Jershey Shore loses heartbreaker

Tagged under: District 3, District 6, News

Pa Football News | October 20, 2018

Kael Gardner zeros in on the tipped ball

Written by Tristen Klinefelter

With just 13 seconds left in the game, Bald Eagle on their own 19-yard line wasn’t going to give up. Quarterback Jaden Jones got the snap rolled right and let the ball go. To the amazement of everyone in the area, the ball was deflected off two different Bald Eagle receivers right into senior Kael Gardners hands for a 19-yard touchdown with just 4.7 seconds left to go giving the Eagles a 24-23 final victory win over Jersey Shore. This 19-yard game-winning touchdown was just a small portion of Jones’s 265-yards passing on the day. Senior Nick Turner was Jones’s leading receiver, catching 11 passes for 180 yards and two scores. Unfortunately for Bald Eagle the week before they lost two of their best players for the year. I asked head coach Jesse Nagle how much of a leader Turner is to his team and he said: ” Nick is a senior leader, he didn’t get to play much his sophomore year but we realized how special of a player we have”. This was very important in tonight’s game as he changed momentum for the Eagle’s offense.

The game started with a huge punt giving the Eagles the ball deep on their own 6-yard line. The Eagles drove the ball out to the 13-yard line with the help of a penalty and on 3rd and 16, Jaden Jones found senior Blake Roberts for a huge gain of 30 yards. A few plays later from the Eagles 45, Nick Turner took a screen 45-yards to the house giving the Eagles a 6-0 lead with 5:02 in the first quarter. The rest of the first quarter was a back and field battle with field position. Jersey Shore punted the ball deep in Bald Eagle territory several times. The second quarter started slowly up until Jersey Shore kicker Cameron Griffin nailed a 33-yard field goal with 7:50 to go in the half making the score 6-3 Eagles. They didn’t wait to answer on offense either. With 4:44 left to go in the half Josh Malicky took the ball from 6-yards out to give the Jersey Shore Bulldogs their first lead of the night. The kick was good making it 10-6 Bulldogs. However, Bald Eagle didn’t take long to respond. Just two plays later Jones found Turner for their second TD connection of the night off of a screen that Turner turned into a 50-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good making the score 12-10 Eagles. The next possession the Eagles were backed up in their own end once again. This time Jersey Shore took advantage in a big way. Defensive Lineman Seth Ingraham led the rush and sacked Jones causing a turnover in the end zone which resulted in a Bulldog recovery for a touchdown. This was a huge swing in momentum as there was only 2:06 left to go in the half. The kick was no good making the halftime score 16-12 Bulldogs.

The second half included some of the most intense moments possibly of the year. The third quarter included 2 turnovers by the Eagles and a quiet crowd. The second half scoring came with 6:51 to go in the fourth quarter as Bulldogs quarterback Tanner Larson found receiver Koby Peacock for a 2-yard touchdown. The score was now 23-12 Bulldogs. The Bulldogs forced another turnover by the Eagles and that seemed to be the dagger. But, The Eagles did not give up. They got the ball with a little over two minutes in the game with a two score difference. The Eagles drove down the field and with the ball at the Eagles 37-yard line Jones found Turner once again for a huge 36-yard gain down to the 1-yard line. Two plays later Jones snuck the ball in with 1:42 to go in the fourth quarter. The Eagles attempted an onside kick but did retain possession even though an Eagles player came up with the ball on the

bottom of the pile. The Eagles defense held the Bulldogs heavy run attack, however. And on fourth down the punt was muffed and the kicker was dropped at the 19-yard line. This was a huge boost for the Eagles and everyone was on their feet. At this moment Jaden Jones took the snap rolled to the right and let the ball sore into the end zone. The Eagles used a classic practice technique in the tip drill to bounce it twice for senior Kael Gardner to corral in the end zone. The Eagles came back from a deficit of 23-12 to take the lead 24-23 with just 4.7 seconds left to play. The Eagles kicked the ball away and held them for one down to improve to an 8-1 record on the year. Jersey shore drops to 4-5 on the year.