BROOKVILLE USES TURNOVERS TO BUILD BIG LEAD THE HOLDS OFF REDBANK VALLEY

BROOKVILLE — The Brookville Raiders didn’t score a whole lot of points for style, but the 17 scored off Redbank Valley turnovers sure counted for a lot.

Brookville cashed in three times off four first-half Bulldogs turnovers and built a 24-0 lead by halftime. As it turned out, that’s all the Raiders would score as they held on for dear life in a 24-21 victory over their former Little 12 Conference rivals.

The Raiders improved to 5-0 as they continued to get off to their best start since they began the 1971 campaign 7-0.

Redbank Valley outgained Brookville, 229-144. The Raiders were limited to one first down and 16 yards of offense in the second half.

The Bulldogs had the ball and a chance to take the lead late in the game, but they were held on downs at their own 24 with 55 seconds left in the game.

"Of course everybody is upset we should have played better, but the bottom line is we're 5-0 and a lot of teams in the state would give up a limb to be 5-0," Brookville head coach Chris Dworek said. "We have to be happy with that, not satisfied."

That’s for sure. The Raiders have 5-0 Bradford coming to town this week in a game that will decide the District 9 League championship.

Redbank Valley dropped to 2-3, wishing it wouldn’t have fumbled away the first half.

The scoring got started midway through the first quarter when Raiders lineman Mark Kaczmarczyk recovered fullback Skyler Smith’s fumble at the Bulldogs’ 31. Two plays later, Raiders quarterback Nick Heschke ran 24 yards for the touchdown. Brandon Gunning’s point-after kick made it 7-0 at the 6:10 mark.

On the next possession, quarterback Shane Reed’s fumble on third-and-9 was recovered by Raiders linebacker Josh Rakovan at the Bulldogs’ 29. Five plays later, Gunning booted a 24-yard field goal to give the Raiders a 10-0 lead with 1:55 left in the first quarter.

Redbank Valley actually fumbled away the ball on the next possession when Reed was hit as he was getting ready to throw the ball. The Raiders recovered at the Brookville 40, but couldn’t convert a first down and had to punt.

The Bulldogs reached the Raiders’ 36 on the ensuing possession, but were stopped on downs. Brookville responded with its only significant drive of the night, 64 yards on 11 plays capped by Matt Gilbert’s 1-yard run to give Brookville a 17-0 lead following Gunning’s kick with 1:01 left in the half.

The miscues weren’t over for Redbank Valley. On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Matt Steffy took a short pass from Reed but was nailed by Rakovan at the Bulldogs’ 28, forcing a fumble. Raiders cornerback Matt Mohney picked up the fumble and nearly scored, reaching the 5-yard line before being brought down.

Three plays later Gilbert scored from four yards out on third-and-goal with 15.8 seconds left. Gunning’s kick gave the Raiders a 24-0 lead, which turned out to be insurmountable, but barely.

"The touchdown right at the end of the half, as it turns out, that was the killer," Wasilowski said. "We were down 24-0 at the half, we weren't doing anything. They were dominating us."

"That was the first half," Dworek said. "They made a mistake and we jump on it. That’s a sign of a good team. There are other things we have to get better at to be a real good team."

The tone seemed to be set, but everything turned around in the second half.

"If you would have been in our locker room at halftime, I thought we were going to get embarrassed," Redbank Valley head coach Ed Wasilowski said. "But we came out. ... This is a real tough team to read. They're real quiet, not a lot of yellers and screamers.

"I’m real proud of the kids. They could have tanked it."

The Bulldogs got a spark from stopping the Raiders on a fake punt in their own territory. Starting at the Raiders’ 38, they needed only five plays to score on Reed’s 15-yard keeper. Reed added a two-point conversion run to make it 24-8 with 6:45 left in the third quarter.

The decision to fake a punt up 24-0 was puzzling to Wasilowski. And afterward, it was second-guessed by the coach who called for it.

"I was kind of shocked. I hate to second-guess any coach, but 24-0, we weren't doing anything," Wasilowski said. "As it turned out, that helped us and gave us field position."

Dworek took all of the blame, citing his locker room atmosphere as the precursor to a sluggish second half.

"The atmosphere, because of me, was too lackadaisical," Dworek said. "Then me calling that fake punt when it was 24-0 and they scored, that's something I know better. I've tried to be conservative all year because I think our players are good. .... Let them play defense and field position and play to win ... There's a couple things there that I better not do again.

While the initial touchdown may have sparked the Bulldogs, it didn’t lead that quickly to more points on the scoreboard. Redbank Valley didn’t score again until 5:01 remained in the game when Smith scored on a 7-yard run, finishing off a 13-play, 70-yard drive. The Bulldogs failed on the two-point conversion try, making the score 24-14.

With time running out, the Bulldogs tried an onside kick and came up big. Brandon Brinker recovered Brock Shaffer’s kick at the Raiders’ 40. Six plays later, Smith took a short screen pass from Reed and scampered 29 yards for the touchdown. Shaffer’s point-after kick cut the deficit to 24-21 with 3:08 left in the game.

Redbank Valley held the Raiders and forced a punt on the following possession, but the Bulldogs ran out of time and big plays to complete the unlikely comeback.

"We just ran out of time," Wasilowski said. "It was two different halves."

NOTES: The Bulldogs host A-C Valley Thursday. … Smith led the Bulldogs with 62 yards rushing on 16 attempts. Reed completed 16 of 30 passes for 140 yards. Tyson Truitt caught seven passes for 77 yards while Smith caught three passes for 37 yards. … Defensively for the Bulldogs, Brinker made an interception and Cody Doverspike recorded a sack. … Gilbert rushed for 49 yards on 14 carries to lead Brookville. … The Raiders sacked Reed three times, twice by Mike Hetrick. Hetrick also recovered a fumble. Rakovan had a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Mohney had a fumble recovery and 23-yard return. … It was the first meeting between these former Little 12 Conference rivals since Brookville won back-to-back encounters in the District 9 Class AA Championship game in 1994 and 1995. Redbank Valley still leads the all-time series, 28-24-6.

Redbank Valley 0 0 8 13 - 21

Brookville 10 14 0 0 - 24

B – Nick Heschke 15 run (Brandon Gunning kick), 6;10.

B – Brandon Gunning 24 field goal, 1:55.

B – Matt Gilbert 1 run (Brandon Gunning kick), 1:01.

B – Matt Gilbert 4 run (Brandon Gunning kick), :16.

R – Shane Reed 15 run (Shane Reed run), 6:45.

R – Skyler Smith 7 run (conversion failed), 5:01.

R – Skyler Smith 29 pass from Shane Reed (Brock Shaffer kick), 3:08.

B RBV

First Downs 7 15

Rushes-Yards 35-112 36-89

Passing: Comp-Att-Int 4-10-1 16-30-0

Passing Yards 32 140

Total Yards 144 229

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 6-4

Penalties-Yards 3-34 2-10

Punts-Avg. 6-31.7 3-23.3

Rushing -- Redbank Valley: Skyler Smith 16-62s, Tyson Truitt 2-21, Brandon Johnston 2-8, Shane Reed 14-(-1), Matt Steffy 2-(-1). Brookville: Matt Gilbert 14-49, Nick Heschke 7-46, Kerry Brush 11-22, Brent Puller 1-(-1), Team 2-(-4).

Passing – Redbank Valley: Shane Reed 16-for-30, 140 yards, 1 TD. Brookville: Nick Heschke 4-for-10, 32 yards, 1 Int.

Receiving – Redbank Valley: Tyson Truitt 7-77, Skyler Smith 3-37, Matt Steffy 4-15, Shay Magagnotti 1-7, Brandon Brinker 1-4. Brookville: Kirk Hays 2-9, Cliff Park 1-18, Matt Mohney 1-5.

Interceptions – Redbank Valley: Brandon Brinker.

Sacks – Brookville: Mike Hetrick 2, Tony Morres. Redbank Valley: Cody Doverspike.