The Moon Area Tigers were on the verge of extending their season-opening winning streak to three games Friday night, holding a 12-point lead with six minutes to play against Penn-Trafford.
But that lead, along with their hopes of going 3-0, dissolved into a 25-24 loss to the Warriors in Moon’s home opener at Tiger Stadium.
Moon built a 24-12 lead, but the Warriors mustered 13 unanswered points in the final six minutes, closing out the game with a 95-yard drive that was capped by Nate Desmond’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Landyn Stikkel with just 6.8 seconds remaining.
Desmond led the Warriors, completing 17 of 28 passes for 252 yards and a touchdown.
“We have a lot of heart,” Desmond said after the win. “We have a lot of guys out, and we still put it together.”
Stikkel was ready for the moment. He loved seeing the fans and team erupt after the score.
“It was definitely a great feeling,” Stikkel said. “It’s something I never felt before.”
Moon coach Ryan Linn said that, despite the outcome, he was proud of his team’s effort.
“Our team played extremely hard tonight,” he said. “Penn-Trafford is a good team and they are very well-coached. And you saw that in their play and the composure of their kids and how they played at the end of the game.”
Linn said his team simply didn’t make enough plays at the end when the game was on the line.
“And that came back to bite us at the end. Now we have to regroup and get ready for a rivalry game with West Allegheny this week.”
Penn-Trafford’s Cody Yacamelli, who led his team with 86 yards rushing and two touchdowns, said he was proud of the Warriors’ defensive effort, getting key stops in crunch time to get them the ball back.
“We stopped them with no timeouts and a minute 30 left on third down,” Yacamelli said. “That just shows heart.”
The Warriors threw the first punch in the matchup of 2-0 teams, finding paydirt on their first two drives. Yacamelli scored on a 7-yard run and Desmond followed on an 8-yard run. Moon blocked both extra points, resulting in a 12-0 lead for Penn-Trafford.
The Tigers’ special teams didn’t stop with the blocked PATs, as Braeden Stuart blocked a punt and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.
Moon’s Daiveon Taylor spearheaded the defense and notched two sacks, five tackles for losses and forced a fumble.
Taylor sacked Desmond on Penn-Trafford’s next drive, forcing a fumble that Jared Moyer recovered at the Penn-Trafford 1-yard line.
Stuart ran it in from there and Moon took a 14-12 lead going into halftime.
Moon kicker Evan Senkevich extended the lead with a 39-yard field goal, making the score 17-12.
The Tigers added to their lead when Andrew Cross found Savario Vandetti on a slant that he took to the house for a 33-yard touchdown to go up 24-12
Penn-Trafford mustered its first touchdown since the opening quarter when Yacamelli went in from 2 yards out to cap a 70-yard drive. Logan Hunter made the extra point, cutting it to 24-19.
The Warriors got the ball back with 53 seconds left, but they had no timeouts and were pinned at their own 5-yard-line.
This led to the 95-yard drive for a touchdown and the Penn-Trafford win.
Photos by Mike Longo Jr.
Be First to Comment