QUICK HIT
WEST LAWN --- Senior Joe Julius booted a 46-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining to lift fourth-seed Lower Dauphin to a 17-14 win over top-seed Wilson Friday evening in a see-saw District 3-AAAA football semifinal at John Gurski Stadium.
The late-game victory sends Rob Klock's Falcons (12-1) into next Saturday's District 3-AAAA championship game against second-seed Cumberland Valley, a 33-17 winner over Dallastown. Game time for the Nov. 30 title tilt is 6 p.m. at Hersheypark Stadium.
LD drove from their own 25-yard line to the Wilson 29 to set up Julius' game-winning field goal and then repelled a pair of long passes from Wilson in the final few seconds of regulation.
The Falcons return to the 3-AAAA final for the first time since 1995, although Lower Dauphin did win a District 3-AAA championship in 2003.
KEY PLAY
In the midst of LD's winning scoring drive, the visiting Falcons had the ball at their own 49 where quarterback Troy Spencer went for a keeper up the middle, but was met in the backfield by defensive end Dominic Negrelli.
Negrelli, however, grabbed too much of Spencer's face mask while making the tackle. Not surprisingly, Wilson was nailed with a 15-yard personal foul penalty, which gave LD the ball at the Wilson 36.
Four plays later, Julius lined up and converted the clutch kick.
STARS AND STUDS
LD quarterback Spencer rushed for 115 yards on 30 touches with touchdown runs of 7 and 11 yards. He also completed his only pass attempt, a 13-yarder to Nate Dorwart. ... Tailback Dalton Yentsch chipped in 62 yards on 14 carries. ... Wilson tailback Shane Dantzler finished with 96 yards on 12 carries and scored both of the Bulldogs' touchdowns. ... Wilson QB Matt Timochenko was 10-for-12 for 135 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.
THE BIG PICTURE
Lower Dauphin's read option, veer attack was able to control the clock in the first half with an 18-play, 81-yard drive that took up the final 8:34 of the first quarter and the first 1:50 of the second quarter. It ended with Spencer's 7-yard TD.
Although LD never pulled away from the defending 3-AAAA champs, the Falcons set the tone with that drive to show they could move the ball against a Wilson defense that had surrendered just seven points in its first two playoff games.
POST GAME REACTION
"Our kids up front executed really well. [Wilson] has a great defense over there and their team is very similar to our team, it was just great execution." --- Lower Dauphin coach Rob Klock.
"I don't think our heads went down. We all talked about this [with the kids]. Wilson is a good football team, they're gonna score touchdowns. Don't get me wrong, we love shutting people out. We knew they could score, but we held them to two, so good to go." --- Klock on his team's attitude heading into the final drive.
"They did what we expected them to do. Our kids were a little tentative, they were catching instead of running through, wasn’t typical Wilson defense. But give it to them, they were getting just enough push to get the linebackers off and get the edge, and they run their game, and they stick with their game plan." --- Wilson coach Doug Dahms.
"If you have some big guys, you’ll probably be able to beat 'em. If somebody has some big guys they can put on the edge there, but like I said the biggest guy we have is 220 pounds." --- Dahms.