yet. Jaylen Andrews returned the kick 61 yards to the Danville 29, and a Gee threw an incomplete pass that stopped the clock with .8 seconds left in the second quarter. He was able to hit Harden for a 20-yard score with no time left in the first half. Cameron Kiersch blocked the PAT to make the halftime score 21-13.
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DANVILLE 28, LOYALSOCK 25
Loyalsock (2-2);0;13;6;6 — 25
Danville (4-0);14;7;0;7 — 28
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
D-Aaron Johnson 28 pass from Madden Patrick (Garrett Hoffman kick)
D-Cole Duffy 5 pass from Patrick (Hoffman kick)
Second quarter
L-Tyler Gee 17 run (Chris Cooley kick)
L-Patrick 6 run (Johnson kick)
Loy-Jamire Harden 20 pass from Gee (kick blocked)
Third quarter
L-Logan Bastian 4 run (pass failed)
Fourth quarter
L-Harden 10 pass from Gee (pass failed)
D-Johnson 32 run (Hoffman kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
;L;Dan
First downs;22;14
Rushes-net yards;39-121;29-189
Passing yards;188;179
Passing;20-38-1;14-25-1
Fumbles-lost;2-1;1-1
Penalties-yards;0-0;8-84
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Loyalsock: Tyler Gee 18-58, TD; Logan Bastian 9-31, TD; Dolan Harman 7-20; Jamaire Harden 4-12; Will Burdett 1-0; Danville: Bo Sheptock 13-98; Aaron Johnson 8-93, TD; Madden Patrick 6-4, TD; team, 2-(-6).
PASSING — Loyalsock: Gee 20-38-1 for 186, 2 TDs; Danville: Patrick 14-25-1 for 170 yards, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING — Loyalsock: Harden, 9-75, 2 TDs; Jaylen Andrews 5-40; Bastian 2-24; Danny Dowell 1-21; LJ Lee 1-16; Burdett 2-10. Danville: Johnson 5-98, TD; Carter Raup, 4-34; Cameron Kiersch 3-20; Sheptock 1-13; Cole Duffy, 1-5, TD.
