Williams Valley staves off Minersville to stay unbeaten
Williams Valley's Fletcher Thompson makes a move around Minersville's Kaseem Lofton during Friday's game in Williamstown. Thompson rushed for 206 yards and three TDs in the Vikings 42-36 victory (Photo by Kelly Wiley).
WILLIAMSTOWN — Dante Carr was 28 yards away from pulling off an incredible comeback.
The Minersville junior quarterback had already run for two touchdowns and threw for three more. As he approached the line of scrimmage with a packed house on its feet and 48 seconds remaining, Carr appeared poised to complete Minersville’s rally from a 21-point deficit with a last-second, game-winning score.
Evan Achenbach had other ideas.
The Williams Valley junior defensive back stepped in front of a Carr pass in the end zone with 37 seconds left, preserving the Vikings’ 42-36 victory over Minersville in a Schuylkill/Colonial Blue Division thriller at Gerry Stauffenberg Field at Viking Stadium.
The win keeps Williams Valley (4-0, 3-0 Blue) perfect on the season and hands Minersville (3-1, 2-1 Blue) its first defeat.
“It was a great feeling. Big-time players make big-time plays,” Achenbach said. “No one really expected us to be 4-0. We went in, beat the fifth-ranked team in double-A in the state. That’s what we do.”
For most of the second half it didn’t appear the Vikings would need any last-second heroics.
After Minersville capitalized on a Vikings fumble and opened the game with a pair of quick touchdowns, Williams Valley’s offensive line took over, wearing down the Minersville defense and creating big holes for freshman tailback Fletcher Thompson and quarterback Brady Shomper.
With Cameron Green, Jesse Koons, Robbie Hoffman, Killian Kocher, Tyler Koppenhaver and Bryce Zilinski blowing the Miners off the ball, Williams Valley scored on six straight possessions to build a 42-21 lead with 2:58 remaining in the third quarter.
Shomper scored on runs of 7 and 1 yards to tie the game at 14-14. Thompson then collected TD runs of 8, 6 and 9 yards, while Shomper completed an 18-yard TD pass to Brayden Crisswell.
Thompson finished with 206 yards on 37 carries, pacing a Williams Valley ground game that compiled 276 yards rushing and helped the Vikings collect 24 first downs.
“Our line was a great part of how we won the game tonight,” Thompson said. “They were dominant up front. I’m so proud of them. I couldn’t be the running back (I am) without them.”
Added Williams Valley coach Stephen Sedesse: “We were able to run the ball really well and use up a lot of clock. They were really explosive. Their touchdowns were real quick, quick drives, quick play. We were able to grind it out and get a lot of yards on the ground tonight.”
The Williams Valley defense, meanwhile, was harassing Carr in the same stretch. Trevon Bair’s interception set up a Shomper touchdown and Blazer Lords’ interception led to another Williams Valley score.
Zilinski, Green, Crisswell and Bair were constantly in the backfield, either stuffing the run or putting pressure on Carr when he wanted to throw. When Evan Kandybowski and Blazer Lords stopped Paiten LaPoint short of a first down on a fourth-and-1 play at the Miners’ 42 with 39 seconds left in the third quarter, it looked the Vikings had the game well in hand.
Not so fast, Carr said.
After the Miners’ defense got a quick stop, Carr dropped back on Minersville’s next offensive play, saw no one open and took off, going 62 yards for a touchdown. Jordan Bowers’ PAT kick made it 42-28 with 10:03 left.
Minersville’s defense then held, stopping Thompson inches short of a first down on a fourth-and-1 run at the Miners’ 43 with 7:12 left. Carr followed by hitting LaPoint for pass completions of 38 and 20 yards. When Easton Schultz picked up a bad snap on the conversion try and hit Matt Dube in the end zone for two points, Minersville was within 42-36 with 6:53 remaining.
“The kid is unreal,” Minersville coach Justin Frantz said of Carr, who finished with 132 yards rushing and was 12-of-24 passing for 215 yards. “What he does, it’s like a video game out there. He’s juking, he’s running around. You don’t think he’s going to throw it and he launches it 50 yards downfield.
“His progression from last year to this year is as big as any kid that I’ve ever seen. He’s a great kid. He takes this hard because of the work he puts in. But what a weapon he is to have.”
Williams Valley tried to ice the game on offense, putting together a nine-play drive that reached the Minersville 25 with under 3 minutes left. But once again Minersville’s defense held, and the Vikings turned the ball over on downs with 2:19 remaining.
