Girard Holds Off Harbor Creek, 32-30

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Shane Lux | October 3, 2025

Girard – Girard stopped a 2-point conversion with 4:56 to play as the Yellowjackets held off Harbor Creek 32-30 Thursday night at Battles Memorial Field.

For Girard, the Yellowjackets are off to their best start since a 7-4 campaign in 2014, which was also their last winning season until Thursday night, when they secured their first winning record in over a decade.

“I’m so proud of the kids,” said Girard head coach Mark Brooks. “We’re a big believer in the Wade Salem character matters program. Our order of the week was efficient, and it was crucial that we followed through and executed on some key points. The kids are buying in, they’re believing, and getting tougher. You hear us screaming grit, that’s what’s on our helmets. We did some crazy stuff in the weight room as far as competitions and battling each other to get tougher.”

Things were looking pretty good as on the opening play of the fourth quarter, Aidan Arnold busted loose for a 21-yard touchdown run, capping a 5-play, 80-yard drive, and giving Girard a 32-17 lead with 11:53 to play, which turned out to be the winning score.

“It’s so great to keep pulling out wins coming from last year to right now, only having one loss is so nice,” Arnold said. “The key for us has been everyone sticking around. During the winter, almost every person was working out. We have so many guys back from last season, and they all put in the work.”

But what looked as though the game may have been over following a back-and-forth contest to that point, the game was far from over.

The Huskies got to within eight points when Conner Fortin scored on a 2-yard run following a 10-play 69-yard drive.

Less than two minutes later, after Harbor Creek forced their only punt of the second half, Gavin Zillman then reversed field and outraced the Yellowjackets’ defense for an 84-yard touchdown run, making the score 32-30 with 4:56 to play.

On the ensuing 2-point conversion, Zillman lined up in the wildcat formation, where he was stacked up by the Girard defense, preserving their lead.

With the football back, Girard ran off the remaining time, thanks to a first down on a 3rd-and-9 completion from Ryan St. Julien to Nick Zona that went for 17 yards, coupled with an Arnold first-down rush, sealing the game.

Aidan Arnold rushed for a team-high 182 yards on 24 carries and also caught three passes for 36 yards. He gained 132 of those yards in the second half.

“Every game I try my hardest,” said Arnold. “I just try to run the ball as fast as I can for our team. It’s so nice with Mason and everyone blocking for me. I couldn’t do it without them. Every single time you think there are three guys on the other side and you think you can’t even run it, then Mason takes on two guys; it makes my job so much easier.

Mason Kalicky scored on a 4-yard run, opening the scoring in the first half, completing a 7-play 55-yard drive. Kalicky rushed for 81 yards and caught three passes for 61 yards.

“Everybody loves to talk about Mason and Aidan; we want to talk about those guys, but it starts up front,” Brooks said. “Last year, we averaged 2.7 yards per carry. We challenged our linemen to get in the weight room and improve their performance. They’re the ones moving the bodies right now, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Signal caller Ryan St. Julien completed 12-of-17 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair of second-half scoring passes of 19 yards to Mason Kalicky and 21 yards to Zaiden Markham, following 65 and 81-yard drives as Girard gained over 250 offensive yards in the final 24 minutes.

“It was a great day for that Ryan,” Brooks said. “Last week, he had 20 yards passing in the homecoming win, which was because it was a large margin victory, and we weren’t trying to pour it on. But when his number was called, that kid finds a way to set up and be special, and he did that again tonight.

Harbor Creek would respond with a 2-yard run from Gavin Zillman, giving the Huskies a 7-6 lead after a quarter.

Brayden Mussett then hauled in a 19-yard touchdown from St. Julien early in the second stanza, giving the Yellowjackets a 12-7 lead.

Gavin Zillman later caught a 53-yard touchdown pass from Conner Fortin in the third quarter, pulling the Huskies to within 19-17.

Zillman led Harbor Creek, rushing for a game-high 188 yards on 12 carries, while catching one pass for 53 yards and three total touchdowns.

Joe Wagner booted a 26-yard field goal for the Huskies’ other score.

Girard will look to keep their momentum going when they travel to North East next Saturday afternoon for a 1 PM kickoff.

“We have a huge test at North East next Saturday,” concluded Brooks. “We’re a little banged up, so getting a couple of days off here will help us. We’ll get back on it Tuesday and try to continue improving one day at a time.”

Harbor Creek, which saw their 3-game winning streak come to an end, will look to bounce back next Friday night when they venture to Fort LeBoeuf.

Game Highlights

Girard 32 Harbor Creek 30

Score by Quarters

Harbor Creek – 7 3 7 13 – 30

Girard – 6 6 14 6 – 32

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

G – Mason Kalicky 4 yd run, (kick blocked), 6:04 – 7-55

H – Gavin Zillman 2 yd run, (Joe Wagner pat), 3:04 – 6-53

Second Quarter

G – Brayden Mussett 19 yd pass from Ryan St. Julien, (pass failed), 9:48 – 11-89

H – Wagner 26 yd field goal, 5:26 – 9-45

Third Quarter

G – Kalicky 19 yd pass from St. Julien, (Tyler Vavreck pat), 8:35 – 7-65

H – Zillman 53 yd pass from Conner Fortin, (Wagner pat), 8:20 – 1-53

G – Zaiden Markham 21 yd pass from St. Julien, (Vavreck pat), 4:36 – 9-81

Fourth Quarter

G – Aidan Arnold 21 yd run, (kick blocked), 11:53 – 5-80

H – Fortin 2 yd run, (Wagner pat), 6:38 – 10-69

H – Zillman 84 yd run, (rush failed), 4:56 – 1-84

Individual Stats

Rushing: H – Zillman 12-188, Brady Powers 8-31, Eion Eighmy 3-5, Thomas Gunther 6-12, Fortin 2-(-5). Totals: 31-231. G – Aidan Arnold 24-182, Kalicky 9-81, St. Julien 9-25, Team 2-0. Totals: 43-288.

Receiving: H – Powers 2-14, Zillman 1-53, Nathan Vogt 1-19. G – Arnold 3-36, Kalicky 3-61, Mussett 1-19, Nick Zona 3-23, River Rogers 1-7, Markham 1-21

Passing: H – Fortin 4-for-5, 86 yards, 1 TD, Zillman 0-for-3, 1 INT. G – St. Julien 12-for-17, 167 yards, 3 TD.

Interceptions: G – Arnold

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