Week 9: Annville-Cleona drops a heartbreaker; Elco inches closer to playoff berth

Trailing by one point with 3.4 seconds to go, Annville-Cleona sent out kicker Mina Elzek to try a 38-yard field goal to win the game and clinch a share of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 championship on a rain-soaked senior night.

Unfortunately for the Little Dutchmen, Elzek's kick sailed wide left and instead Schuylkill Valley celebrated the 14-13 victory and share of the Section 5 championship.

"I'm very proud of how they battled," Annville-Cleona coach Matt Gingrich said. "I'm very proud of them for their effort. I'm very proud of our kicker for making a good kick on the ball after not kicking much all night."

"What I told them was that literally this (one point) is the difference," Gingrich continued. "Over the winter during wrestling season when you cut out a set; remember this game. In basketball season, when you're not lifting, remember that. In the summer when you decide that you're tired because you stayed up and played video games all night - that's the difference."

Annville-Cleona (6-3 overall, 5-1 L-L Section 5) began the final drive of the game on their own 5-yard line after stopping the Panthers on fourth down. The Little Dutchmen drive was aided by three Schuylkill Valley (8-1 overall, 6-0 L-L Section 5) penalties -- roughing the passer, pass interference and a personal foul.

The last penalty put Annville-Cleona inside the 25-yard line, which set the stage for the game-winning attempt. The Panthers had taken the lead on the first play of the second half when Dominic Guiffre took the hand-off 59 yards for a touchdown.

The Little Dutchmen fell behind 7-0 early before rallying to take a 13-7 lead at the half on the back of seniors Cael Harter and Cam Connelly, as they scored on runs of 6 yards and 1 yard, respectively. Schuylkill Valley scored on the opening drive of the game as Logan Nawrocki hit Luke Martinez for a 15-yard touchdown on a pass to the right flat.

"I don't like senior night," Gingrich said about being punched in the face early on. "To stand out here for 30 extra minutes and then try to start a game. I've never had a senior night start well. ... But we knew they were going to punch us. ... But we've been very tough all year so that's kinda what our expectation is. I expected nothing less than to battle back."

Harter led the Annville-Cleona offensive attack, carrying the ball 21 times for 111 yards and a touchdown. The Little Dutchmen as a team carried the ball 56 times for 223 yards. The Panthers were led by Giuffre, who ran the ball 15 times for 138 yards and also caught four passes for 48 yards.

Annville-Cleona will travel to rival Northern Lebanon in Week 10 while Schuylkill Valley will travel to Lancaster Catholic.

Key play

With Schuylkill Valley leading 14-13 late in the third quarter, an Annville-Cleona punt pinned the Panthers at their own 3-yard line. On the first play of that drive, Giuffre took the handoff and appeared to be stopped before leaving his own end zone. The officials determined he was down at the 1-yard line and did not award the safety to the Little Dutchmen.

Postseason: Lebanon County runners clock two top-five finishes at league championships

By the numbers

Schuylkill Valley quarterback Nawrocki completed 5-of-5 passes for 69 yards in the opening drive but after that, Annville-Cleona held him to 5-of-11 passing for 53 yards.

Unsung heroes

Little Dutchmen lineman Damien Miller played well in the loss. He served up several pancake blocks throughout the game and consistently paved the way for the AC rushing attack.

They said it

"Every week our motto is, 'Starting Saturday morning we suck again,' so we start all over again. ... It's another week with a little sting." - AC coach Matt Gingrich.

Triple threat: This versatile Elco athlete juggles academics, cross country and music

Week 9 scoreboard

Cedar Crest 49, Hempfield 28: The Falcons trailed 14-13 at the half but poured it on late to defeat the Black Knights. Cedar Crest improves to 7-2 overall, 4-2 in L-L Section 1 with the victory.

Fernando Marquez led the Falcons with four touchdown runs on the night, scoring from 2, 36, 6 and 59 yards. Jackson Custer and Alex Abreu added rushing scores of their own, and Leo Tirado added a 51-yard pick six.

Elco 12, Donegal 0: The Raiders took one step closer to a District 3 Class 4A playoff berth with a shutout of the Indians.

Steven Rosado and Ellis Gensamer scored on touchdown runs for Elco (6-3 overall, 3-3 L-L Section 4).

Hamburg 41, Northern Lebanon 34: The Hawks outlasted the Vikings in a shootout in Berks County.

Hamburg scored with 21.2 seconds left as freshman running back Blaise Ernst scored from 19-yards out.

Myles Watson led Northern Lebanon with five rushing touchdowns. His longest was a 56-yard scamper in the second quarter.

Warwick 53, Lebanon 6: The Cedars fell to 0-9 overall, 0-6 in L-L Section 2 at the hands of the Warriors.

Malachi Briddell returned a kickoff for a touchdown for Lebanon's only score of the game in the first quarter.

Milton Hershey 41, Palmyra 6: Justin Kaplan scored a 4-yard touchdown for the Cougars lone score as they fell to the Spartans.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Annville-Cleona football falls 14-13 to Schuylkill Valley in Week 9