Rangers let game slip away
SHICKSHINNY — Northwest passed on what was working just once, but it was enough to change momentum and lift South Williamsport to a 21-14 win Friday night in Northern Tier football action.
With the Rangers (3-1) possessing both the ball and the one-point lead late, they showed they can march with ease down the field by relying on workhorse George May. The running back carried the ball on five of the first six plays of the drive, marching the Rangers from midfield to the 27. That’s when then the Rangers drew up a pass play that resulted in Carter Hontz lobbing a pass into the hands of Mountaineers’ Landon Lorson.
“They were sort of keying in on George and we thought we could come to somebody else, but we just didn’t make the play,” Northwest coach Lon Hazlet said.
Lorson wasn’t done playing hero for the Mountaineers (2-0).
Showing he can throw a decent pass all game long, he helped lead South Williamsport down the field 86 yards for the game-winning score. The quarterback completed three passes for 66 yards, including a key fourth down pass to receiver Grant Bachman for 12 yards on an out route. The Mountaineers twice converted on fourth down in the final drive with the other being a 1-yard rush by Zack Miller — who finished with a team-high 53 yards.
Lorson’s final pass landed in the hands of tight end Jake Casella, who ran a post route for the 34-yard score. Lorson then called his own number on a QB keeper to push the lead up to seven.
It turned out the two points weren’t needed as Hontz was intercepted by Bachman to seal the deal. It was Bachman’s second pick of Hontz and the Mountaineers’ third of the game.
“This is an extremely disappointing loss. I thought we dominated the game at times and I give their kids credit for finding ways to finish,” Hazlet said. “We didn’t do that.”
Poor execution got the better of the Rangers, who started at the 50-yard-line or better on five of their eight drives. Aside from the three interceptions, the Rangers also turned the ball over on downs on a fourth-and-goal from the Mountaineers’ 2 — on a rare tackle for loss on May — late in the first half and earlier fumbled the snap after getting into a rhythm in its passing game.
Both situations left Hazlet wanting to go back to the drawing board to work on plays that don’t always involve May.
“The offensive line did a really nice job and George runs hard,” Hazlet said. “On one hand, he had a ton of carries, but on the other hand, we have to find ways to diversify the offense a little bit. That’s always a challenge. We’ve got to do a better job in short field situations.”
May, though, showed that he can do wonders with the ball in his hands. He consistently found running lanes and picked up necessary yards by forcing the Mountaineers to use two bodies to stop him and his churning legs.
He accounted for both of the Rangers’ touchdowns on runs of 15 and 3 yards, finishing with 233 yards on 35 carries. He had more rushing attempts and yards than South Williamsport had all game.
That didn’t worry the Mountaineers any. Though its rushing game was stopped in its track for much of the night, Lorson and the passing game found opportunities throughout to keep drives alive and work its way down the field.
Lorson and Bachman showed they were in sync early, connecting for 29 yards on the game’s first drive before capping it off with the contest’s first points on a 1-yard rush by Lane Lusk.
Lorson and Bachman later paired up for an 18-yard touchdown completion to give the Mountaineers the lead heading into halftime.
All told, Lorson finished 10 of 14 with 179 yards and three touchdowns. Bachman accounted for six receptions and 123 yards.
“They exploited us a couple times and they got to us a couple times early and of course late,” Hazlet said of the Mountaineers’ passing game. “We’re somewhat limited in the back-end at times with the guys we have, but we’ll keep fighting.”
S. Williamsport 7 6 0 8 — 21
Northwest 7 0 7 0 — 14
First quarter
SW — Lane Lusk 1 run (Riley Hickman kick), 10:19
N — George May 15 run (Matt Foley kick), 1:13
Second quarter
SW — Grant Bachman 18 pass from Landon Lorson (kick blocked), 11:11
Third quarter
N — May 3 run (Foley kick), 8:53
Fourth quarter
SW — Jake Casella 34 pass from Lorson (Lorson run), 0:4
SW N
First downs 12 16
Rushing-yds. 30-84 41-249
Passing 10-14-0 4-10-3
Passing yds. 179 66
Total yds. 263 315
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-yds. 2-25 5-37
Individual stats
RUSHING — South Williamsport: Zack Miller 16-53; Lane Lusk 12-32, TD; Clayton Swarthout 1-1, Team 1-(-2). Northwest: George May 35-233, 2 TDs; Carter Hontz 3-12; Ryan Wassel 1-3; Jake Bobersky 1-2; Team 1 (-1).
PASSING — South Williamsport: Landon Lorson 10-14-0, 179 yds., 2 TDs. Northwest: Hontz 3-9-3, 36 yds.; Ryan Wassel 1-1-0, 30 yds.
RECEIVING — South Williamsport: Grant Bachman 6-123, TD; Cameron Greenaway 2-16; Jake Casella 1-34, TD; Miller 1-6. Northwest: Wassel 3-36; Gmiter Hunter 1-30.
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