For the second straight year State College goes down to the wire against Chambersburg — snatching victory from the hands of defeat, in a 35-34 barn burner.
Chambersburg opened the game with a 46-yard strike to begin the scoring 7-0 in front of a buzzing Chambersburg crowd.
The Trojans have posted an 0-9 all-time record against the Little Lions and were looking to reverse the trend on Friday night. State College was not going to go down easily though and a 13-yard pass from Patrick Irwin to Derek Van Horn capped off a nice drive to tie the game.
A 32-yard field goal gave the Trojans a 10-7 lead late in the first quarter.
Facing a fourth-and-six Chambersburg went to its trick bag. Trojan quarterback Ryan Martin passed to JT Hopple who lateraled the ball for the score, extending Chambersburg’s lead 17-7.
State College responded quickly. Irwin used his legs to escape a third down sack, running for a 68-yard touchdown. A missed extra point kept the Trojans ahead by four 17-14.
Chambersburg fired back again connecting on a 23-yard pass to making it 24-13 with just over two minutes to go in the half. The Trojans would take their lead into halftime with both teams having generated well over 200-yards of offense.
The Trojans boosted their lead after a State College fumble on the second half’s opening drive gave Chambersburg the ball well inside the Little Lion’s side of the field.
Martin tossed yet another touchdown only a few plays later to give Chambersburg a 31-13 lead in the third quarter. State College would respond with a 21-3 run to finish the game.
A fumbled punt by Chambersburg later in the quarter gave State College the ball on the Trojan 30 and Irwin scampered into the endzone from that same distance out to cut the Chambersburg lead to only 10.
With 11:21 remaining in the game a 29-yard field goal gave the Trojans a 34-21 lead and State College looked to be on the ropes with time slowly ticking away.
State College would come up short on fourth down well inside of Chambersburg territory to give the Trojans back the ball, up 13 with 7:32 to go. The Little Lions would get a stop and a 58-yard strike on third down closed to gap to 34-28 with 3:36 to go.
The Trojans couldn’t move the ball when it mattered most on the ensuing drive and were forced to punt. The punt was fumbled and Chambersburg punter Matt Porter would recover the fumble in the endzone for a safety which helped State College cut the lead to 34-30 with 2:44 to go.
Down four, State College was able to drive the ball deep but Irwin was intercepted in the endzone with 1:20 to go in the game. In a move that would end up being a crucial mistake, the Chambersburg defender who intercepted the ball chose to return the ball out of the endzone before being tackled at the Chambersburg two. Chambersburg would take a safety with 54 seconds to go and as a result cut the lead to 34-32.
State College received the ensuing kick and was able to line up a 38-yard field goal which State College kicker Kevin Cramer drilled to give the Little Lions a 35-34 lead with 15 seconds to play.
For State College fans, the night was a reminder of last season’s meeting between the two teams that had an equally dramatic ending.
A 97-yard touchdown with 41 seconds remaining gave Chambersburg’s 28-24 at Memorial Field in 2012 all but ending the game. With one timeout, the Little Lions started deep in their own territory and used the sidelines and a few crisp passes to get the ball inside Chambersburg’s 40-yard line with just less than 20 seconds remaining.
With seven seconds left, State High quarterback Andrew Kelly rolled to his left, turned and ran back across the field, throwing a 21-yard dart to a diving Dan Fry who caught the ball to end one of the great games in Memorial Field history.
The win tonight improves State College’s record to 3-3 on the year and now a well earned 10-0 against the Trojans. The Little Lions will return home to take on Central Dauphin East next week.
The Trojans fall to 4-2 on the year after another heartbreaking loss that will make State College’s name on the calender even larger come 2014.
