ORWIGSBURG — Christian Puzzi summarized how he and his Blue Mountain Eagles felt after Friday night’s Eastern Conference Class AAA title game against Fleetwood at the Eagles’ Nest.
“It’s everything we could ask for at this point,” the junior kicker said.
Puzzi hit a 24-yard field goal in overtime and Ian Donovan’s interception on the Tigers’ ensuing drive sealed a 41-38 victory that gave the Eagles their first Eastern Conference championship in school history.
The game felt more like a boxing match between two offensive heavyweights slugging it out than a high school football game.
Blue Mountain coach Cory Mabry was faced with a tough decision in overtime. After a loss on third down took the Eagles back to the 7-yard line, he pondered if he should send his offense back out or use Puzzi’s deadly-accurate leg with Fleetwood getting a shot to win the game on the next possession.
At first the offense trotted on to the field. After a timeout
to rethink the call, Mabry sent Puzzi out.
“It obviously wasn’t an easy call,” Mabry said. “We had nothing but faith in Puzzi with his leg and our defense played well all year. They won the game for us tonight.”
Puzzi earlier curled in a field goal from 33 yards at the end of the third quarter to give the Eagles a 31-28 lead. His boot in overtime gave Blue Mountain (10-2) its only Eastern Conference title after three previous trips to the championship game (1985, ’95 and 2006).
“I knew how hard my teammates worked for this all season,” Puzzi said. “I just thought it’s time for me to do my part. I’ve done this so many times in practice.”
Fleetwood quarterback Zach Koenig fumbled a hand-off on the first play for the Tigers (7-5) in OT, setting them back 5 yards. Running back Tyler Emge lost another 5 on a gang tackle before Donovan’s uncontested interception.
Emge was the focus of attention coming into the game, amassing 1,826 yards in 11 games. He broke a 55-yard run on the Tigers’ first play from scrimmage but was held to 61 for the first half. He finished with 169 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.
“We approached (Emge) with the attitude that no one can run up on us,” Blue Mountain defensive lineman Erech Noecker said. “That’s exactly the attitude we had to have and that’s exactly what happened.”
Noecker recorded two sacks on Koenig, coming on successive plays at the start of the third quarter. Noecker’s two sacks backed Fleetwood up 15 yards and forced a punt.
Koenig, however, had great success through the air in regulation. He completed 10-of-20 for 249 yards before overtime. He hit Michael Allen twice for touchdowns of 69 and 72 yards. Allen finished with four catches for 169 yards.
Allen’s first score started as a screen pass on a third-and-19 that turned into a 69-yard touchdown to put Fleetwood ahead 14-7. Blue Mountain then nipped at its heels all game before finally taking the lead on Puzzi’s first field goal.
Thaddeus Cornick put the Tigers back ahead 35-31 on his 19-yard run with 4:56 remaining.
Will Horn, who finished with 98 yards on 13 carries, responded for Blue Mountain, cutting back a run off-tackle to escape with a 43-yard touchdown that put the Eagles ahead 38-35.
The Tigers seemed primed to find the end zone after a late pass interference flag and a personal foul penalty set them up at Blue Mountain’s 20. But Mike Kalyan stopped Emge in the backfield on third down, forcing Matt Hook’s 43-yard field goal that just crept over the crossbar with 1:03 to play to force overtime.
“They started pinching a little bit more, bring guys inside, which was causing problems,” Fleetwood coach James Martinez said of the Blue Mountain defense. “We weren’t able to bounce it the way we wanted to.”
The Eagles’ running game, led by Lucas Forbes’ 114 yards on 19 carries, totaled 338 yards and five touchdowns — including a 4-yard keeper by sophomore quarterback Mason Freed, who played the full game for injured starter Sean Greenawalt.
Christian Gosch added 80 rushing yards and two scores on 22 carries for Blue Mountain.
“It’s a real testament to these kids,” Mabry said. “They fought all year, worked their tails off and this is what happens when you work hard.”
Game Summary
Eastern Conference Class AAA Championship
Fleet (7-5) 14 7 7 10 0 — 38 BM (10-2) 7 14 10 7 3 — 41
BM —Gosch 5 run (Puzzi kick)
F —Emge 1 run (Hook kick)
F —Allen 69 pass from Koenig (Hook kick)
BM — Gosch 1 run (Puzzi kick)
F —Allen 72 pass from Koenig (Hook kick)
BM —Freed 4 run (Puzzi kick)
F —Emge 12 run (Hook kick)
BM —Horn 8 run (Puzzi kick)
BM —FG Puzzi 33
F —Cornick 19 run (Hook kick)
BM —Horn 43 run (Puzzi kick)
F —FG Hook 43
BM —FG Puzzi 24
Fleet BM
First Downs 12 14
Rushes-Yards 32-174 59-301
Passes 10-20-1 3-6-1
Passing Yards 249 37
Total Yards 423 338
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties 5-25 6-50
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Fleetwood — Emge 25-169, Cornick 1-19, Allen 2-0, Koenig 4-(-14). Blue Mountain — Forbes 19-114, Horn 13-98, Gosch 22-80, Freed 3-7, Roberts 2-2.
PASSING: Fleetwood — Koenig 10-20-1, 249. Blue Mountain — Freed 3-5-0, 37; Moyer 0-1-1, 0.
RECEIVING: Fleetwood — Allen 4-169, Strunk 3-55, Lerch 3-25. Blue Mountain — Forbes 1-28, Horn 2-9.
INTERCEPTIONS: Fleetwood — Allen. Blue Mountain — Donovan.