CR North staged a fourth quarter comeback to defeat CR South 13-7 in a battle for the Rock Cup on Saturday. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Newtown – There is always a celebration at midfield between the C and the R after the Council Rock North versus Council Rock South classic at Walt Snyder Stadium. The senior class at CR North was never invited to join the victory party as freshmen, sophomores, or juniors as CR South has won the last three meeting between the intra-district rivals.
The Rock North senior class finally got its opportunity to party Saturday afternoon as the Indians rallied for a pair of fourth period touchdowns to secure a 13-7 victory.
“It is a real blessing that we finally got to win a game against South,” smiled Council Rock senior co-captain Curtis Cothran. “We always like to trash talk with them, but in a friendly way. A lot of us went to the same middle school or elementary school and got split up at the high school. Some of us are the best of friends off the field.”
“This game can become a big brawl at times,” grinned senior running back A.J. Nielsen who scored what proved to be the winning touchdown in the fourth period. “The past three years we have given everything we had against South, but we never got to beat them. To finally beat them is unbelievable.”
“All I wanted to do was go out on the field and help the seniors win their last game,” said freshman quarterback Brandon Mcllwain, who engineered the game winning drives in the last period. “We have had a good season, and we all wanted the seniors to go out with their first win against South.”
“It was a real tribute to this team that we were able to stay with the game plan after not scoring the first three quarters,” said Council Rock head coach Adam Collachi, who is in his third season as head coach of the Indians. “We kept preaching that you have to overcome adversity to be successful, and we overcame some adversity today.”
Council Rock North had zero first half points and just one first half first down against a swarming Golden Hawk defense.
And the Rock South offense generated a single touchdown in the first half to take a 7-0 lead at intermission.
What proved to be the only CR South score came late in the second quarter and came on the play of senior Christian Crane. Crane intercepted a pass and returned it to the Indian 38-yard line with 1:45 left in the half. And with 38 seconds left in the half, Crane received a pass from junior quarterback Greg Paprocki and jetted 12 yards for a touchdown.
That single score looked like it might stand up as the final. The Indian offense – which finished the game with just six first downs – never looked to be in rhythm.
Rock North used a quick strike offense to not only get back into the game, but to take the lead for good.
Mcllwain – who missed a potential touchdown strike to Brandon Knotts in the third period – did not misfire this time as the Mcllwain-to-Knotts connection resulted in a gorgeous 83-yard touchdown aerial.
“We saw something that we felt we could run,” said Knotts. “I told the coaches to run it again, and we were able to make a big play on it.”
The Indians – after a pair of Rock South penalties moved the ball to the 27-inch line on the extra point attempt – tried a two-point conversion to take the lead. Rock North got only 26-inches – and Rock South clung to a 7-6 lead.
CR North would score on its next possession to ice the victory. Mcllwain once again found Knotts on a long pass – this one of 38 yards – and Nielsen capped the drive with a nifty 18-yard scoring run around the left end.
“We had run the ball mostly between the tackles for most of the game,” said Nielsen. “We finally decided to run something outside, and it worked.”
A glance at the stat sheet might make you think that Rock South had come away with the win. The Golden Hawks ran 50 rushing plays and featured a 100-yard performance by senior PJ Steinmetz while Rock North ran just 27 times for only 67 yards.
But the only stat that mattered was on the scoreboard.
“It was a great way for our seniors to go out,” said Collachi. “I thought we got better as the season went on, but we still are not where we want to be. We want to be among the 16 teams that advance to the district playoffs, and we’re not there yet.
“To be able to beat Council Rock South today will help us establish something for our program,” added Collachi. “They have a quality program, and to be able to beat them is a big step forward for us.”
Council Rock North took a huge step forward – a dance step on top of the C & R at midfield in Walt Snyder Stadium.
Council Rock North Indians 0 0 0 13 - 13
Council Rock South Hawks 0 7 0 0 - 7
CRS: Christian Crane 12 pass from Greg Paprocki (Dylan Moyer kick)
CRN: Brandon Knotts 83 pass from Brandon Mcllwain (Run failed)
CRN: Andrew Neilsen 18 run (Max Pedinoff kick)
Council Rock North Indians Council Rock South Hawks
6 First Downs 13
67 Rushing Yards 125
152 Passing Yards 78
219 Total Offense 203
5-30 Punts / Average 4-31
4-30 Penalties / Yards 6-30
Council Rock North:
Rushing: Andrew Nielsen 14-44 & TD; Brandon Mcllwain 10-21; Brandon Knotts 3-2. Totals 27-67 & TD.
Passing: Brandon Mcllwain 7-15-2; 152 yards & TD.
Receiving: Brandon Knotts 4-140 & TD; Andrew Nielsen 2-2; Joshua McWilliams 1-10. Totals 7-152 & TD.
Interceptions: Patrick Krimm.
Council Rock South:
Rushing: PJ Steinmetz 23-100; Vincent Alimenti 12-36; Greg Paprocki 13 (minus 2); Christian Crane 2 (minus 9). Totals 50-125.
Passing: Greg Paprocki 7-18-1; 78 yards & TD.
Receiving: Cameron Crosley 3-31; Christian Crane 3-26 & TD; and Vincent Alimenti 1-21. Totals 7-78 & TD.
Interceptions: Christian Crane; Matt Scannapleco.
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