OT penalty leads to heartbreaking loss for Upper Darby against Garnet Valley

CONCORD — Jake Morin scored three touchdowns for Garnet Valley Friday night. He compiled 208 yards of offense. And yet, for about 10 seconds, he felt sick to his stomach for letting his team down.

That’s because, on what Morin thought was the last play of the game, he lost coverage on Upper Darby’s James Tuayemie for a would-be, game-winning two-point conversion in overtime.

“I peeked in at the quarterback for a split second and I just lost him,” Morin said. “I felt horrible. My teammates came right over and were picking me up and telling me it was all right. I never saw the flag.”

Ah, the flag. That one yellow hankie with a few ounces of sand wrapped by a rubber band was enough to change the outcome of what was arguably the best football game in Delaware County this season.

The flag. That piece of football equipment that muted a euphoric celebration for the Royals and changed it into something completely different for the Jaguars.

“It was a relief,” Morin said after Garnet Valley escaped with a 42-41 overtime thriller of a victory.

Maybe it was only appropriate that the game would end so dramatically. Or maybe, as UD coach Rich Gentile put it, the referees have just had it in for his team in what happens to be his final season.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Garnet Valley because they played a great game and (Jaguars coach) Mike Ricci is a great coach and I’m going to miss playing against him, but on the field, we won the game,” Gentile, who is in his walk-away season with the Royals, said. “An emotion call from (the side judge), I don’t know why it is, but if you go back over the season, every time we have something good happen for us, there’s a flag on the field.

“In my 27 years as a head coach and 38 years coaching this game, I’ve never said that, but it’s getting a little bit ridiculous. These kids are crushed. They played their (butts) off. It’s very difficult as a football player when you lose a game and you know that it wasn’t you that lost the game.”

The game was a cornucopia of great plays from both sides. The first half was eye candy for every spectator in the stadium as the two teams traded one big play after another. The second half was a slobber-knocker, as defense took over with turnovers, big hits, and huge tackles.

When the dust settled, the game was tied and overtime was needed. Garnet Valley (7-1, 7-0) scored first and Upper Darby (3-5, 3-3) needed to answer.

This is when a series of unfortunate events cost the Royals.

First, the Royals ran into Jaguars kicker Bryce Stansfield on the extra point, pushing UD back five yards to start its offensive series from the 15-yard line. Gentile, who pushed all the right buttons with his play-calling all night, tried to get an aggressive Jaguars defense to jump offside on first down, but the Jags stayed disciplined and Gentile had to burn his one time out.

On third down Corey Robinson threw an eight-yard strike to Makhi Mayo, their third touchdown hookup of the night, and rather than kick the extra point to tie, Gentile decided to go for the win.

He called a nifty play, with some misdirection, that led to a pass from Robinson to Tuayemie and set off a victory celebration. But the penalty that was called was for an illegal formation. Although PIAA rules were changed this year that only require five men on the line of scrimmage, Upper Darby appeared to have five players in the backfield, when the rules only allow for four.

The penalty moved the Royals back to the 8-yard line, but rather than kick the extra point for the tie, Gentile went for it again, only this time Robinson’s pass sailed high over Tuayemie’s head, giving the Jags the win.

“It was a phenomenal game,” Ricci said. “I know it’s cliché, but it’s a shame someone had to lose. Rich Gentile is great for high school football. I’ll tell you that a team that doesn’t want to play for its coach wouldn’t have played with the emotion and at the level they played at tonight.”

Morin scored the first three touchdowns of the game for Garnet Valley, a 53-yard run, a 57-yard reception from Ryan Gallagher and an eight-yard run. But Ricci made a curious call to go for it on fourth-and-one from his 14-yard line in the first quarter. It failed, and Upper Darby scored on three-yard run by Kareem McAdams, and they were off and running.

Mayo had touchdown receptions of 42, 35 and eight yards for the Royals while Tuayemie’s two-yard touchdown run put Upper Darby up 35-28 in the third quarter.

However, Greg Reynolds scored the other three touchdowns for Garnet Valley, including a two-yard dive with 1:43 to play to tie the score and a three-yard run in overtime.

“It was an incredible game,” Morin said. “That’s football. That’s the way every game should be played. I’ll be honest, I never wanted to stop playing tonight, but I’ll take the win.”