WEST LAWN – Confidence in Joe Julius’ leg wasn’t limited to the Lower Dauphin sideline Friday night.
Hence the reason Wilson head coach Doug Dahms called a couple of late timeouts during the Falcons’ final drive of this District 3-AAAA high school football semifinal at John Gurski Stadium in Berks County.
Dahms wanted at least a small chunk of time remaining on the clock after Julius’ tie-breaking field goal attempt.
And Julius, the Falcons’ prized senior kicker, was true, nailing a 46-yarder with 10 seconds left that proved to be the difference in Lower Dauphin’s 17-14 victory.
“We knew they were going to kick the field goal,” Dahms said, “so we might as well try to keep as much time as we can so we get a chance to take it back.”
Ultimately Wilson wasn’t left with nearly enough time to mount a serious charge on its final possession.
Special teams, to the surprise of no one, played a vital role in the Falcons (12-1) landing their first District 3 championship berth since winning the Class AAA title in 2003.
In addition to Julius’ game winner, the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville soccer recruit booted all four kickoffs into or through the Wilson end zone to eliminate the threat of a Bulldogs return.
And punter Adam Domovich saved LD’s bacon by chasing down a high snap over his head and still getting the kick off ahead of charging defenders late in the third quarter.
These not-so-little things provided the tiniest of edges LD needed to upend No. 1 seed and defending champion Wilson (12-1).
The Bulldogs didn’t make many mistakes, but the ones they did – a couple of costly penalties, including a 15-yard facemask on LD’s final drive, and a third-quarter interception among them – boosted the Falcons’ hopes and allowed this contest to come down to Julius’ leg.
“The night was perfect,” Julius said. “No wind, a little bit of moisture in the air. And I have one of the best snappers [David Wuestner] in the Mid-Penn. Honestly I would have been fine hitting a 60-yarder tonight. Just the way the emotions were, I could have gotten behind it.”
Instead, Julius felt plenty comfortable from 46 and focused on accuracy more so than distance. The kick had just enough juice to sail above the crossbar.
“I was hoping he missed because their protection is too good,” Dahms said. “We didn’t expect to get to it.”
Julius credited his snapper, holder (Jason Shellenberger, “quickest hands you’ve seen”) and blockers, including Corey Atkins, Trey Klock, Ryan Lilliock, Jake Brinser and Omi Ramos, after kicking his game-winner.
“I never know if it’s good, but right when I saw it I knew it wasn’t knuckling or anything,” Julius said. “It was just going right through.”
As for Domovich, the junior added a 53-yard punt in the second quarter and a 40-yarder in the fourth that pinned Wilson inside its own 10. But it was his escape in the third that really stood out.
“Just get back there as fast as possible and turn around to see where the defense was and react from there,” Domovich summarized when asked to describe his actions after the high snap. “I saw the defenders weren’t that close, so I thought I had a chance to turn around and get rid of it really quick and save as much yardage as you can.”
Officially it went down as a 15-yard punt, but considering he was kicking from nearly 20 yards behind the LD line of scrimmage, it was a major win when Wilson was obviously hoping for so much more.
“He was the all-conference punter for our league, and he earned it,” Falcons head coach Rob Klock said.
Combining these superb special teams with one of the best defenses in the area and a grind-it-out rushing attack that chewed up serious yardage and clock, Lower Dauphin is right where it belongs.
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