Penns Valley QB does it all in District 6 playoff victory over Bald Eagle
Penns Valley head coach Marty Tobias usually speaks highly of his team.
That was no more evident on Thursday night, following his team’s 34-14 victory over Bald Eagle in the District 6 Class 2A semifinals. The Rams were all over the ball — generating two interceptions with Kollin Brungart taking his 85 yards to the end zone at the 56-second mark in the fourth quarter.
“It was just a surreal feeling,” Brungart said. “Just to catch the ball — it felt like time froze for a minute and once I gathered myself in the end zone, just seeing all of my teammates love and support, the friends, my family and the whole school, the feeling ... I can’t explain it.”
Penns Valley quarterback Jackson Romig did it all on Thursday night. He threw a touchdown, rushed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown in the first half. Romig wasn’t focused on his play — he was focused on getting revenge for Bald Eagle’s 42-27 victory over Penns Valley on Sept. 16.
“It means everything to us,” he said of the win. “We lost to them earlier in the season and coming back and getting this win feels amazing because we know we played our hearts out and played 110% every play. That’s how you get the win.”
It took both teams until the second quarter to score, but they totaled 28 points scored in the first two minutes and seven seconds of the quarter to even it at 14-14. Penns Valley couldn’t let its foot off of the gas pedal. The Rams didn’t — scoring 20 unanswered points in the win.
Romig hit Hunter Lyons on a 5-yard pass to give Penns Valley a 7-0 lead with 11:56 left in the second. It didn’t take the Eagles long to answer — Carson Nagle dropped in a 25-yard touchdown pass just 41 seconds later.
The scoring barrage by both teams didn’t end there — Romig had a 41-yard rush for a touchdown at the 10:03 mark in the same quarter. On the ensuing Bald Eagle drive, Nagle threw a 70-yard dart to Cam Watkins for a touchdown.
Penns Valley needed to go into its bag of tricks to regain the lead, using a play that won the Philadelphia Eagles the Super Bowl in 2018 — the Philly Special. Wide receiver Danin Kerstetter took a reverse and dropped it gracefully into the hands of Romig from 20 yards out and it resulted in a touchdown. With 3:24 left in the half, Penns Valley took a 21-14 lead and wouldn’t look back.
It got really close to being a tie ballgame with Bald Eagle bearing down at the Penns Valley 5-yard line at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Gavin Eckley rushed on third down for a gain of one. The Eagles had the ball on fourth-and-goal at the Penns Valley 4-yard line and Eckley stumbled just short of the goal line for a turnover on downs.
“That was awesome,” Tobias said of the goal line stand. “That was awesome for our guys to come up with a play like that and to stop them. That’s a different game and we drove the ball 99 yards and scored after.”
Penns Valley capitalized, scoring on an eight-play, 99-yard drive that lasted 2:41. The Rams cashed out with Watson landing over the goal line for a 6-yard touchdown with 8:27 remaining.
“They did their job,” Watson said of his offensive line. “They executed perfectly and gave me a great hole. I ran down the field, but it was great. The line means everything. I’ve got to thank them and I probably am going to get them some donuts after this.”
Bald Eagle’s final score came on Brungart’s 85-yard interception return for a touchdown for the 34-14 lead.
This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 12:13 AM.
