BROOKVILLE 48, PUNXSUTAWNEY 27

Raiders secure fourth and final D9 Class AA playoff spot with win

Oct. 31, 2008

The Brookville Raiders hoist the Route 36 trophy after beating rival Punxsutawney Friday night. Photo by Don Long

By Rich Rhoades

            PUNXSUTAWNEY – In a wild affair, the Brookville Raiders had all kinds of answers when it came to scoring points against the Punxsutawney Chucks.

            The Raiders returned two interceptions of quarterback Logan Weaver for touchdowns and answered three of the Chucks’ touchdowns with quick scores of their own in a 48-27 playoff-clinching win Friday night at Jack LaMarca Stadium.

            While the Raiders (5-5 overall, 5-4 Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference) celebrated with the Route 36 Trophy for the seventh straight season, they also earned the fourth and final berth in the District 9 Class AA playoffs. They’ll play top-seeded Moniteau next week at a neutral site and time to be announced.

            Raiders senior running back Kyle Galbraith ran for a career-high 196 yards on 15 carries and scored three touchdowns on runs of 61, 1 and 65 yards.

            And Brookville needed every one of Galbraith’s yards and then some as Chucks freshman quarterback Logan Weaver completed 18 of 33 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns.

            But the two interceptions were huge as the Raiders turned them directly into points. Linebacker Jared Heschke picked off Weaver and returned it to the end zone on a great individual effort, diving into the end zone with 1.5 seconds left on the first-half clock.

            Then late in the game, with the Chucks down 15 points and at the Raiders’ 27 with under a minute to go, Cayliff Worling intercepted his pass and raced 90 yards for the touchdown, finishing off an eventful second half that saw 47 points from both teams combined and 212 yards of passing from Weaver.

            The Chucks (4-6, 4-5) drove 68 yards on 10 plays on their second possession for the game’s first score when Logan Weaver hit Easton Weaver with a 10-yard TD pass. But one play after the ensuing kickoff, Galbraith scored on the Raiders’ first play from scrimmage on his 61-yarder.

            The Raiders went up 14-7 on a short six-play, 30-yard drive that was set up by Worling’s 13-yard punt return. Galbraith went short distance from one yard out with seven minutes left in the first half.

            With the Chucks out of timeouts and possession of the ball at their own 26 with time running out, Logan Weaver threw a middle screen pass that was picked off by Heschke and taken to the end zone, barely, as time nearly ran out on the half.

            Heschke’s touchdown would turn out to be a big turning point in the game, considering how the Chucks rallied back in the second half.

            Punxsutawney scored first on their first possession of the third quarter, going 55 yards on six plays with Braedon Pennington going around the end on a 6-yard TD run. But the Raiders had another quick answer as Galbraith scored on his 65-yarder to make it 28-13 with 6:48 remaining in the third.

            A Worling 68-yard punt return was called back on an illegal block play, but, undaunted, the Raiders still turned the possession into points when Harmon scored on a 2-yard run. The drive was sparked by Dan Haines’ option pass that went for 41 yards to quarterback Tyler Dombrowski.

            Down 35-13, the Chucks scored two straight times. A Kyle Steffey interception stopped a Raiders drive at the Chucks’ 28 and set up Punxsutawney’s six-play drive that went 71 yards to the end zone. Logan Weaver found Doug Dale on a 24-yard TD pass.

            The Chucks got within 35-27 on a short drive of four plays with 3:27 remaining. The first play went 63 yards on a Logan to Easton Weaver 63-yard pass. Three plays later, Duell Thompson went in from one yard. The point-after kick missed.

            Brookville recovered the second of two straight onside kick attempts and turned the short field into a score to go up 42-27 on Tyler Dombrowski’s 4-yard pass to tight end Taylor Heinrich.

            Worling’s interception return capped the game’s scoring.

            NOTES: The 75 points scored were the most scored in the 35-game history of the series. The previous high was 49 in a 28-21 Raiders win in 2002. … Punxsutawney still leads the all-time series, 19-15-1, but the Raiders have won 13 of 16 games since the series was renewed in 1993.

BROOKVILLE 48, PUNXSUTAWNEY 27

Score By Quarters

Brookville       7          0          6          14        —        27

Punxsy            7          14        14        13        —        48

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

P - Easton Weaver 10 pass from Logan Weaver (Braedon Pennington kick), 3:35.

B - Kyle Galbraith 61 run (A.J. Moore kick), 3:16.

Second Quarter

B - Kyle Galbraith 1 run (Moore kick), 7:00.

B - Jared Heschke 27 interception return (Moore kick), :01.

Third Quarter

P - Braedon Pennington 6 run (Pennington kick failed), 8:50.

B - Kyle Galbraith 65 run (Moore kick), 6:48.

B - Ethan Harmon 2 run (Moore kick), 2:11.

Fourth Quarter

P - Doug Dale 24 pass from Logan Weaver (Pennington pass from Weaver), 8:23.

P - Duell Thompson 1 run (kick failed), 3:20.

B - Taylor Heinrich 4 pass from Tyler Dombrowski (Moore kick), 2:21.

B - Cayliff Worling 90 interception return (Jacob McDonald drop kick failed), :45.

                                                B                     P

First Downs                            12                    16

Rushes-Yards                          42-290             29-66

Passing Yards                         56                    273

Passes: Comp-Att-Int             5-10-1              18-34-2

Total Yardage                         346                  339

Punts-Average                                    4-30.8              5-28.2

Fumbles-lost                            2-0                   1-0

Penalties-Yards                       11-120             6-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Brookville: Kyle Galbraith 15-196, Ethan Harmon 12-67, Cayliff Worling 7-21, Dan Haines 2-9, Tyler Dombrowski 6-(-3). Punxsutawney: Logan Weaver 14-27, Braedon Pennington 9-20, Zak Dickey 3-15, Duell Thompson 3-4.

Passing - Brookville: Tyler Dombrowski 3-for-7, 13 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int.; Dan Haines 1-for-1, 41 yards; Garrett Weaver 1-for-1, 2 yards; Cayliff Worling 0-for-1. Punxsutawney: Logan Weaver 18-for-33, 273 yards, 2 TDs, 2 Ints.; Braedon Pennington 0-for-1.

Receiving - Brookville: Tyler Dombrowski 1-41, Ethan Harmon 1-5, Taylor Heinrich 1-4, Dan Haines 1-4, Cayliff Worling 1-2. Punxsutawney: Easton Weaver 8-120, Braedon Pennington 7-107, Doug Dale 1-24, Zak Dickey 2-22.

Interceptions - Brookville: Jared Heschke, Cayliff Worling. Punxsutawney: Kyle Steffey.

Sacks – Brookville: Ryan Blochberger, Kyle Galbraith 0.5, Taylor Heinrich 1.5, James Harbison II. Punxsutawney: K.J. Starr, Dustin Maines.

Kick returns – Brookville: Kyle Galbraith 2-18, Ryan Kerr 1-10, Chris Bietz 1-0, Dan Haines 1-0. Punxsutawney: Zak Dickey 5-133, Duell Thompson 1-16.

Punt returns – Brookville: Ethan Harmon 3-31, Cayliff Worling 2-15. Punxsutawney: None.

Punting – Brookville: Garrett Spence 4-123 (long 34 twice). Punxsutawney: Corbyn Cressley 5-141 (long 32).