FROM KEITH GROLLER
A 53-yard touchdown pass from East Stroudsburg South freshman quarterback Jake Cirillo to Billy Goodfellow with 58 seconds left was the game-winning score as the Cavaliers rallied with 16 straight points for a 32-28 win over host Pocono Mountain East in a Mountain Valley Conference game on Saturday night.
The come-from-behind win allowed E.S. South to remain undefeated at the midway mark of the regular season, while the Cardinals fell to 3-2, 2-2 MVC.
It was a tough defeat for Pocono East which played the game with heavy hearts as two of its players, Steven Dienno and Justin Bullock remain in Lehigh Valley hospitals in critical condition with injuries sustained in a horrific car accident on Tuesday night just off campus. Dienno and Bullock had just left the Cardinals football practice when the accident took place.
School offiicals deliberated before deciding to play the game at the request of the players.
"I thought our effort was outstanding tonight," an emotional Pocono East coach Phil Dorn said as he walked off the field. "I just told the kids I couldn't be more prouder of them. Our community has faced a great deal of adversity here and these kids displayed a lot of heart tonight in a most difficult situation.
"Everybody has been fantastic. Thank you to everybody who has reached out to us. It has meant so much to us. It really has. It means a lot to these kids, but especially the families involved. I'm just so proud of my kids. They played hard."
Pocono East got a scintillating 231-yard rushing performance from senior Corey Castillon. He scored three touchdowns and his 20-yarder gave the Cardinals a 28-16 lead with 10:46 remaining.
However, South struck back quickly and cut the gap to 23-16 with a 4-play drive that resulted in a Ryan Nazario 4-yard TD run.
Pocono East turned away South on one late possession that carried to the Cardinals 13. But Pocono East couldn't get a first down and was forced to give the ball back.
Dorn chose to take a safety rather than have a punt blocked or a bad snap set up a short South TD drive. Quarterback Luke Hohenstein ran out of the end zone for the safety.
However, one play after the free kick, Cirillo found Goodfellow wide open on a broken coverage. He hauled in the pass and couldn't be caught until he reached the end zone on the 53-yard strike.
"We didn't play our best ballgame of the year," South coach Ed Christian said. "We didn't take advantage of anything in the red zone. Not a thing. We had opportunities, but shot ourselves in the foot. We didn't throw the ball well tonight, but when we did finally throw it well, good things happened.
"Jake did make some decent throws and the last one was unbelievable. Billy Goodfellow got by their defensive man and he caught it."
Christian gave credit to the Pocono East kids.
"They played really, really hard," he said. "And that's a credit to their kids and the coaching that they almost got themselves a victory.":
ES South 16 - 0 - 0- 16 -- 32
PM East 14- 7 - 0 - 7 -- 28
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
PME-Corey Castillon 29 run (Marcus Plaus kick), 9:28 (Drive: 5 plays, 65 yds, 2:32)
ESS-Niko Petrone 14 run (Ben Nieves run), 5:33 (Drive: 1 play, 14 yds, 0:07)
ESS-Petrone 30 run (Nieves run), 3:46 (Drive: 1 play, 30 yds, 0:07)
PME-Castillon 29 run (Plaus kick), 2:44 (Drive: 3 plays, 59 yds, 1:02)
SECOND QUARTER
PME-RJ Sarajian 32 pass from Luke Hohenstein (Plaus kick), 0:37 (Drive: 10 plays, 97 yds, 5:15)
FOURTH QUARTER
PME-Castillon 20 run (Plaus kick), 10:46 (Drive: 4 plays, 47 yds, 1:46)
ESS-Ryan Nazario 4 run (Jake Hetner kick), 9:00 (Drive: 4 plays, 60 yds, 1:37)
ESS-Safety, Hohenstein ran out of end zone, 1:12
ESS-Billy Goodfellow 53 pass from Jake Cirillo (Hetner kick), 0:58 (Drive: 1 play, 53 yds, 0:10)
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING-ESS: Petrone 22-123, 2 TDs; Cirillo 10-73, Nazario 5-12, TD. PM East: Castillon 29-231, 3 TDs; Barmer 7-16; Williams 1-0; Hohensteinn 3-(-42), Miller 1-(-2).
PASSING-ESS: Cirillo 6-15-1, 136 yds, TD. PME: Hohenstein 7-19-3, 131 yds, TD.
RECEIVING-ESS: Goodfellow 3-74, TD; Roberson 2-11, Nieves 1-51. PM East: Sarajian 4-69, TD; Geoghegan 1-29; Murgia 1-9; Castillon 1-24.
FIRST QUARTER
PME-Corey Castillon 29 run (Marcus Plaus kick), 9:28 (Drive: 5 plays, 65 yds, 2:32)
ESS-Niko Petrone 14 run (Ben Nieves run), 5:33 (Drive: 1 play, 14 yds, 0:07)
ESS-Petrone 30 run (Nieves run), 3:46 (Drive: 1 play, 30 yds, 0:07)
PME-Castillon 29 run (Plaus kick), 2:44 (Drive: 3 plays, 59 yds, 1:02)
SECOND QUARTER
PME-RJ Sarajian 32 pass from Luke Hohenstein (Plaus kick), 0:37 (Drive: 10 plays, 97 yds, 5:15)
FOURTH QUARTER
PME-Castillon 20 run (Plaus kick), 10:46 (Drive: 4 plays, 47 yds, 1:46)
ESS-Ryan Nazario 4 run (Jake Hetner kick), 9:00 (Drive: 4 plays, 60 yds, 1:37)
ESS-Safety, Hohenstein ran out of end zone, 1:12
ESS-Billy Goodfellow 53 pass from Jake Cirillo (Hetner kick), 0:58 (Drive: 1 play, 53 yds, 0:10)
RUSHING-ESS: Petrone 22-123, 2 TDs; Cirillo 10-73, Nazario 5-12, TD. PM East: Castillon 29-231, 3 TDs; Barmer 7-16; Williams 1-0; Hohensteinn 3-(-42), Miller 1-(-2).
PASSING-ESS: Cirillo 6-15-1, 136 yds, TD. PME: Hohenstein 7-19-3, 131 yds, TD.
RECEIVING-ESS: Goodfellow 3-74, TD; Roberson 2-11, Nieves 1-51. PM East: Sarajian 4-69, TD; Geoghegan 1-29; Murgia 1-9; Castillon 1-24.
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