Spencer-Columbus football earns clutch win versus Pittsville
By Valorie Brecht When describing his team’s gridiron victory last Friday against Pittsville, one word that came up frequently for Spencer-Columbus (SC) head coach Jason Gorst was “clutch.” The word seemed apt considering that even though SC was not able to prevent the Pittsville Panthers from creeping up in score throughout the game, they punched it in when it mattered the most.
The game opened with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Mac Konieczny to Devlin Timmler to put SC up 6-0. Konieczny also kicked the extra point to make it 7-0. However, Pittsville responded with a 4-yard touchdown run to make it 7-6 before the quarter ended.
In the second, Jack Hoeper added to SC’s total by running the ball 3 yards for another touchdown. Konieczny again kicked for an extra point, making it 14-6. Then in the third, Hoeper ran for a yard to hit pay dirt once more. The extra point attempt was no good this time, but SC was still up 20-6. In the meantime, SC’s defense held strong and Pittsville was unable to make it into the end zone through the rest of the third quarter.
Heading into the final frame, SC might have felt fairly comfortable with a two-possession lead, but Pittsville was about to show that amount was not very much in high school football.
“Pittsville is a good football team. They fought back to put us down late. They are a well-coached, very classy program. (Dawson) Luther is one of the best football players in the area without a doubt,” said Gorst.
Pittsville’s James Krueger received a 37-yard pass from Luther to score right off the bat in the fourth quarter. Krueger also completed a 2-point conversion. This brought the score to 20-14, SC still ahead. A few minutes later, Dalton Darr caught a 10-yard pass for the Panthers, and they again ran it in for 2 additional points. Just like that, Pittsville had taken the lead, 22-20, with only 1:44 to go in the game.
With the pressure on and no time to waste, SC went to work on the next drive, traveling down the field a few yards at a time. The drive ended successfully with a 7-yard run by Jack Hoeper. He also completed the 2-point conversion. That put SC up again, 28-22, and that proved to be enough, as Pittsville ran out of time to score before the buzzer sounded.
Gorst was proud of his team for finishing strong and playing well when they needed it the most.
“We had to come up with plays in all three aspects of the game to pull out the win. I am very proud of our resiliency and fight throughout the game. Teddy Meyer had a couple of huge plays. Our defensive line of Sam Helgestad, Ryan Bernick and Davis Vinnedge had a standout game. Jack Hoeper ran the ball well behind a good performance by the offensive line. Devlin (Timmler) made some clutch throws, and Drew Lang and Austyn Widmann made some clutch catches on the last drive,” he said.
The close final score was reflected in the stats book, with the teams being pretty evenly matched. SC completed 54 plays, while Pittsville had 50. SC had 294 total yards, while Pittsville had 308. For first downs, SC had 13 while Pittsville had 15. Pittsville actually had a better third down efficiency rating, converting four of eight (50%) while SC only converted two out of 10 (20%). Both teams threw for two interceptions. Pittsville had two fumbles while SC had none.
Timmler threw for 139 yards, with 12 completions on 17 attempts. Hoeper was SC’s leading rusher, with 130 yards on 21 attempts. Konieczny had the most receiving yards, with 34; followed by Meyer with 30 and Lang with 24.
Defensively, Helgestad led the team in tackles, with six. Meyer had four.
Konieczny had five kickoffs for 241 yards, with his longest kickoff being 60 yards. He also punted the ball four times, with an average of 39 yards per punt.
The win put SC at 1-1 for the season, having lost to Auburndale the week before.
