The Greatest Games I Ever Saw (Part 13 – A Touchdown Differential)
Tagged under: News, The Greatest Games Ever Played in PA High School Football History
Phil Myers | June 23, 2023
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(Note: This is a multi-part series of weekly articles that will appear every Friday through June regarding all of Pennsylvania’s greatest games I’ve seen from the 1970s through 2022. All of these game recaps are from my memory, my notes, and some research which included newspaper articles from the Courier-Express, the Trib-Review, the Altoona Mirror, and the Patriot News. Since I am a staff of one, time did not permit me to look up every player I witnessed to see where they went to college and if they played in the NFL. So, obviously I may have missed a few and for that I apologize. There are also some great games I saw that may have eluded my memory and notes over the years which I regret.)
Redbank Valley 21 Northern Bedford 14 – There couldn’t have been more drama on a snowy night in Clarion at the University’s Memorial Stadium where the chilly winter-like air was a witness to a fantastic football game that had fans on the edge of their seats right up to the final few seconds. It was Friday November 26, 2021. Surprisingly, both teams were well-represented by their respective fan base considering the weather conditions.
Redbank Valley in the dark uniforms, and Northern Bedford in white.
Eion Snider’s quarterback sneak put NBC on the board first on their opening drive of the game. Any momentum the Panthers had was squelched when Brenden ‘Boo’ Schreckengost returned the kickoff 80 yards to tie the game at 7. That was all the offense RBV could muster in the first half. Midway through the second Snider scored on another sneak to put the Black Panthers up 14-7. It stayed that way to the intermission even though Northern Bedford was knocking on the door at the Bulldog 15 when the horn sounded to end the half. On their second possession of the third quarter, Redbank’s Gunner Mangiantini hit Chris Marshall for a 31-yard TD toss to tie the game at 14. Then, on the first play of the last quarter, Shreckengost, the 5’3” 135 lb. senior, broke through the line, shed a couple of tackles, spun away from another, and outran everyone else for what proved to be the game-winning score. The touchdown run covered 47 yards.
Immediately following the score that put Redbank up 21-14, the Panthers drove to the Bulldog 14 where Marquese Gardlock came up with his second interception of the game to thwart Northern Bedford’s possible game-tying drive. The next Black Panther possession was their last. They marched downfield to the Redbank 13-yard line. Facing a 4th down and nine, Snider found his receiver near the two with a perfect pass, but as he hauled in the pass and approached the goal line, he was blasted by RBV’s Chris Marshall who dislodged the ball for an incomplete pass. As Redbank celebrated, a flag was thrown and a penalty for targeting was marked off 7 yards or half the distance to the goal. The penalty gave No. Bedford another attempt to make a first down, but this time they only needed two yards. The Bulldog defense made the stop of the year when they stuffed the Panther running play for a loss, which gave Redbank the 21-14 come from behind win.
Redbank stunned Bishop Canevin in the semis, but lost to Bishop Guilfoyle in the finals by the same score as this game, 21-14.
Bishop Guilfoyle 28 South Williamsport 21 – On a cool and rainy Friday night at Mansell Stadium in DuBois, the Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders defeated the South Williamsport Mountaineers 28-21 in the much-anticipated Eastern PIAA Class A final. This December 5, 2014 match-up featured Pennsylvania’s all-time single season rushing and touchdown leader in the Mounties’ Dominick Bragalone against one of the best defenses in the state and a not too shabby offense as well in Bishop Gulifoyle. The Marauder defense came up big by forcing three turnovers and holding the Mounties, who averaged 51 points a game coming into the contest, to 21 points. But Bragalone added to his prolific totals by rushing for 351 yards on 42 carries and scoring all three touchdowns for South Williamsport.
Dom Bragalone (in white) is off to the races. The chasers for Guilfoyle are #40 DJ Kitt and #28 Evan Chadbourn. Photo from WNEP.
Guilfoyle’s quarterback, Brandon Chadbourn, ran 30 yards for the game’s first score to put the Marauders up 7-0. Chadbourn ended up with 140 yards rushing for the game. That was the only opening quarter tally. Bragalone ran 28 yards early in the second to tie the game. BG answered right back with a 65-yard drive to take a 14-7 lead. South Williamsport then drove to the Marauder 43 where they faced a fourth and five. Little did anyone know, but the next play was maybe the biggest play of the game. The Mountie quarterback dropped back to pass and rolled to his right, lofting a short pass to an open receiver. But it didn’t get there as Aaron Yasulitis, one of BG’s linebackers, leaped high into the air and with one hand gathered in the pass, then went 53 yards for the pick six to make it 21-7 with 2:05 left in the half.
Yasulitis (bottom left in purple) makes the interception for BG and subsequently returns it for a TD.
South Williamsport stopped Guilfoyle at the Mountie 8 on the opening third quarter drive. Then they drove 92 yards to cut BG’s lead to 21-14. Bragalone gained 90 of those yards including the last 31 on a nice run for the TD. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Chadbourn showed his speed by going 37 yards to cap a 66-yard drive. Now Guilfoyle was back up by two scores 28-14. But the game was far from over. On the third play of the Mounties’ next series, Bragalone ran 64 yards to pull S.W. within striking distance again. Down 28-21 the Mounties needed a stop. And they got it. A short kick gave So. Williamsport the ball at their 45. On the first play Bragalone went 9 yards, but fumbled and Chadbourn recovered for the BG Marauders. The Mountaineer defense did their job again forcing another Guilfoyle punt. With a little over two minutes to play on a fourth and four, the Bishop Guilfoyle defense stuffed Bragalone at the Mountie 48 for a yard loss. And that was the game as BG ran out the clock. Bishop Guilfoyle defeated Clairton in an instant classic the next week to win its first state title.
Seven Marauders and 5 Mountaineers made 1st or 2nd team all-state. Bragalone ran for 4,704 yards in 2014 scoring 64 touchdowns. He is the career rushing yardage and rushing TD leader at Lehigh University. Tyler Schonewolf (So. Williamsport) played center & right guard at Columbia. Chadbourn, Sam McCloskey, Luke Frederick, Andrew Irwin, and Andrew Berger of BG all played in college. In a bit of irony, McCloskey was teammates at Lehigh with Bragalone. He was a DB.
Altoona 28 North Allegheny 21 – It was to be a rebuilding year for Altoona as they lost many starters from the prior year’s 8-3 squad. NA was coming off an 11-1 season in which they lost to Gateway in overtime in the WPIAL playoffs. On paper this appeared to be a mismatch. But on a warm Friday night August 29, 2008 at Mansion Park in Altoona, the Mountain Lions had a bit more of a bite than the Tigers did. Altoona was smaller than the big bad Tigers, but wound up with one of their most impressive wins in several years. NA coach Art Walker Jr. tipped his hat to Coach Phil Riccio and his team saying they were ready to go and we weren’t. North Allegheny outgained the Lions 227 to 129, but Altoona took advantage early before the Tigers could adjust.
The Mountain Lions jumped off to a 14-0 lead in the first on a Cory Becker quarterback sneak and his 24-yard pass to Jordan Novosel. After the second score, NA’s Brian Austin returned the kickoff 98 yards to cut Altoona’s lead in half. North Allegheny tied the game in the second when Austin threw a TD to Mike Locke. Altoona went back up 21-14 when Becker threw his second touchdown pass of the game, this time to Chris Corper. NA tied it for a second time with just under two minutes left in the half on a Grant Huckestein run.
Grant Huckestein scores for the North Allegheny Tigers. Photo by NA Sports Network.
Both offenses struggled in the second half. There was no scoring in the third quarter. In fact, it looked as though the game would go into overtime. North Allegheny had the ball in their own end of the field with 1:50 remaining. Locke attempted a short pass that was picked off by Altoona’s Tyler Wentz who returned it 20 some yards for the score and the win, 28-21. But the game wasn’t over yet. NA drove 56 yards, on five straight completions to the Altoona 10 with 24 seconds left. However, a bad snap led to Altoona recovering the loose ball which ended the game. NA was the preseason 4th ranked team in District 7 (WPIAL).
Altoona’s Nick Soto played nose guard at Edinboro. NA players Ryan Schlieper, Mike Vuono, Ben Balzer, Kurt Devlin, and Grant Huckstein played college ball. Schlieper was an OG at Pitt, Vuono on the OL at Lehigh, Balzer was on the OL at Gannon, Devlin was the PK at Grove City, and Huckestein saw time as RB at Dayton.
Bethlehem Liberty 28 Bethel Park 21 (O.T.) – On the evening of Saturday December 13, 2008, the 4A state title game was played at Hersheypark Stadium before almost 5,000 people. And boy, were they treated to some outstanding football. Both teams scored a touchdown in each of the first three quarters, with no one scoring in the fourth, although both had chances as we shall see. The Bethel Park Black Hawks scored the opening TD, but Liberty’s quarterback, Anthony Gonzalez, tied it at 7 before the end of the opening quarter. That was the first of three touchdowns for Mr. Gonzalez. B.P. retook the lead in the second before Gonzalez ran 35 yards half way through the quarter to make it 14-13 Bethel Park. The Hurricanes muffed the PAT snap.
In the third, Liberty grabbed their first lead 21-14 when Devin Street picked up a teammate’s fumble and carried it the last 5 yards into the end zone. Bethel Park tied it at 21 on a Lyle Marsh 55-yard run, his second TD of the game. There was no scoring in the fourth quarter, but the Black Hawks missed a field goal and the Hurricanes were stopped on downs at the B.P. 26 with 1:38 left. Gonzalez ended up the hero for the Hurricanes by scoring the go-ahead touchdown on overtime, then intercepting a third down Bethel Park pass in the end zone to conclude the game on Bethel’s possession in O.T. He finished the game with 205 yards rushing for the Hurricanes. Marsh had 195 yards rushing for B.P.
Anthony Gonzalez (white #5) with the pick in overtime to preserve the win for Liberty. Bethel Park’s Brian Vukela #44 was the intended receiver. Photo by the AP.
Wide receiver, Devin Street went to Pitt and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. He played 3 years in the NFL. Gonzalez went on to play linebacker at Pitt. Marsh played running back at the University of Penn. John Schademan of Bethel Park was a wide receiver for Colgate in college. Erik Olson of Bethel quarterbacked at Case Western and Brian Vukela played defense for West Virginia Wesleyan, scoring two defensive TDs his senior year. One other note I have to mention, The Liberty High School Grenadier Band is the one of best high school bands I’ve ever seen with those bagpipes, and the band’s precision and sound.
Perry 27 DuBois 21 (O.T.) – On October 17, 2008 the Perry Commodores sailed into DuBois for a game with the Beavers. Coming into this game Perry was 6-1 and were winners of 6 straight. DuBois was 5-2. Perry jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead after each team’s two first quarter possessions, gaining 120 yards to 10 by the Beavers. DuBois settled down after that and play started to even out. Later in the second stanza DuBois turned the ball over on downs deep in Commodore real estate after having a touchdown negated by a penalty. That would come back to haunt the Beavers. But DuBois got the ball back and scored just before halftime to cut the Perry lead in half 14-7.
Garrett Malmgren scored for the Beavers in the third quarter to tie the game at 14. Perry re-acquired the lead with less than a minute left in the third when Aaron Patterson scored his second touchdown of the game. With under four minutes left DuBois drove to Perry’s 13 but failed to get a first down and turned the ball over. The Beaver defense not only forced a three and out, but they blocked the punt giving the home team one last chance to tie or win the game. On third down DuBois QB Kyle Bish found Malmgren for the score to tie the game at 21 with 1:08 on the clock. In overtime, DuBois missed a field goal and on third down Patterson scored to give Perry their 7th consecutive win. Greg McGhee, Perry’s quarterback, played college ball at Howard University. He also was on 3 Canadian football teams, but never got much playing time.
The thought crosses my mind every time the warriors walk off the football field and I see the winning players elated and the losers dejected, that game of life can be won by everybody if we just look in the right place. Although winning is bliss, sometimes more character can be built through losing than by winning. Kids for the most part are resilient and life goes on. So, win or lose, games like these are memories for sure, not only for those who played the game but also those fans and media who were in attendance.
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