Carroll can’t rein in Danville’s Riley, fall in PIAA 3A football quarterfinals
Archbishop Carroll’s surprise appearance in the PIAA Class 3A tournament ended Saturday afternoon at Danville Area High School.
The Patriots, District 12’s state qualifier after Neumann-Goretti forfeited its spot due to a COVID-19 outbreak, suffered a 42-21 loss to District 4 champion Ironmen.
Danville scored on the opening drive of the game when quarterback KJ Riley connected with Jagger Dressler for an 11-yard touchdown. Carroll’s do-everything senior, Nick Lamey, intercepted Riley to thwart Danville’s next threat, then found tight end Darryl Simpson on a screen pass for a 25-yard touchdown. A missed extra-point attempt kept Danville in front, 7-6.
Carson Persing was the recipient of Riley’s second scoring pass, an 11-yard connection, with 11 minutes to go before halftime. Danville went ahead by two TDs later in the quarter when Riley found Hayden Winn for a nine-yard score to make it 21-6. Persing caught Riley’s fourth TD throw with three minutes to go before halftime.
Despite the large deficit, Carroll didn’t go down quietly. Brennan Robinson ran in s four-yard touchdown and Lamey scored a two-point conversion to cut Danville’s lead to 28-14 with 55 seconds left before intermission.
Danville’s high-octane offense kept coming in the second half. Persing took a screen pass and darted 34 yards to paydirt to extend the Ironmen’s lead to 35-14 with 3:15 left in the third quarter. In the fourth, Zach Gordon’s scoring run made it 42-14. Robinson salvaged a final touchdown for Carroll, scoring from a yard out to cap a 10-play drive with a minute to play.
Danville won its first inter-district state playoff game in program history. Riley finished with 259 yards and five touchdowns through the air.
Carroll (2-3) was making its first appearance in a PIAA tournament and was coming off a 34-28 first-round win over New Hope-Solebury. The Patriots are scheduled to play Cardinal O’Hara in a Catholic League crossover game on Thanksgiving Eve.
