Desperation pass ends Falcons’ grid season

Sam Decker (30) and Dirk Cowburn combined to bring down West Middlesex running back Steve Andrusky during the first half of the PIAA state quarterfinal playoff game at Clarion. The Big Reds scored on the game’s final play to edge the Falcons, 12-8. Paul Burdick photo

Apparent victory turned to defeat — thus, elimination — Saturday night on a cold, windy night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

One of the most dramatic comebacks in Coudersport football history was followed by a near-miraculous “Hail Mary” pass that ended the Falcons’ season.

West Middlesex advanced into the state’s Final Four with a 12-8 win, while Coudersport closed the book on a 13-1 season.

Veteran coach Paul Simcoe, whose storied career reached new heights last season, called the last-second loss “devastating,” but his focus was not on his own feelings. Simcoe thought only of those grieving young men who spent nearly every day since June focused on taking the next step.

“It’s just sad for the kids that we end the year like that,” the coach said, moments after his post-game huddle with what was arguably the second most successful squad in school history. “They hung in there the whole game.”

Two teams with remarkably similar statistics and styles battled to a 0-0 stalemate in

the first half, as gusty, swirling winds eliminated the passing game and determined, seasoned defenses held the upper hand.

Those same trends continued long into the third quarter, before a short punt into a stiff breeze put the Big Reds in business at Coudersport’s 35. Facing fourth-and-12 at the 21, senior quarterback Kolten Hoffman was flushed from the pocket and desperately scrambled away from pursuers. As he stumbled toward the left sideline, Hoffman launched a high pass to an open Steve Andrusky in the Coudersport endzone. The PAT kick missed the mark.

Late in the game, Logan Hathaway’s pick of a halfback option pass gave the Falcons new life.

Boomer Wetzel fired a strike to Chris Cavallari, who took off on a 54-yard gain to the West Middlesex 32. Wetzel eventually delivered the ball to Brett Whitman on a perfectly executed out pattern in the endzone. He then found John Hau on the left flat for the two-point conversion and an 8-6 lead with 34 seconds remaining in the game.

Two pass completions and an unsportsmanlike conduct put West Middlesex at the Coudersport 34 with 0:04 on the clock. The Big Reds stacked four receivers on the right side and sent them to the right side of the Coudersport end zone as Hoffman launched a high aerial into the wind.

One of several Falcon defenders in the crowd tipped the ball and it glanced into the waiting arms of Tyler Barris behind the pack.