HOMER CITY — There was a family reunion at the 25-yard line Friday night after Homer-Center’s Heritage Conference football game against visiting Laurel Valley.
And, like most such gatherings, it had both laughter and tears, as the Page family celebrated and/or lamented Jerry Page’s Rams 7-3 victory over his son Greg Page’s Wildcats in a defensive battle.
“Coaching against your son is kind of a mixed bag,” Laurel Valley’s Jerry Page said. “He feels the way I do, you play to win and then you have to accept the outcome. I always have empathy for the other team. They played their hearts out. I’ve said a couple times that it’s a good one to win and a tough one to lose. Quite a ballgame.”
With Laurel Valley (5-2) clinging to the four-point advantage, the game came down to a decisive defensive stand by the Rams late in the fourth.
The Wildcats (4-3) started from their 15 and moved down the field on a 12-play drive to the Rams’ 7. The drive was aided by a 32-yard pass play from quarterback Garrett Sisak to Tim Kinter coupled with a facemask penalty on Laurel Valley.
But on fourth down, Sisak and his intended receiver seemed to be on different pages, and the pass fell incomplete, returning the ball to Laurel Valley with 1:52 remaining.
“I have to give credit to Erik Foust and our defensive coaches,” Jerry Page said. “To hold them to a field goal was tantamount. If we don’t we lose. Our defense has done a good job because we haven’t put too many points on the board this year. But we’ve done enough to win.”
Homer-Center took the opening kickoff and starting from its 38, moved down the field in 18 plays, taking nearly nine minutes off the clock. But the Wildcats had to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Bernat with 2:24 left in the quarter.
“I think we moved it down the field and had to grind it out on that first drive, but I was pleased we got the field goal,” Greg Page said. “We’re not really a field goal team, but we’ve worked on it. We wanted to get points on it. If we could have come down and scored there at the end, that field goal turns into the points we needed.”
In the second quarter, Laurel Valley’s scoring drive began inauspiciously, as quarterback Patrick Hall fumbled the snap and recovered it at the 33.
On the next play, Hall connected with Justin Tantlinger for a 17-yard gain. Runs by Bryan Saxton, Clayton Nanassy and two by Marcus Welshons, netted 16 yards to put the Rams at the Homer-Center 34.
Hall again found Tantlinger for a gain of 32 yards with a defensive holding call tacked on, putting the ball at the 1.
On the next play, Welshons rumbled in for the Laurel Valley touchdown at the 3:32 mark of the second quarter. Matt Black added the point after to put the Rams ahead, a lead they never relinquished.
The Rams had a promising drive to open the second half moving from their 27 to the Homer-Center 20, but an incomplete pass on fourth down had Laurel Valley returning the ball to the Wildcats.
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