HARRISBURG - When the final buzzer sounded at Harrisburg’s Severance Field on Saturday afternoon, neither Harrisburg nor Central Dauphin knew who won.
While the Rams players and coaches left the field, Harrisburg stayed and pleaded with referees.
The Cougars felt as though there was time left on the clock, and that would’ve allowed them enough time to run a final play from the 2-yard line.
Harrisburg said it was a clock malfunction but the scoreboard showed double zeroes. And that was good enough for the referees as Central Dauphin walked away with a 15-14 victory.
“They said, ‘The only thing we know is the scoreboard said zero, so that’s what we’re going by,’ “ Harrisburg coach Cal Everett said of the official explanation.
For his part, Central Dauphin coach Glen McNamee opted not to comment on how he felt the final sequence unfolded, instead saying that “I’ve learned now to let officials officiate and coaches coach. They said the game was over.”
The Cougars (4-2, 2-1 Mid-Penn Commonwealth) did themselves no favors throughout the contest, throwing five interceptions and fumbling once.
The Rams (4-2, 3-0) took a 7-0 lead into halftime despite converting for just four first downs in the half.
It appeared the tide was beginning to shift in the second half as Harrisburg tailback Tymek Everett-Evans tied the game with a 2-yard plunge with 3:38 left in the third quarter. The Cougars then took the lead mid-way through the fourth when Nicari Williams scrambled right and found Trevion Carey in the back of the end zone to take a 14-7 lead.
With the Harrisburg defense having stymied Central Dauphin for much of the game, it felts like the Cougars had control but the ensuing kickoff was botched and set the Rams up inside Harrisburg territory.
Two minutes later sophomore quarterback Max Mosey scampered in for his second touchdown of the game and the Rams were within one. Then came McNamee’s call to go for two.
“Everybody is in week six, but everybody has had their own unique path and we’d had some tough times,” he said of the decision. “It’s been a difficult road. We told our and kids and our kids knew that we wanted to come here today and win.”
On the conversion attempted, Mosey again stepped away from pressure and ran in from 3 yards out to give his team the 15-14 lead.
The Cougars appeared dead in the water but had one final chance, taking over at their own 31 with 58 seconds remaining and no timeouts. They quickly moved to midfield as Williams found senior Kamere Day. A second completion moved the ball to the 38 with 17 seconds to play after a spike.
On the final play of the game, Williams dropped back a found Kyrell Williams in space. The receiver turned the corner and ran down to the 1-yard line before being pushed out of bounds, though at that point the clock had showed all zeroes despite the play starting with 17 seconds remaining.
“We spiked the ball with 17 seconds left to go. The clock was running at that point when it should have stopped,” Everett said. “The guy running the clock ended up stopping it and then went back to change it because he had let it run a few seconds. So then at the beginning of the last play there was 17 seconds left on the clock. As soon the ball was snapped he went to hit the button to get it running again and then it just went all zeroes.”
Everett said officials told him they could take no action and that there are no plans to protest the game.
Harrisburg now travels to undefeated State College next Friday, while Central Dauphin returns home to host Altoona.
The Stars
Mosey was simple but effective for the Rams. The signal caller completed 17 of 20 passes for 98 yards and added 13 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
For the Cougars, Day hauled in nine receptions for 120 yards and was the focal point of the passing offense for much of the day.
Game-deciding moments
Kyrell Williams’ reception on the final play of the game seemingly set the Cougars up with a chance to either kick the game-winning field goal or try to score a walk-off touchdown. Instead the game ended in the controversy with both sets of players and fans confused.
They said it:
“From my understanding there should’ve been an official on the field keeping track of the clock. They didn’t want to hear anything.” - Everett on his postgame discussion with game officials.
“We heard the sirens so we thought the game was over and started rushing the field. I think they put like five seconds back on the clock or something, but we weren’t going to have that so we just left.” - Mosey on the final sequence.
Central Dauphin 7-0-0-8 -- 15
Harrisburg 0-0-7-7 -- 14
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
CD-Max Mosey 5 run (Zach Pomeroy kick), 3:48
Second quarter
No scoring
Third quarter
HBG-Tymek Everett-Evans 2 run (John McNeil kick), 3:38
Fourth quarter
HBG-Trevion Carey 12 pass from Nicari Williams (McNeil kick), 7:27
CD-Mosey 12 run (Mosey run), 5:02
TEAM STATS CD HBG
First downs 10 21
Rushing yards`26-95`33-115
Passing yards`94`282
Comp-Att-Int`17-20-1`22-31-5
Penalties-yards`5-60`8-60
Punts-average`3-39.7`2-33.5
Fumbles-lost`2-1`2-1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Central Dauphin: Timmy Smith 14-44, Dan Ficca 3-19, Max Mosey 4-13, Kyle Eagle 1-9. Malachi Bowman 2-7, Tyrell English 1-5, Marques Holton 1-(-2); Harrisburg: Nicari Williams 7-49, Jahmir Plant 12-31, Jaylon Hosby 4-14, Kiev Gregg 2-8, Trevion Carey 1-7, John McNeil 4-2, Tymek Everett-Evans 1-2, Kyle Williams Jr. 1-2, Harold O’Neal 1-0
PASSING — Central Dauphin: Mosey 17-20-98-1; Harrisburg: Williams: 12-16-183-3, McNeil 10-15-99-2
RECEIVING — Central Dauphin: Tyrese Fuller 2-30, Nick Chimienti 4-18, Shamilyn Joppy 3-18, Bowman 3-17, Elijah Vargas 3-6, Ficca 1-4, English 1-1; Harrisburg: Kamere Day 9-120, Trevion Carey 6-87, Kyrell Williams 3-49, Kyle Williams Sr. 2-23, Plant 2-6.