BY HUGH CONRAD
ALTOONA — Never lose the faith.
In a night of swirling winds and snow, Forest Hills coach Don Bailey continued to believe in his senior place-kicker in the District 6 Class AA championship contest against Tyrone at Mansion Park.
Patrick Donoughe had missed a 23-yard field goal in the first quarter and an extra point in the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, with the clock winding down and the score tied at 14, Bailey used his relentless running attack to move into position for Donoughe to have one more shot.
The senior delivered, booting a 27-yard field goal down the middle of the goal posts to earn a thrilling 17-14 victory for the Rangers.
Bailey remembered Ranger history.
“In 1981, his dad (Dave) kicked a field goal to win a Mountain Conference championship for me,” Bailey said after earning his first 6-AA championship against the Golden Eagles.
Donoughe never lost confidence in himself.
“I just treated it as another kick,” he said. “I want to give credit to the line and to the holder. It was a perfect hold and a perfect snap, and thanks to our offense for driving the field.”
The difference for the Rangers could be found in the rushing attack. Junior running back Nick Dudukovich rushed for 235 yards on 29 carries and Jeff Meier tallied 103 yards on 22 carries for a rushing attack that totaled 346 on the ground.
“It feels great,” Dudukovich said. “It means everything to us. That was our goal coming into the season, starting last January.”
The Rangers defense held the Golden Eagles to 29 yards on 23 carries in earning the win.
Despite the large differential in yardage on the ground, Tyrone managed to stay close as the Rangers failed to convert on some key opportunities.
The Rangers moved from their 23 on an
18-play opening drive only to see Donoughe’s kick just miss to the left.
Forest Hills scored after a key interception by Chris Moss gave the Rangers possession at the Tyrone 42 early in the second quarter. Eight plays later, senior quarterback Zack Glessner rolled to his right and scampered into the end zone for a 6-0 lead with 4:21 left in the first half.
The snap for the PAT went awry, and Donoughe did not have an opportunity to make the kick.
Forest Hills earned two points on a safety to raise the lead to 8-0. Tyrone quarterback Steve Franco was unable to handle a shotgun snap and the ball rolled into the end zone, where he fell on it. The Rangers had a 171 to minus-1 advantage in yardage in the first half.
“We knew that we had to stop their run,” Bailey said. “And the conditions helped stop their passing game.”
However, Tyrone came out in the second half and took advantage of a Rangers miscue. Moss was unable to handle a punt and Tyrone recovered at the Rangers 22. The Forest Hills defense forced a fourth-and-17 from their own 29, but Franco connected with Eric Desch for a first down at the 5.
Zachary Gault plunged in from the 1 for the touchdown, and Desch hauled in a pass from Franco for the PAT to tie the game at 8.
The Rangers came back early in the fourth to score as Glessner found Dudukovich on the flat for a 5-yard touchdown.
Donoughe’s kick missed, giving Forest Hills a 14-8 lead with 8:14 left in the game.
The Eagles charged back, with coach John Franco going to his bag of tricks to score with 4:55 left. Steve Franco handed off to Levi Reihart, who moved to his right, and then passed it back to Franco for a 15-yard touchdown.
Jared Templeton missed the extra point wide right to keep the score tied at 14.
But the Rangers mounted one of their long drives, moving from their 20 to the Tyrone 10-yard line with 14 seconds left, leading to Donoughe’s heroics.
“They were a little bigger and stronger than us, and we weren’t able to handle their power game,” Coach Franco said. “We got close to doing it, but that last drive was really the difference in the game.”
The Rangers will face Wilmington, the District 10 winner and defending state champion, next Friday at IUP.
