Schuylkill Haven holds off Williams Valley in Blue Division showdown
Schuylkill Haven's Niko Carestia rushed for 333 yards in the Hurricanes' 38-30 win over Williams Valley on Friday night at Rotary Field (Photo by Ashley Farr Donatti).
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Clinging to a two-point lead late in the third quarter, Schuylkill Haven needed to put together a drive.
The Hurricanes responded with a vintage Haven march to finally turn back Williams Valley 38-30 in a Schuylkill/Colonial Blue Division game Friday night on Homecoming at Rotary Field.
Nineteen plays. Eighty-six yards. Ten minutes, 32 seconds off the clock.
Touchdown — on the only pass play of the drive, no less.
On fourth-and-goal from the 3, everybody in the stadium, and certainly everybody on the Williams Valley defense, thought Niko Carestia would get the ball. After all, the junior battering ram carried 41 times for 333 yards, three touchdowns and three two-point conversion runs on the night.
Instead, Schuylkill Haven coach Mike Farr called for a play-action pop pass. Niko Castillo sneaked off the line, and quarterback Brayden Fasnacht tossed the ball to a wide-open Castillo for the game-clinching score.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it,’’ Castillo said. “It kind of came out of nowhere. … Everyone came in and thought it was going to be a run, and they didn’t see me come through.’’
Fasnacht, who has thrown all of eight passes this season, executed the play perfectly for his second TD pass of the season. For the record, he’s completed 5-of-8 passes for 97 yards with no interceptions this fall.
“They stacked the box, the safety came up, and there was just an open window for me to throw it to Castillo,’’ Fasnacht explained. “I couldn’t believe that was the last play of the game for us. Just to be able to do that, that’s awesome. Getting a win the night before our Borough Day, that was awesome as well.
“I’m beyond happy with this team,’’ he added. “They worked so hard. Since June, we’ve been going at it, but seeing him catch that ball, that’s awesome.’’
Schuylkill Haven (5-1, 5-0 Blue) began the drive from its 14 with 22 seconds left in the third quarter. When Fasnacht found Castillo in the end zone, just 1:50 remained in the game.
Two of the favorites in the District 11 Class AA field slugged it out on a rainy night, and the only consensus afterward: They’ll likely get a chance to do it all over again come playoff time.
“The clock’s ticking, and it’s ticking. These guys, and I know it’s a cliché, but these guys work so hard, and it’s for these moments,’’ Farr said. “Just like we had that moment at Minersville last week, now we have this moment here with Williams Valley this week.
“Me, as the coach, it shouldn’t come down to that drive,’’ he added. “We had the momentum. We had everything we wanted. We had the ball coming out after halftime. The stars all lined up, and we just come out flat, which is highly unusual for us. So give Williams Valley all the credit. They played a great game. I’m sure we’re going to be seeing them in November. Take the ‘W’ and move on.’’
Trailing by eight, Williams Valley (5-1, 4-1 Blue) tried to mount a last-second comeback, but Castillo intercepted a pass on the second play of the drive to clinch the win. The Vikings turned the ball over three times (two interceptions and a fumble) and missed a field goal — but they never got down on themselves.
“We have tough kids, and they played hard right to the end,’’ said Williams Valley defensive coordinator Mike Sedesse, who took over after head coach Stephen Sedesse was ejected in the second quarter. “There’s no way our kids were going to quit down 10 at halftime. We just had to clean some things up. We only gave up six points in the second half and played really tough. I’m proud of the kids. It’s a good team we played there, and hopefully we’ll see them again.’’
Williams Valley threw the first haymaker when Kian Krzyzanowski returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead just 13 seconds into the game.
After forcing a Schuylkill Haven punt, Williams Valley fumbled on its first offensive play, and the Hurricanes recovered at the Vikings’ 17. Three Carestia runs covered the distance, and his first conversion run put Schuylkill Haven up 8-7.
Colton Reber followed with a 39-yard TD run as Schuylkill Haven led 16-7 after the first quarter, and Carestia electrified the crowd with touchdown runs of 75 and 52 yards in the second quarter. On the latter run, Carestia swept around right end, and seeing open field, cut back to the left and finished in the end zone all the way across the field. That gave Schuylkill Haven a 32-14 lead with 1:39 left in the first half.
