Penncrest comeback indicative of progress during season

MIDDLETOWN — Penncrest was looking to end a five-game losing streak Friday night against Harriton and try to show how it’s improved over the course of the season.

Mission accomplished.

The Lions battled back from a 14-point deficit to secure a thrilling 21-14 victory that showcased a lot of reasons why the program is headed in the right direction.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Penncrest coach Ryan Smith, whose team improved to 3-7. “We dug ourselves a hole, we played irresponsibly at times, and we got ourselves in a rut, but they settled in, got over the initial shock of those mishaps, and really started to follow the game plan.”

Things could not have started much worse for Penncrest as a comedy of errors marred the first quarter for the Lions. Penncrest fumbled the opening kickoff and later Rams quarterback Will Brannau hit Nick Tevis for a touchdown pass. They subsequently put another ball on the turf that was returned 48 yards for a score by Harriton’s Max Copley. Mixed in between all of that, the Lions had a handful of hurtful penalties and blown coverages on their way to putting themselves in a deflating 14-0 hole.

But a funny thing happened on the way to building that deficit; Penncrest simply never gave up.

The Lions used a grinding rushing attack led by Brennan Kaut (90 yards), along with some clutch plays from the Cage brothers, David and Jimmy, and a resilient defense to storm back and stun the Rams.

“We knew we had to fight back and we’ll never stop doing that,” said Jimmy Cage, who completed seven of his 11 passes for 102 yards. “We knew we had the momentum when we went into the locker room, we just had to execute.”

Kaut started the comeback with a second quarter touchdown, but David Cage blocked a punt (recovered by Sean Love) and then hauled in a 16-yard scoring pass from Jimmy Cage in the third quarter to knot the game.

For Jimmy Cage, the fun was just starting. With the game tied at 14-14 and both teams showing some defensive prowess, the young quarterback put the game on his shoulders, arm and legs. He also needed the help of a new wrinkle that was just put in the playbook in the middle of the week.

“Honestly, I didn’t think Coach (Rick Larkin) was going to call that play because it’s a two-point play that we just put in two days ago, but it worked out,” Jimmy Cage said. “That’s a good coaching staff that can see the defense and know that the play would work.”

You would have never known it was a recent addition, as the play was executed flawlessly. Jimmy Cage hit Kam Vaughn with a quick pass that the speedy receiver hauled in and raced into the end zone for a 21-14 lead with 1:15 remaining in the game.

“Last week (against Springfield) we got ourselves into a bind and I was little down on myself about how we approached the situation and we knew that we had to add something,” Smith said. “Rick did a nice job of calling the play, and the kids did a good job of executing it.”

While that might have seemed to ice the game, Harriton never stopped fighting. The Rams used a perfectly executed 30-yard double pass from Copley to Matt Krebbs, a penalty, and another passing play to reach the Lions 10-yard line with under 30 seconds to play.

Enter Penncrest linebacker Nick Chelo.

“That kid (Chelo) made a great play where we thought we had a good look, but he just came out of nowhere,” said Harriton coach Justin Mellor, whose team fell to 1-9. “They made a couple of more plays than we did and all those little things add up.”

Smith was happy to see Chelo come up huge on Homecoming/Senior Night with the interception that sealed the victory for the Lions.

“Chelo’s play at the end was the exclamation point,” Smith said.