Parked on his backside while trying all sorts of methods to stretch a pair of lifeless legs, Bryan Jackson was one weary dude.
Almost too worn out to celebrate.
“I’m dead,” Jackson said.
Dead in a figurative sense, but extraordinarily happy — even if the Red Land senior midfielder was too beat to generate even the slightest of grins.
Here’s a guess some sort of grin came later as Jackson replayed the goal and assist he authored — all in the second half — as Red Land rallied for a 2-1 triumph over Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division and heated backyard rival Cedar Cliff Thursday afternoon/evening at moist Lowther Field.
Luke Dugan pocketed the lone finish for Jeff Dapp’s Colts (3-3, 3-2), connecting merely 25 seconds after Thursday’s game resumed following a 75-minute stoppage ordered by the gentlemen in stripes as a nasty thunderstorm featuring occasional lightning strikes passed through.
And while Dugan’s score had the Cliff in front when halftime arrived — the opportunistic Dugan stuck a shot past Red Land goalkeeper Kyle Hamilton (1 save) after Leo VanBuskirk used his gourd to pop just enough of Joey Gallucci’s corner forward — there was no visible panic on the Patriots’ bench.
“I thought for the first 18 minutes we played so well, but unfortunately [we had] the delay. It happens,” second-year skipper Brent Brockman said. “We gave up a set piece goal against Central Dauphin. We just have to get better at defending set pieces.
"Other than that, I didn’t think they were really dangerous.”
Regardless of the danger level or what the scoreboard flashed — utilizing the strong gusts that introduced Thursday’s weather, Red Land was unable to take advantage — Brockman and assistant Brian Osborne tried to keep things upbeat at the break as they revisited some situations.
Propped up their players, too.
“We just kept positive, knew it was coming,” Jackson recalled. “We played a decent first half, so we knew if we just kept it up it was coming.”
Well, it did.
Eventually.
Since neither side generated much heat at the attacking end throughout the 80-minute perspiration fest — Red Land (4-3, 2-3) outshot the Colts 7-4 — Hamilton and Cliff counterpart Brendan Heasley (4 saves) spent much of the post-delay scrap looking on as play after play unfolded in front of them.
While there was an occasional deep rip authored by someone hoping to generate a reaction and/or traffic or an infrequent charge into the penalty area, usually one of the backs patrolling nearby cleaned things up or gained possession and soon had the ball heading in the opposite direction.
Finally, as a physical encounter neared the midway point of the second half, Jackson’s well-paced ball skipped through the Colts defense and nearly hopped into the penalty area. Although it appeared as if center back Collin Kindig was going to reach the ball first — or allow Heasley to make a play — charging forward Willie Staz found another gear and used a swim move to slip past Kindig.
Able to gain possession, Staz side-stepped a closing Heasley, slipped into space, found the goal mouth vacated and rolled in the equalizer.
“That was huge,” Jackson admitted. “I don’t think anyone thought he was gonna get to it at first, but that was huge. It was huge that he did that.”
“We moved Bryan up to center mid from center back and he’s been unbelievable for us all season,” Brockman added. “He can see the runs that Willie makes and Willie makes runs at the next level and he just played him in. It was a good ball and then Willie was a pure-effort goal.
"And he got us the second goal, too, just beating two guys and getting fouled in the box," Brockman continued. "Just pure effort.”
Still finding his rhythm after missing his junior season with a severe knee injury, Staz found himself with the ball on the left wing some 10 minutes later. While a slick deke allowed him to slide into the box, Staz soon had a step on the defense after splitting Kindig and right back Antonio Hebert.
An instant later, he was tripped up.
With Staz a bit shaken up, Jackson stepped to the spot with a chance to snap the tie and pop the Patriots in front. One rip to Heasley’s left later, it was 2-1.
“Just don’t put it over,” Jackson said. “Just keep it on frame, that’s all I was thinking.”
Yet with just over 10 minutes to play, Red Land still had plenty of game left to kill off. And while VanBuskirk had one potential game-tying rip skirt wide of the right post with six-plus to go, the Colts really didn’t muster another chance. At least not a threatening one.
“It’s Red Land-Cedar Cliff,” Dapp said. “There’s really nothing else about it. It doesn’t matter who thinks they have more talent. … It can go either way. We battled.
"We just couldn’t get a little rhythm going in the offensive third and that might have to do with how wet the ground was — but they pressured us well. Unfortunate on a PK, but that’s soccer," Dapp added.
"It’s the game. We’ve just got to bounce back.”
That’s life in the Commonwealth.
Put one quality opponent in the rear view — most days — and another one’s waiting two days later hoping to knock your block off.
“It’s crazy,” said Dapp, whose Colts will visit Chambersburg on Saturday. “It’s fun. The guys worked hard. We had chances that we didn’t finish, but we’ve just got to learn from our mistakes and improve.
“It’s a long season. There’s going to be games where we’re going to upset somebody or vice versa. We’ve just got to keep plugging away.”
Brockman, whose Red Land side must travel to State College on Saturday, offered similar thoughts.
“This is hopefully going to be a big morale booster for us, especially beating Cedar Cliff,” Brockman said. “But we’ve got to see them again [on Oct. 3].
“We’ve just got to keep focused and moving forward.”
Rest a few lifeless legs, too.
MICHAEL BULLOCK:mbullock@patriot-news.com
BULLOCK ON TWITTER: @thebullp_n