Vikings nearly blow 18-point lead, escape when Nazareth field-goal try hits upright.

FROM THE MORNING CALL

While watching film of Nazareth this week, Central Catholic coach Harold Fairclough was struck by the leg strength Blue Eagles kicker Braden Drexler showed.

Fairclough and his players spent Friday night watching with dread when Drexler lined up for a 40-yard field-goal attempt that had the chance to erase the 18-point lead the Vikings had opened early in the fourth quarter.

Drexler drilled the ball high and far, giving it plenty of distance to clear the crossbar. It never did, clanging off the right upright with less than a minute to go.


When the ball fell to the turf, Central Catholic exhaled. The Vikings took two knees to close out a 39-36 Lehigh Valley Conference football shootout at Nazareth's Andrew S. Leh Stadium.

The win kept Central Catholic (5-0 overall, 4-0 LVC) perfect headed into next week's showdown with unbeaten Whitehall, a 17-14 winner over Easton. The winner of that game will take sole possession of first place in the LVC with four games to play.

The Vikings left Nazareth (3-2, 2-2) feeling more fortunate than good after nearly squandering a 19-point lead in the second quarter and an 18-point lead in the fourth. The Blue Eagles piled up 455 yards of offense against Central Catholic, led by a brilliant game from junior quarterback Daniel Harding (26-for-45, 421 yards, five touchdowns, one interception).

Harding led two touchdown drives in the final 8:29 and got the Blue Eagles into field-goal range after they recovered an onside kick with under a minute and a half to play. Nazareth's night still ended in dejection when Drexler's kick just missed.

"I saw [Drexler] kick two bombs against Easton," Fairclough said. "He just hit the upright. Sometimes you need luck to win."

The Vikings played well in building their lead, running off 26 straight points in the first half. Quarterback Brendan Nosovitch threw for 214 yards and two TDs in the opening half and ran for another 76 yards.

Nosovitch finished with a single-game school record 311 passing yards and also ran for 152 yards and a touchdown. His third and final touchdown pass of the game, a 33-yard heave early in the fourth quarter on which Jalen Snyder-Scipio outjumped a Nazareth defender, gave Central Catholic a 39-21 lead and helped him shake off two second-half interceptions.

Central Catholic still seemed in control when it turned the ball over to Nazareth while holding a 39-29 edge with 3:06 to play. The Vikings had shut down LVC rushing leader Chuck Dibilio (16 carries, 44 yards), but the Blue Eagles used their passing game to make Central sweat.

A 62-yard touchdown pass from Harding to Sean Sauerzopf (seven catches, 120 yards) with 1:29 to play and Drexler's extra point got Nazareth within three. The Blue Eagles then recovered the onside kick and drove from Central's 47-yard line to the 23 before throwing three straight incompletions, leaving Drexler a chance to tie it.

"I told our kids to come out and win the second half, and I think we did that," Nazareth coach Rob Melosky said. "But you turn the ball over [four times] the way we did, you won't beat a No. 1 ranked team in the state."

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