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Rollers survive comeback attempt by Muncy to advance. @RollersFootball @EthanGush

Tagged under: District 3, District 4, Gameday Hub, News

| November 7, 2020

the action was hard hitting, Hammonds goes down hard. Pic Legacy Imagez copyright. For more pics visit site.

Trailing 50-27 with just 7:32 left to play, the Muncy Indians took their time and patiently brought the score within 7 points. All they needed was to recover an onside kick for a chance to tie or win.  Steel High recovered the kick and escaped with a 50-43 win to move on in the PIAA Class 1A playoffs. Rollers head coach Andrew Erby wasn’t surprised at how close the game was at the end. “We were really impressed, I thought from years in the past when we played them, I noticed the difference in their size and their athleticism. We knew we would be in somewhat a dogfight but I thought it was good moving forward for our kids to understand that you only get one chance at a Friday or Saturday football game in the playoffs. ”

This game was an exciting game that featured 93 points, over 1,100 yards of offense with plenty of good defensive plays mixed in, six Alex Erby touchdown passes who also threw for 422 yards, 5 touchdown passes from a quarterback named Eyer (Branson 4, Ross 1) 2 interceptions by Ross Eyer, 6 touchdown plays of 35 yards or more and a whole lot of excitement.

A dogfight it was and it started on the first series with the first play of the game. Muncy quarterback Branson Eyer found a wide open Ty Nixen in the middle of the field and he raced 87 yards to put the Indians up by 7 after the kick with just a few seconds off the clock. Steel High struck back just as quickly with a 5 play, 51 yard drive that ended with Damein Hammonds hauling in one of his td passes from Alex Erby, a 33 yard run down the sidelines to tie the game at 7 with 9:06 left to play.

 

The Rollers increased their lead with a 49 yard strike, and again it was Hammonds on the receiving end. But the Indians kept coming.  Following a failed fourth down attempt by Steel High Deep in their own territory, Muncy scored with a 14 yard td pass from Eyer to Ross Eyer, tying the game at 14 and we were still in the first quarter.

Then it seemed like the wheels were about to come off for Muncy.  Steel High ripped off three straight scores.  Hammonds juked and twisted his way in from 22 yards out on one play. Then Erby found  Mehki Flowers who went 55 yards and the final score came after a Muncy fumble gave the Rollers the ball at the Indians 25. Running back Odell Greene scored from 25 yards out to give Steel High a commanding, though it seemed, 36-14 lead just before the break.

 

With Steel High looking like the were about to get another score, Ross Eyer picked off Erby at the three.  During a timeout, Muncy head coach Sean Tetreault gave lashed out at his team, telling the “some of you have given up. This isn’t what we do at Muncy. Either get back in the game or sit on the bench in the second half.”  They must have taken that speech to heart because, following Hammonds 4th td catch of the day started the second half with a bang, the Indians banged back. Eyer took the first snap of the half for Muncy and found Ross Eyer again wide open for a 62 yard score.

 

“It’s good, even though we lost, to show everybody what we’re made of and who we are” said Muncy running back Ethan Gush who finished the day with 157 yards on 20 carries (100 of which came in the first half). Gush was a key to the comeback for Muncy, often pounding Roller would be tacklers with his downhill style of running. Both teams exchanged interceptions, Ross Eyer pulling in his second of the day, and both teams exchanged possessions. However, one possession could have changed the game for Steel High. Hammond took a short pass and ran 70 yards to the end zone but got didn’t finish the run, fumbling the ball out of the endzone. “We’re young and we can’t make those kinds of mistakes” said coach Erby of the play.

Then, with Steel high facing a fourth down, the Indians got the momentum switching stop they needed. Starting on the 50, Gush pounded his way gaining 15 yards on three carries. With the defense looking for another run, Eyer dropped back and found Ross once again for a 35 yard score to close the gap to 43-27 with 21 seconds left in the third.

Steel High responded with an 80 yard drive, capping it with an eight yard td pass from Erby to Tyrone Moore putting the Rollers up 50-27. Then the momentum completely switched. Eli Weikle took the ensuing kick and raced down the sidelines, breaking lose from tackles not once but twice to get to the Roller 8. Gush went in from the 1 then Tristen Ditzler hauled in the 2 point pass play to make it a 50-35 game with just 6:33 left.

Flowers, who left the game in the fourth with a slight ankle injury, knew this wasn’t going to be an easy game. “Watching their film, we knew they are tough, hard hitting team. We just had to do what we do and thankfully we made one more big play than they did.”

The Rollers appeared to be heading for the game clinching score but when they to the 3 and a 42 yard run from Greene, but Gush jumped in front of a floater from Erby and returned it to the 8. Muncy then went on a gutsy, pounding but patient drive to pull within 7. Reaching the Roller 20, a holding penalty and a sack put them back at the 37.  Then coach Tetreault threw in a new look with Ross Eyer lining up at qb and Branson wide right.  It took a bit of a scrambl

e, but Ross found Branson near the endzone and the comeback was nearly complete.

“It was definitely a fun game, the most fun game we played all year” said Sophomore quarterback Branson Eyer, who then ran the 2 point conversion in to make the comeback nearly complete. “Now all we have to do is work hard and make it back here next year.”

Steel High moves on to play Old Forge next week.  Muncy’s season comes the a 7-3 very respectable end. Don’t be surprised of we see these two teams meeting up again as both have young squads.

Gallery Legacy Imagez

Box score from Special Contributor

Muncy            7-7-13-16 – 43
Steel-High     14-22-7-7 – 50
First quarter
M-Ty Nixon 87 pass from Branson Eyer (Loudon Boring kick), 10:58

SH-Damein Hammonds 33 pass from Alex Erby (Bryan Hernandez kick), 9:06

SH-Hammonds 59 pass from Erby (Hernandez kick), 5:06

Second quarter
M-Ross Eyer 14 pass from B. Eyer (Boring kick), 11:09

SH-Hammonds 22 pass from Erby (Hernandez kick), 10:19
SH-Mehki Flowers 55 pass from Erby (Daivin Pryor run), 4:48

SH-Odell Greene 25 run (Hernandez kick), 4:31

Third quarter
SH-Hammonds 23 pass from Erby (Hernandez kick), 10:51

M-R. Eyer 62 pass from B. Eyer (Boring kick), 10:32

M-R. Eyer 35 pass from B. Eyer (kick failed), :21

Fourth quarter
SH-Tyrone Moore 8 pass from Erby (Hernandez kick), 7:32

M-Ethan Gush 1 run (Gage Wertz pass from Boring), 6:33

M-B. Eyer 37 pass from R. Eyer (B. Eyer run), :35

Team statistics         M                    SH
First downs                 16                    24
Rush-yards                 42-175            31-233
Passing                       282                  422
Comp-Att-Int             11-18-1           24-35-3
Fumbles-lost              1-1                  2-1
Punts-Avg.                  5-34.4             0-0
Penalties-lost             2-32                6-45

Individual statistics

RUSHING: Muncy, Ethan Gush 20-157, Branson Eyer 9-13, Ty Nixon 6-4, Eli Weikle 1-1; Steel-High, Odell Greene 24-240, Mehki Flowers 1-6, Taeyon Bratton 3-2, Team 1-0, Alex Erby 2-(minus-15).

PASSING: Muncy, Branson Eyer 10-16-1—245, Ross Eyer 1-2-0—37; Steel-High, Alex Erby 24-35-3—422.

RECEIVING: Muncy, Ross Eyer 5-143, Ty Nixon 1-87, Branson Eyer 1-37, Chase Crawley 3-11, Gage Wertz 1-4; Steel-High, Damein Hammonds 10-260, Mehki Flowers 7-129, Tyrone Moore 4-37, Daivin Pryor 1-(minus-2), Odell Green 2-(minus-2).

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