Last-minute kick return TD lifts CR South over Norristown

WEST NORRITON >> Jason Powel blamed himself.

But there was not really anything to feel badly about, other than the final score.

Norristown High’s football team had just emptied the tank Saturday afternoon, scoring 25 fourth-quarter points to pull ahead of heavily favored Council Rock South with 50 seconds on the clock, and a raucous Homecoming crowd was on the verge of delirium.

Then Powel made the decision to kick deep to the Golden Hawks.

It turned out to be the wrong choice.

South’s Kyle Hickey, who had run roughshod over the Eagles defense from scrimmage all day, found one more way to run over them.

Hickey ran back the kick 90 yards for a touchdown with 38 seconds left, and the Hawks had an unbelievable 49-45 win in a contest that probably should have been over early in the fourth quarter.

But on a day when Eagles quarterback Desmond Gorski threw for 424 yards and seven touchcdowns and both Rashon Wiggins and Diamonte Willis went over 100 yards in receiving, the game came down to a kick return.

And the Eagles wound up being on the short end of the stick.

“This is like the twister of emotions,” Powel said. “When these guys play with emotion they can play with anybody.

“But I’ll take the hit for the decision to kick the ball at the end. It’s probably something that will haunt me forever.”

Early on, it seemed the only thing Powel was going to regret was shortening the Homecoming game due to a 35-point deficit.

The Hawks came out and dominated the first half with their power running game, with Hickey and fullback Michael Stock taking turns gouging the Norristown defense.

The visitors led, 14-0, with 2:00 left in the opening quarter, and carried a 21-7 lead into halftime.

And when Hickey broke off a 56-yard touchdown run on the opening snap of the third quarter, Rock had a three-touchdown lead.

But the Eagles weren’t in the mood to pack up and go home.

Gorski found Khalif Sinclair on quick slant just two plays from scrimmage later, and Norristown was back within two scores.

South took advantage of a strip-sack to gain possession on the Norristown 19, then scored five plays later when Stock bulled in from the 2-yard line to reinstate the three-touchdown lead.

But the Eagles were in damn-the-torpedos mode, and roared right back, pulling within 35-20 following a 7-yard, Gorski-to-Davenport screen pass.

And Norristown was just getting started.

“Today, Coach had talked about coming out with more emotion,” Gorski said, “and starting in the second quarter we had more fire — and it turned the whole game around.”

“We started working as a team and trusting each other,” Willis added. “And we played with more emotion.”

The fourth quarter was a blur.

Hickey broke off a 44-yard touchdown run just two plays in, and Rock was up, 42-20.

Things appeared even more dire when the Eagles went three-and-out on the ensuing possession.

But then their fortunes began to turn.

South lost a fumble one play into its next series, and when Norristown’s Lamont Sanford covered it, the Eagles were back in business.

Gorski found Derik Cross all alone on the very next play, and one 29-yard touchdown pass later, the Eagles were within 42-26.

Wiggins pounced on an onside kick at the South 41, and Gorski completed three passes, the final one a 30-yard touchdown pass to Willis.

And Norristown was within, 42-32, with 8:07 left.

The Eagles defense forced another punt and Gorski and Co. went right back to work. With 5:03 left and starting from his own 19-yard line, Gorski quickly hit Willis for 43 yards, then two plays later threw one up for Wiggins, who outleaped his defender, tipped the ball in the air, and came down with it at the South nine-yard line.

Two plays later, Gorski hit Willis on a slant, and it was 42-38 with 4:08 left.

A pair of penalties cost South dearly at the outset of its next possession, and the Eagles forced a punt when Wiggins yanked down Hickey for a 3-yard loss on third-and-eight.

Norristown was called for holding on the ensuing punt return and had to start from the South 49.

But that didn’t bother Gorski, who hit Cross for 12 yards, Davenport for 13 more and fired a dart to Willis from 15 yards out to put the Eagles on top, 45-42 with 50 seconds to play.

And then came the decision Powel would regret.

Hickey got past the initial wave of Eagles tacklers quickly and didn’t stop running until the Hawks were in front to stay.

The South sideline went about six kinds of crazy, and when Hickey (of course) intercepted Gorski’s final Hail Mary at the Rock 18, the game was finally over.

“We went into the game looking to run the ball, but we planned on spreading them out at some point and taking advantage of our athletes,” Gorski said. “That’s what we did, we just came up a little short.”

FOOT NOTES >> Norristown will likely find out Wednesday whether or not it will receive a forfeit win over William Tennent. The Eagles lost to the Panthers on October 23 at Tennent, but the Panthers were playing with an ineligible player, a freshman who had started the season with the varsity, but had gone back down to play on the ninth-grade team during the season. “We’re waiting for the PIAA ruling on that,” Powel said. “Once you call a freshman up at the beginning of the season he can’t go back down, and this player had gone back down to play. Tennent sent us a letter, turning themselves in. So we’ll see what the ruling is, probably by Wednesday.” … Norristown’s Diavante Lloyd, who began the season as the Eagles’ starting quarterback, was thought to be out for the season after tearing an ACL in Norristown’s second game vs. Plymouth Whitemarsh. But it turns out the diagnosis was incorrect, the ligament was not torn and Lloyd could return to the lineup before season’s end.