Chasing it down

Panthers claw back to beat Rams in overtime

Guy Cipriano

- gciprian@centredaily.com

LEWISTOWN — Lewistown's offense stared into the Mitchell Field end zone occupied with bleachers and fans three times.

Craig Houtz

Penns Valley's Tibben Zerby (15) recovers a blocked field goal attempt by Lewistown's Kody Stein (14) as holder Brandon Moist (20) tackles Zerby in the 2nd quarter on Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. CDT/Craig Houtz

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The Panthers failed to score during their first two trips inside Penns Valley’s 10-yard line.

The third time they looked toward their curious — and suddenly reinvigorated supporters — and resorted to what became a second-half staple Friday.

Lewistown lined up in the “Wildcat” formation and Kody Stein scampered eight yards into the end zone to complete a 13-7 overtime victory.

The win marked Lewistown’s second straight over a Centre County opponent. The Panthers (2-2, 2-1 MAFC Nittany), who less than two weeks ago held a 19-game losing streak, defeated Philipsburg-Osceola last week.

“It was a great effort by our whole team,” said Stein, who rushed for 174 yards on 21 carries. “We’re on a roll. We are feeling great about this victory. We’re going to live it up, but next week we’re going to go hard.”

Lewistown on a roll? Believe it.

The Panthers are now resilient enough to endure gaffes such as two Penns Valley (1-3, 1-2) forced in the second quarter.

Two plays after a 41-yard run by Stein brought the ball to the four, A.J. Scheffel snagged a handoff from Billy Martin and sprinted left. Drew Zettle met Scheffel before he could turn the corner, forcing a fumble Tibben Zerby recovered. Lewistown brought the ball to the 5 on its next drive, but Kody Bjalme busted through the line and blocked Stein’s 27-yard field attempt.

“When you drive down and can’t execute inside the five, it’s frustrating,” Lewistown coach Steve Guthoff said. “But to our guys’ credit they realized they were knocking on the door and they would get another opportunity.”

Stein’s 11-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter ultimately forced overtime.

Playing into overtime was nothing new for Penns Valley. The Rams compiled their lone victory by defeating Bald Eagle Area 25-22 in overtime earlier this month.

This time, Penns Valley received the ball first and gained five yards on its first two plays. Zerby, who plays quarterback, ran a bootleg into the end zone, but a holding penalty left the Rams with third-and-goal at the 25.

An illegal procedure moved the ball to the 30. Zerby threw an incompletion on third down before connecting on a 15-yard pass to Zettle during fourth down.

“We were thinking we had to move the ball and we had to score,” Penns Valley coach Martin Tobias said. “We couldn’t afford not to. Unfortunately, we had that hold. That put us back in a hole and they capitalized.”

Lewistown needed just two plays to score as Stein’s first carry went for two yards.

“No one play cost anybody the football game,” said Guthoff, a former P-O and Bellefonte head coach. “It seems to be exaggerated in overtime. You can look back at the game and find hundreds of different things that could have made the game turn out differently. We like the pressure. We like bringing the game to the end. We have some gamers that took over the game when they needed to.”

The Rams struggled against Lewistown’s swarming defense well before overtime started.

A 58-yard punt return by Ashton Koval allowed Penns Valley to start its first drive at the Lewistown 28. The Rams used the short field to their advantage as Bjalme scored on a 2-yard run 7:06 into the game.

Penns Valley couldn’t move inside the 20 again as the Panthers held the Rams to 194 yards on 60 plays. Penns Valley’s longest offensive play of the second half was Bryan Lee’s 16-yard run early in the third quarter.

The Wildcat formation allowed Lewistown to move the ball routinely throughout the second half. Stein compiled six runs of nine yards or longer than half, including a 31-yard run to setup his regulation touchdown, during the half.

This was Lewistown’s second week running the spread offense. Scheffel, not Stein, took the direct snaps that didn’t went to Madden against P-O.

“It didn’t surprise us from an alignment standpoint,” Tobias said. “But they did use some different personnel. It obviously created some mismatches they took advantage of.”

Stein’s final carry created a stir. He was mobbed by teammates along the end-zone railing. The group looked toward the bleachers, where an appreciative crowd created noise throughout the second half.

“We were fired up,” Stein said. “I don’t think any of us have been in overtime. It was exciting.”

Bjalme finished with 58 yards on 20 carries while Zettle caught four passes for 42 yards. The Rams, who lost to Huntingdon 21-15 last week, committed two second-half turnovers, although neither directly led to Lewistown points. Stein pinned Penns Valley’s offense into multiple undesirable positions by booting six punts of 40 or more yards.

“They came out inspired and capitalized on some good field early and we played with our backs to the wall the rest of the game,” Tobias said. “We had trouble moving the ball consistently. Their defense played very well and stopped a lot of the things we were trying to execute. They did a nice job of getting the win.”