Another narrow escape for Nazareth

FROM THE MORNING CALL

As Central Catholic lined up for a potential game-winning field goal, two thoughts ran through Nazareth wide receiver Adam Bridgeforth's mind.

His first hope was to block the kick. He also couldn't help but recall the teams' meeting last season, when Nazareth had a potential game-tying field goal clank off the upright in the final minute as Central Catholic stayed undefeated.

This year Bridgeforth and the Blue Eagles celebrated remaining unbeaten when Vikings kicker Tim DiGiacomo pushed his 35-yard field goal wide left with under 20 seconds to play Saturday night. Nazareth then took a knee to run out the clock on a 31-30 Lehigh Valley Conference football victory at J. Birney Crum Stadium.

"I was just saying, 'I hope they miss this, I hope they miss this,' " Bridgeforth said. "Everything just worked out great. It was good for us."

With its third fourth-quarter rally in four weeks, Nazareth (5-0 overall, 4-0 LVC) maintained its share of the LVC lead with Freedom. Those teams will meet in two weeks at Nazareth.

The Blue Eagles also sent Central Catholic (2-3, 2-2) to a crushing loss. The Vikings' defense played an inspired fourth quarter, coming up with two interceptions of Nazareth quarterback Daniel Harding, who had thrown just one pick in his first four games.

The first one, by Jalen Snyder-Scipio, set up the go-ahead touchdown, a 3-yard run by G.B. Harkins. The second one, by Noah Robb, gave the Vikings a chance to run off some clock.

Instead Nazareth's defense, which surrendered over 500 yards in comeback wins over Easton and Liberty earlier this season, came up with a couple of clutch stops. An interception by Alex Tonnies halted one Central Catholic drive deep in Nazareth territory, and the three-and-out the Blue Eagles forced on the Vikings' next possession set them up for victory.

Punting with under 2 minutes to play, Central Catholic kicked the ball to Bridgeforth in the middle of the field. He fielded it at Nazareth's 42-yard line and raced 44 yards to Central Catholic's 14.

One play later, Harding hit freshman running back Jordan Gray (115 rushing yards, 25 receiving yards, two touchdowns) with a swing pass for a 14-yard score. Jack Portnoy's extra point provided the winning margin.

"Credit our defense for giving us multiple shots," Harding said. "Adam on that punt return was ridiculous and made it happen."

The shootout many people expected with Harding and Central Catholic quarterback Brendan Nosovitch on the field never materialized. The game instead featured momentum swings caused by special-teams play and turnovers.

Nosovitch (240 passing yards) and Kevin Gulyas (nine catches, 154 yards) gave the Vikings one final chance to pull out the win, hooking up for a 32-yard middle screen on their final drive to put the ball at Nazareth's 31-yard line. A 3-yard run by Nosovitch on a fourth-and-two extended the drive before the Vikings, who were out of timeouts, elected for a field-goal try on third down.

When it sailed wide, Central Catholic was left to lament a host of miscues that led up to the final frantic minutes.

"We battled," Vikings coach Harold Fairclough said. "We made a ton of bonehead plays along the way. We didn't pack it in. We kind of kicked into gear in the second half. We just came up short."

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-football-central-1001-20111001,0,4496620.story