WILLIAMSPORT — Extra time was needed Friday night to decide a winner in a clash between county rivals. And it was visiting Circleville coming through for a 42-35 overtime victory against Westfall.
“You tip your hat to Westfall and Coach Stepp. I mean, those guys went toe-to-toe,” Circleville coach Jay Sharrett said. “I was just telling them, these kids were in math class this afternoon. You know, they took a quiz, and then they come out and pour it out here which basically means about four hours of football, and they put it all on the line and both teams went back and forth.
“We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do in overtime, and fortunately, it worked out and we kind of got them smothered, got a timely holding call and here we are 3-0.”
That the Mustangs were in a position to win the game at all was somewhat unlikely as they were playing without senior tailback Joey Wright the whole game then lost quarterback AJ Paudicz to a broken collarbone toward the end of their second touchdown drive in the second quarter.
“The fact that they were able to play as hard as they did, knowing that everybody in the stadium knew we were going to run the football is amazing,” Westfall coach Logan Stepp said. “They played so hard, they blocked so hard. They were a little bit deeper than us over there. They had a little bit more guys rotating in and out, and our guys just met the challenge. They played well.
“You couldn’t have asked for a better football game, especially with the situation we were put in.”
Throughout 48 minutes of regulation, neither team could ever get more than a touchdown lead.
After the Mustangs scored to tie the game at 35-35 with 9:20 left, they held Circleville without a first down and forced a punt. Jack Kline’s kick covered 51 yards to put the Mustangs in a hole.
Circleville was able to hold Westfall without a first down and force a kick. Not to be outdone, Westfall’s Carson Deskins’ punt covered 52 yards leaving Circleville 72 yards away from the endzone with 5:08 on the clock.
The Tigers executed a masterful drive using 12 runs to move the ball down to the 15 with 8 seconds remaining to attempt a game-winning field goal. They got five yards closer from a penalty but the kick – which had plenty of distance – was a bit to the left. And the game headed to overtime.
“Each week Hudson (Phalin) gets some more command of the offense, makes a lot of checks at the line,” Sharrett said. “And we had some really good running lanes tonight, and it’s because he checked the play at the line.”
Circleville had the ball first in overtime and used three runs from Phalin to cover the 20 yards. Kaden Paxton’s PAT kick split the uprights to give Circleville a seven-point edge.
A holding call on second down put Westfall at second-and-14 in the overtime. The Mustangs got the 10 yards back on second and third downs. Circleville brought the pressure on fourth down, forcing an incompletion to wrap up the win.
“We kind of had an idea how we wanted to go at the overtime,” Sharrett said. “If we were going to score, we’re going to do it quick, because we’re going to get our defense right back out on the field as quick as possible. Fortunately, that’s the way it rolled, and we made the extra point and held them.”
The rushing game accounted for the majority of yards for both teams Friday with the Mustangs picking up 353 (301 after the injury to Paudicz) on the ground and Circleville 303.
Westfall threw for 117, with 106 coming from Paudicz before the injury.
Circleville had 44 yards through the air but lost top receiver Kole Nungester to a knee injury in the first half.
Phalin was Circleville’s top rusher with 164 yards on 26 carries and he scored on runs of nine, four and seven yards.
Ray Ezell picked up 50 yards on six carries. He had a 29-yard scoring run in the second quarter and spun out of a couple tackles for an 84-yard punt return in the third.
Nungester had 54 yards on seven carries and a three-yard TD before his injury.
Quinn Eberly was Westfall’s leading receiver with 71 yards on three catches before the injury to Paudicz. Afterward, he took most of the snaps. He completed two passes for 11 yards and ran the ball 14 times for 176. He scored on a seven-yard run before halftime and broke an 85-yarder in the third.
Eli Wright led all rushers with 179 yards on 26 carries and scored three times.
“It shows a lot of heart in our kids. Quinn and Eli and all those guys trying to find holes, trying to do the right thing,” Stepp said. “The kids just played. They played West football, and that’s something that I’m proud of. We’re bringing the culture back that was here a long time ago.
“I told our kids, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes in life, you’re going to do everything right and it’s not going to work out.”
League play begins for both teams on Friday.
Westfall (2-1) travels to Paint Valley (0-3) while Circleville (3-0) heads to Logan Elm (0-3) for the eighth edition of the Backyard Brawl.
Circleville 42, Westfall 35 OT
By Quarters 1 2 3 4 OT F
Circleville 7 14 14 0 7 42
Westfall 7 14 7 7 0 35
First Quarter
CV — Kole Nungester 3 run (Kaden Paxton kick), 7:48
WF — Eli Wright 2 run (Carson Deskins kick), 4:50.
Second Quarter
CV — Hudson Phalin 9 run (Kaden Paxton kick), 8:12 .
WF — Eli Wright 1 run (Carson Deskins kick), 4:44.
CV — Ray Ezell 29 run (Kaden Paxton kick), 2:34.
WF — Quinn Eberly 7 run (Carson Deskins kick), 0:48.
Third Quarter
CV — Ray Ezell 84 punt return (Kaden Paxton kick), 8:38.
WF — Quinn Eberly 85 run (Carson Deskins kick), 7:08.
CV — Hudson Phalin 4 run (Kaden Paxton kick), 2:14.
Fourth Quarter
WF — Eli Wright 4 run (Carson Deskins kick), 9:20.
Overtime
CV — Hudson Phalin 7 run (Kaden Paxton kick).
TEAM STATISTICS
CV WF
First downs 20 17
Rushing yards 48-303 42-351
Passing yards 44 117
Comp.-Att.-Int 3-6-0 9-13-0
Total yards 347 468
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 8-70 6-45
Punts-Ave 2-49 2-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Circleville — Hudson Phalin 24-164, Kiser Cassidy 11-35, Ray Ezell 6-50, Kole Nungester 7-54. Westfall —Eli Wright 26-179, AJ Paudicz 1-(-4), Quinn Eberly 14-176, Ayden Daniels 1-0.
PASSING – Circleville — Hudson Phalin 3-6-0. Westfall — AJ Paudicz 7-9-0-106, Quinn Eberly 2-4-0-11.
RECEIVING – Circleville — Ray Ezell 1-19, Kole Nungester 1-24, Jacob Reichelderfer 1-1. Westfall — Eli Wright 1-6, Quinn Eberly 3-71, Ayden Daniels 1-13, Waylon Moore 2-16, Landen Sparks 2-11.