Late field goal sinks Blue Devils

September 13, 2003|by JACK HILL III

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - The 14-14 halftime tie stayed intact until the final six seconds of the game.

That was when junior kicker Alen Ahmenovic kicked a 23-yard field goal to lead the New Oxford Colonials past the Greencastle Blue Devils 17-14 on Friday night in a Pennsylvania high school football game.

"First of all, that was a great high school football game," New Oxford coach Gerard Lawrence said. "Our soccer player put it through for us. He has got a good, strong leg. I am proud of my kids for finding a way to get a win in the final seconds."

Lawrence said that Ahmenovic plays four high school sports: football, soccer, basketball and volleyball.

New Oxford quarterback Tom O'Brien had just completed a 38-yard pass to Jesus Banda to give the Colonials a first down at the Blue Devils' 10-yard line. After O'Brien threw an incomplete pass on first down, there were only six seconds remaining in the game. Ahmenovic, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 230 pounds, then kicked the game-winner for New Oxford (1-2).

Even though a light rain was falling throughout the game, neither team committed a fumble.

"It was a pretty evenly-played football game and the score indicated that," Greencastle coach Chuck Tinninis said. "It was just a shame that somebody had to lose. I thought that we were moving the ball. But we just couldn't sustain drives. We would get a penalty, a dropped pass or a sack."

Both Greencastle junior quarterback Blake Border and New Oxford junior quarterback Tom O'Brien had one touchdown pass and one touchdown run.

Clint Castellar, a 5-foot-6, 140-pound junior, gained 123 yards on 19 carries for Greencastle (1-2).

"This was an even matchup between the two teams," Lawrence said. "Greencastle was moving the ball effectively in the first half. We just made some adjustments on the flanks with the defensive ends and the outside linebackers. That helped us out a little bit. We made some stops."

Greencastle got on the scoreboard first with 5:42 to go in the first quarter when Border scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak and Adam Wiestling kicked the extra point.

New Oxford finally got on the scoreboard with 3:16 left in the second quarter when O'Brien broke through left tackle for a 9-yard touchdown run and Ahmenovic tacked on the extra point.

The Blue Devils took a 14-7 lead with 1:28 remaining in the first half when Border fired a 35-yard pass to Eric Burkholder. Wiestling added the extra point.

It first appeared that Greencastle would take that lead into the locker room at halftime. But the Colonials answered immediately when they moved the ball quickly down the field and got a 13-yard touchdown pass from O'Brien to Brandon Glass and the extra point from Ahmenovic with six seconds to go.

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