The defense rests……for both teams! Penns Manor vs Homer-Center

Tagged under: District 6, Game Photos, Gameday Hub, News

Greg Ricupero | October 3, 2020

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The Defense rests….for both teams!

By Greg Ricupero Twitter@GregoryRicupero
Friday October 2, 2020
Heritage Conference Game of the Week
Penns Manor Comets @ Homer-Center Wildcats
Last Meeting-9/6/19 Homer-Center 35-7

If you like points, this was the game to see. It took the Wildcats twelve seconds to score as Drew Kochman ran straight down the left sideline 92 yards with the opening kickoff. The Comets would respond with an eight play, 89 yard drive that was capped by a Max Hill one yard touchdown run. Homer-Center blocked the kick and lead at the 9:17 mark seven to six. It took the Wildcats a minute and a half to go 55 yards for the second touchdown. A big pass from Ben Schmidt to Michael Krejocic for 46 yards set up a 4 yard touchdown run by Travis Mock. Homer-Center missed the conversion on a bad snap. It was the only big play HC would make all night thru the air. Just over two minutes later the Comets’s Kevin Baum ran 10 yards for a touchdown and the kick tied the game at 13-13. The touchdown was set up by the games first turnover, a muffed punt return inside the Wildcat ten. The next 13 minutes had a punt , a turnover on downs and an interception by both teams. Ben Schmidt scored his second rushing touchdown of the game and added the point after. Homer-Center lead 20-13 with 4:46 to go in the half. The Comets would take the lead with 21 seconds to go in the half. Conner Keith capped a drive with a short two yard touchdown run. Dimetri Lieb ran for the two point conversion. The teams went to the locker rooms with PM up 21-20.
The Comets received the second half kickoff. PM now made it’s one big passing play for the night. Hill hit Dimetri Lieb for 43 yards. Minutes later Hill scored his second touchdown on a two yard run. Hill then hit Reece Hays for the two and it was 29-20 Comets. It took the Wildcats 52 seconds to strike back as Schmidt raced 41 yards for his second touchdown. Schmidt then hit Travis Mock for two. HC trailed 29-28 with a quarter and a half to go. PM would score again in just over three minutes. The big play was a 56 yard run by Baum. Hill scored his third touchdown and Justin Marshall added the point after to make it 36-28 Comets. The game now swung the Comets way as they would recover the next two kickoffs. The Wildcat kick return which had scored and set their offense up several times , couldn’t fall on either kickoff. Lieb would go 36 yards for a touchdown after the first recovery and Marshall’s extra point would make it 43-28 Comets. The Comets then got to the Wildcat one after the second recovery, but a personal foul moved the ball back. Two plays later Penns Manor suffered it’s only turnover and the ball popped up to HC’s Michael Krejocic who raced 87 yards down the left sideline on the last play of the third quarter. Schmidt added the two and we went to the fourth 43-36 PM in the lead.
The best thing about high school football is how the kids response to different situations. HC could have quit after giving up the two kickoff recoveries and three touchdowns in the quarter. They didn’t and now it was the Comets who had to overcome a fired up Wildcat team. The Comets took the kickoff and drove right down the field. They drove to the HC 25 and on 4th and 1, the Wildcat defense responded by stopping PM inches short. Ben Schmidt immediately took over running like someone possessed. Schmidt would score his third touchdown with 5:23 to go in the game. It as 43-42 Comets. HC coach Greg Page then went for the win but Schmidt was stopped inches short and the Comets held a one point lead. HC only needed to stop the Comets one more time and they had all three timeouts. The last half of the fourth quarter was awesome to watch if you are a Comet fan as they drove the ball down the field again. With about two minutes to go in the game the Comets had another 4th and 1, this time they got the first down. They were then able to run out the clock. Penns Manor stable of backs and their undersized line are a thing of beauty. The linemen are very good and pulling and getting out on their defenders and their backs are excellent at deciding when to cut it up field. The Comets rushed for 465 yards and added 50 thru the air. It was a well deserved victory. The Comets will need to clean up some of their penalties. They had some questionable calls go against them, but were lucky not to get called for too many men on the field several times. This is the third time I have seen them this year and since second half of last week their offense has really picked it up. The Wildcats will need to get their defense figured out. It wasn’t so much the yardage allowed, it was the time of possession. Their high flying offense never seemed to be on the field. Special teams which gave them a 7-0 lead collapsed with the three turnovers and a bad snap on the one conversion. Both teams should have a good chance to make deep runs in the district six playoffs. Good Luck to both teams!

PM 13-8-22-0=43
HC 13-7-16-6=42

HC-Drew Kochman 92 Kick Return XP Ben Schmidt (0-7)
PM-Max Hill 1 run XP Blocked (6-7)
HC-Travis Mock 4 run
PM-Kevin Baum 10 run XP Justin Marshall (13-13)
HC-Schmidt 5 run XP Schmidt (13-20)
PM-Conner Keith 3 run 2pt Dimetri Lieb run (21-20)
PM-Hill 3 run 2pt Hill to Reece Hays (29-20)
HC-Schmidt 41 run 2pt Schmidt to Mock (29-28)
PM-Hill 6 run XP Marshall (36-28)
PM-Lieb 36 run XP Marshall (43-28)
HC-Michael Krejocic 87 fumble return 2pt Schmidt run (43-36)
HC-Schmidt 3 run 2pt run fails (43-42)

Player of the Game- The entire Comets Offensive Line-which allowed Dimetri Lieb to rush for 194 and Kevin Baum for 118.

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