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HORSHAM – They’d worked on ‘The Play’ in practice - the fake punt that coach Tom Coates and his Council Rock North football players knew they’d pull out of their pocket someday when the time was right.
The time was right on Thursday night.
With time winding down in regulation of Rock North’s non-league game against Hatboro-Horsham, the Indians – on the short end of a 13-9 score – found themselves staring at a seemingly impossible fourth-and-19.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Coates called the play that forever altered the course of Thursday’s showdown.
“I was looking at the clock, and we were giving the ball up with six minutes left – the way they were driving the ball, I figured we might not get it back,” the Indians’ coach said. “I said, ‘Let’s take a shot.’”
That decision turned out to be a stroke of genius.
Quarterback Tyler Hamilton – who also can punt – was lined up in the backfield. He took the snap and found sophomore Cal Parker sprinting down the middle of the field with no Hatter defenders in sight. The senior signal caller hit Parker in the numbers, and the fearless sophomore raced all the way to the Hatter’s 33-yard line for a huge first down.
“It’s a fake we’ve been running in practice just in case there was a situation like this,” Parker said. “They called it, and I stepped up. I was ready.”
Parker, who also plays cornerback, was one very cool customer under pressure.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” he said. “I saw there was no one within 15 yards. I was just waiting for the ball. I knew I was going to catch it.
“This is what I wanted my whole life. I was just waiting to get to high school, watching everyone play when I was younger. I always wanted to win the big games, and this was one of them.”
Four plays and a Lee Marvel 23-yard run later, Brandon Cottom took a pitch and sprinted in from six yards out, giving the Indians – after the two-point conversion from Kevin Hacker to Cottom – a 17-13 lead with 3:31 remaining. The Indians’ defense held, taking over on downs after four plays, and the big win was in the books for Rock North.
“This is huge,” Hamilton said. “We have some real big league games coming up, and this is what we needed to put us in the right direction and gain some momentum.”
On the other side of the field, Hatboro coach Dave Sanderson admitted he should have kept his defense on the field.
“I shouldn’t have even sent the punt return team out,” he said. “Me standing on the sidelines yelling, ‘Watch fake, watch fake, watch fake’ doesn’t mean I’m putting them in a position to stop the fake.
“Quite honestly, I’m embarrassed that I didn’t make the right call there.”
Even though the Indians had the lead, the Hatters still had plenty of time on the clock.
They began their final drive on their own 26 with 3:24 remaining, but after Darryl Neville – who had a big night running the football – carried four yards on first down, the Hatters had three straight incompletions.
On a huge third down play, it was Parker knocking the ball away from the would-be receiver. The Hatters’ last gasp – a pass out of the reach of Nick Dovidio – came up short, and the Indians took over on downs.
If defense is about heart, the Indians had plenty of it on this night.
“Our defense had a bend but don’t break philosophy tonight,” said Marvel, the Indians’ standout linebacker. “That’s how we played, and we didn’t let them score. Probably the biggest part was no big plays. We came together and stayed together.”
Rock North’s final possession was just a formality as the Indians let the clock wind down on the monster win.
“It’s real big,” Marvel said. “We finally put back-to-back wins together and won a tough game like this. They’re a tough team. They’re tough kids, they play hard, and to come out with a victory is huge for our momentum.”
Early on, it looked as though the Indians might be in for a frustrating night after marching all the way to the Hatters’ 13-yard line only to come up empty. Two dropped passes didn’t bode well for the Indians’ air attack.
“We had those drops in the first half, but we just said to our receivers, ‘Pick your heads up and make plays,’ and in the second half, that’s exactly what they did,” Hamilton said. After a Joe Coates fumble recovery, the Indians staged a drive that culminated with a Ryan Campbell 31-yard field goal. The Hatters closed out the first half with a 67-yard TD drive that was capped when Connor Poston made a leaping grab in the end zone of a Matt Hollenbeck pass. The drive featured a whole lot of Darryl Neville – who accounted for 34 yards on the ground and finished the night with 130 yards in a superb outing.
“I knew I had to step up and have a big game because our other running back, Nick Dovidio, wasn’t 100 percent,” Neville said. “The offensive line did a tremendous job up front. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have gotten anything tonight.”
The Indians scored on their first possession of the second half. On the first play of the drive, Hamilton found Cottom for a big 31-yard completion, and the Indians were off and running. Ty Bostain hauled in a five-yard Hamilton strike for a touchdown that put the Indians on top 9-6, but the Hatters came right back with a 62-yard scoring drive.
Neville accounted for 41 yards on the ground, and Hollenbeck found Poston for an 18-yard gain. It was Neville taking it in from three yards out for the touchdown that – after Bob Stumpp’s extra point – put the Hatters on top 13-9 at the 4:01 mark of the third quarter.
The game was far from over as the Indians staged a heroic fourth-quarter comeback.
When it was over, Marvel pointed to the fake punt as the play that defined Thursday’s game.“That was a huge lift,” he said. “The last two years – we wouldn’t be able to finish that game. Something would go wrong, we’d get our heads down.
“We finally came together as a team, played strong, made plays when we had to, and we finally finished on top. It’s amazing. It feels great.”
While the Hatters fell to 1-2, the Indians improved to 2-1.
“They’re making their mark,” Coates said. “Our teams in the past wanted to win. This team expects to win. Tonight they came out against a bigger team, a team that runs their offense really well, and they hung in there.
“They kept saying, ‘We can win this, coach.’ My kids did a great job. I’m proud of them.”
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 17, HATBORO-HORSHAM 13
Council Rock North 0 3 6 8-17
Hatboro-Horsham 0 6 7 0-13
CRN-Campbell 31 field goal
H-Poston 9 pass from Hollenbeck (Kick failed)
CRN-Bostain 5 pass from Hamilton (Kick failed)
H-Neville 3 run (Stumpp kick)
CRN-Cottom 6 run (Cottom pass from Hacker)
CRN HH
First Downs 15 15
Rushing Yards 169 221
Passing Yards 124 53
Totals Yards 293 274
Passing (C-A-I) 6-14-0 5-10-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 2-20 4-22
Punts-Avg. 2-29.9 4-24.2
RUSHING
Council Rock North: Brandon Cottom, 11-81, 1 TD; Lee Marvel, 11-74; Tyler Hamilton, 11-14.
Hatboro: Darryl Neville, 21-130, 1 TD; Nick Dovidio, 7-48; Matt Hollenbeck, 10-20; ; Matt Coyle, 6-20; Dominic DeFazio, 1-3.
PASSING:
Council Rock North: Tyler Hamilton, 6-14-124, 1 TD.
Hatboro; Matt Hollenbeck, 5-10-53, 1 TD.
RECEIVING:
Council Rock North: Cal Parker, 1-32; Brandon Cottom, 1-31; Lee Marvel, 1-23; Charlie Anastasi, 1-21; Ty Bostain, 2-17, 1 TD;
Hatboro: Connor Poston, 5-53, 1 TD.
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