Gettysburg’s Michael Heeschen is playing football for the first time, but the senior has been the starting goalkeeper for the Warriors’ boys’ soccer team since he was a freshman. So he’s seen his share of big games and big moments.
Friday, Heeschen drilled a 20-yard field goal with 13 seconds to go to give the Warriors a 24-21 victory against Conrad Weiser Friday night at Warrior Stadium in Gettysburg.
“Mike has a great demeanor,” Gettysburg head coach Matt Heiser said. “He doesn’t shrink in the big moment one bit, and you can see it in his face.
“I have all the confidence in the world to send him out there with the game on the line.”
Gettysburg (7-1) found itself in position to win the game after a 9-yard punt by the Scouts set the Warriors up at the Conrad Weiser 36-yard line with 41 seconds remaining.
The first play for the Warriors was a 32-yard pass from Jake Myers to Lane Sherman, then Sherman took a handoff and centered the ball for Heeschen’s winner.
“My heart was pounding as I walked out on the field, I was so nervous,” Heeschen said. “One of the guys said to me, ‘It’s an extra point,’ and I just kept thinking that the whole time.”
The Warriors had a chance to break the tie a few minutes earlier but a fumble at the Scout 1-yard line saw those hopes dashed as a drive that went 68 yards yielded no points.
Conrad Weiser (5-3) had an opportunity before that as it drove inside the Warrior 10-yard line only to fumble at the Gettysburg 6 with almost ten minutes left. That drive was kept alive by a pair of Gettysburg penalties that negated a pair of missed field goals. The first miss was from 44 yards, but an offsides call made it a 39-yarder. That was also off the mark, but a penalty for running into the kicker gave the Scouts a first down at the Gettysburg 17.
“Gettysburg is a tough, aggressive team that rallies to the ball well,” Conrad Weiser head coach Al Moyer said. “It’s hard to win a game against a quality opponent like that with turnovers.”
Early on, Alex Guilbe had staked the visitors to a 14-0 lead with a pair of first-quarter touchdowns. The first was on a 6-yard pass from Tyler Hoss with 5:56 left, then a 10-yard scoring run with 3:47 to go.
Kobe Wansel got the Warriors on the board when he snared a 13-yard touchdown toss from Myers in the front left corner of the end zone with 10:58 left in the second quarter. After a Scout punt gave Gettysburg possession at its own 31, Myers threw a bomb to Wansel, and he hauled it in down the right sideline for a 69-yard touchdown and a 14-14 contest with 7:32 to play until the break. On the play, Wansel got behind his defender, while Myers hung tough in the pocket, getting crushed just as he released the pass.
Conrad Weiser answered with a 9-play, 85-yard march that yielded a touchdown when Hoss hooked up with Chase Ober for a 30-yard pass with 2:49 to play until halftime.
Gettysburg tied the score with 2:52 to play in the third quarter when Myers found Jordan Turner on a tight end screen for a 12-yard touchdown.
“We had to start executing our offense when we fell behind and get the ball down the field,” Sherman said. “We didn’t really change anything or make any adjustments. We just found hearts tonight and refused to lose.”
Sherman finished the night with 79 yards rushing and 82 yards receiving on 18 total touches.
“Lane has a big heart, and he wants to do well,” Heiser said. “He made a couple of great plays tonight for us.”
Guilbe led the way for the Scouts with 135 yards rushing on 23 carries.
