By Todd Hummel
SELINSGROVE -- A Hollywood screen writer might have come up with the ending to like the end of Saturday's homecoming football game between Susquehanna and the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
And then crumple it and toss it in the wastebasket as too improbable.
The Crusaders' 37-35 Liberty League victory, which also gave coach Steve Briggs his 100th win, was almost impossible to believe.
Susquehanna trailed 28-7 in the third quarter, rallied to within 35-34 with 23 seconds left in the game, but had the game-tying extra point blocked by the Merchant Marine. The Crusaders then opted to kick deep when all 11 Mariners players were up for an onside kick. Senior defensive back Matt Ruane raced down the field and recovered the ball for Susquehanna on the Mariner 10 with 22 seconds left in the game. A pass interference penalty in the end zone put the ball on the 2. Without a timeout, the Crusaders opted to run Dave Pavletz, but he was stopped short of the goal line. Susquehanna rushed to the line to spike the ball, but it appeared time ran out. The Crusaders got a reprieve when one second was placed back on the clock. After a timeout, kicker Bobby Eppleman knocked home the game-winning 19-yard field goal.
"We don't die. We have a lot of heart," senior quarterback Derek Pope said. Pope threw for 349 yards and three scores. "You can see that in how we came back and you can even see it in our mistakes. We are all just trying so hard."
"Unbelievable," a stunned Briggs said. "The last minute of that game was crazy -- then they put a second back on the game clock for the field goal. The kids never quit. I am so proud of (Pope), he's battled through so much."
Pope had lost his starting job, but started the second half of last week's game and seems to have a stranglehold on the job. The first half was a struggle for the Crusaders and Pope, as he threw two first-half interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown.
"They didn't do anything on defense that really concerned us. It was just little mistakes in the first half that were killing us," Pope said. "Even the interceptions were little mistakes that we corrected at halftime."
The Crusaders (2-3, 1-1 LL) had their best offensive game of the season, rolling up 472 total yards against the Mariners. Pavletz had 120 yards and two touchdowns go along with Pope's passing.
Back to Susquehanna's comeback. Susquehanna had fought back from a 28-7 deficit with 9:59 left in the third quarter to get within 28-21 early in the fourth quarter on a seven-yard TD pass from Pope to Keith Howell. Susquehanna's defense had the Mariners in a third-and-8 situation from their own 35, when Chris Rye seemed to end the Crusaders' chances for a victory with a 65-yard TD catch and a 35-21 advantage with 7:29 left in the game.
The Crusaders caught a break when the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds. They drove 60 yards in 10 plays, capped by Howell's 16-yard TD catch with 4:50 left in the game to make the score 35-28.
Susquehanna's defense then forced a punt after two incomplete passes stopped the clock, giving the Crusaders the ball on their own 27 with one timeout and 2:19 left in the game. Pope completed four of his next five passes for 70 yards, taking Susquehanna down to the Mariners 3. Three straight incompletions followed, before Pope found Justin Young by himself in one-on-one coverage on the left side for a three-yard scoring strike on fourth-and-goal with 23 seconds left in the game, pulling the Crusaders within 35-34.
"(The touchdown) was a great play call by Jack Lydic up in the booth and offensive coordinator Nate Milne. We had been successful all game running three wide receivers to the right and running a little pick. We ran it three times in a row and they really starting jumping it," Pope said. "We ran the same play, but went to Justin's side. They saw something because he was open."
Then disaster struck for the Crusaders -- or so it seemed -- as freshman Jake Harrison came crashing from the left side to block his second kick of the game and apparently clinch the win for the Mariners.
Before the obvious Susquehanna onside kick, Merchant Marine (2-3, 1-1) called a timeout.
"I told Bobby that if all 11 guys were up to kick it deep. I pulled the other guys in and said if we went deep it would be a sprint to the ball," Briggs said.
"I saw all 11 were up so I was going to kick it deep. I heard coach scream at me to kick it deep because he saw I was going up with my left foot, but I was going to any way," Eppleman said. "I played soccer until ninth grade so I am ambidextrous with my feet. I figured they would think it was still an onside kick if ran up like I was kicking left footed."
Ruane sprinted down the field as the ball spun dead at the 10-yard line, where he recovered it.
After the pass interference penalty and the run, the game was back on Eppleman's shoulders.
"I had in my head that it was closer than an extra point. You don't miss from that close," Eppleman said. "Once the ball was snapped, I was pretty confident. You just have to stay in the flow and not think about them coming to block it."
Eppleman pounded it right down the middle of the uprights, setting up a riotous celebration on the turf at Nicholas Lopardo Stadium.
