Published Sunday, Nov. 23, 1997
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PIAA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS
Sharpsville 17, Bellwood-Antis 15
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VANZANTEN BOOTS A 25-YARDER WITH 4 TICKS ON CLOCK
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Sharpsville ticket sales Tickets for the PIAA Class A state semifinal football game between Sharpsville and WPIAL champion Riverview will be on sale this week at the Sharpsville High School office. Times and days are: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. to noon Friday. Cost is $3 for students and $6 for adults in advance, while all tickets are $6 at the gate. Site, date and time for the game were to be determined Monday. |
Herald Sports Writer
ERIE _ Today, if you see Sharpsville High School head football coach Paul Piccirilli, pinch him.
``Sports-wise, this is beyond dreams,'' Piccirilli admitted following his Blue Devils' 17-15 PIAA Western Regional semifinal-round victory over Bellwood-Antis Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Aaron VanZanten's 25-yard field goal with four seconds remaining proved decisive, as Sharpsville (12-1) rallied from a 15-14 deficit by traversing 76 yards with no timeouts in 1:51.
``I told our guys, `We need 40 yards,' '' Piccirilli related. ``In pre-game practice, with the turf, (VanZanten) kicks an extra 5, 10 yards. So we said `If we get to the 30, we have a shot,' and we just kept going down and down, and we got the ball in the middle of the field and, you know, what can I say?''
``It feels great,'' VanZanten, a soccer player in his initial season of interscholastic football competition, said amid the post-game midfield mayhem. ``The team did great. Everything was perfect on that kick,'' he said of long-snapper Brad Sarchet's effort, as well as holder John Napotnik's spot.
VanZanten, as he stood on the sideline awaiting what inevitably would be a fateful moment in his life, tried to remain calm by reminding himself, ``It's just a regular kick, that's all it is. Just remember it's a God-given talent and nothing can take that away from me.''
``If you had asked me about 10 minutes ago, I'd have said, `Oh, man, I hate to see the season come to an end,'' Piccirilli said amid the well-wishers. ``But our defense did what they've done all year, they gave us an opportunity, and Johnny Napotnik, once again, he shone like he's done all year, and (VanZanten), what can I say? Perfect ending.''
Sharpsville salvaged the victory, despite allowing a 14-0 halftime lead dissipate into a 15-14 deficit with 5:54 remaining in the fourth frame.
Sharpsville kicker Aaron VanZanten (50) approaches the ball moments before his game-winning boot.(Gene Paulson/Herald)
The second of Jeremy Guyer's pair of second-half touchdown runs, a 3-yard sweep right, and Dan Tubbs' conversion kick provided Bellwood-Antis with its first lead after it was limited to 72 yards of first-half total offense.
John Napotnik, who turned in a stellar 7-for-11, 99-yard first-half passing performance that included 6- and 23-yard scoring strikes to his younger brother, Justin, suffered through a lackluster second half for 22-plus minutes before his heroics.
With Sharpsville leading 14-8 with slightly less than nine minutes remaining, his third-and-7 attempted screen pass was picked off by 6-foot-3 B-A defensive end Zac Fay. The latter rambled 19 yards to the Sharpsville 22-yard line, setting up Guyer's go-ahead TD.
Until the final drive, Napotnik posted a 1-for-5 second-half passing performance for 5 yards, with two of his aerials being intercepted. However, with the game on the line, Napotnik _ the Herald coverage-area's career passing leader _ responded by completing half of his final 10 attempts for 53 yards, two of which he intentionally spiked in order to stop the clock.
After a Bellwood-Antis drive stalled at Sharpsville's 15-yard line as Guyer was halted for a yard loss on a fourth-and-3 play, Napotnik engineered the game-winning march with no timeouts at his disposal.
He completed passes of 13, 11, 11 and 7 yards to Mark Ramsey _ the latter on a third-and-5 situation from Bellwood-Antis' 16-yard line _ and he also added an 11-yarder to Brian Watson at midfield. A crucial personal foul penalty was tacked on to that play with 71 seconds left, providing Sharpsville with a first down at the B-A 23-yard line.
The Napotnik-to-Ramsey 7-yarder and a pair of Napotnik spikes sandwiched a 2-yard Justin Napotnik burst up the middle which left the ball situated just inside Bellwood-Antis' 7-yard line with nine seconds remaining.
``They did a good job of management of their time and getting the ball down the field,'' Bellwood-Antis head coach John Hayes said of Sharpsville. ``And they had good confidence in their kicker. They made the play.''
All three of Bellwood-Antis' setbacks this season occurred with less than 20 seconds remaining.
``That's something I don't think should happen three times in a year,'' Hayes lamented. ``But give (Sharpsville) credit. They went the field; they had to go the whole distance and they executed and that's a credit to them.''
Sharpsville's initial score was the result of a game-opening 13-play, 63-yard march that consumed 7:56, with the Napotniks collaborating on a second-and-goal play with 3:58 left in the quarter.
Bellwood-Antis went 3-and-out on its initial series, and Tubbs' punt was shanked, providing Sharpsville with possession at the B-A 33-yard line.
Seven plays later on a third-and-12 play, John Napotnik dumped a screen pass to Justin Napotnik in the right flat and the latter stepped through about three tackles at the far sideline, then weaved his way diagonally across the field and outraced the Bellwood-Antis secondary to the goal line at the opposite side of the field.
VanZanten's second successful conversion kick enabled Sharpsville to assume a 14-0 bulge with 40 seconds left in the opening period.
However Bellwood-Antis dominated the second half's initial 23 minutes and five seconds, as Sharpsville's first four drives resulted in a botched fourth-down pitchout between the Napotniks and a pair of John Napotnik pass interceptions sandwiched around a Brad Watson punt.
But in the battle of the Blue Devils, the locals prevailed.
``We had a goal,'' Piccirilli began. ``Our team goal was to play Farrell in the (PIAA) western finals. And when Farrell got beat _ that was a tough situation for them _ our kids were down, believe it or not.
``But we're still going on, though. We wanted to be here, that was our ultimate goal, with a chance to go to state, and they've given us that opportunity,'' Piccirilli said following an emotional post-game monologue.
Notes:Sharpsville will meet Riverview, a 19-14 winner over Fort Cherry in Saturday's WPIAL Class A championship game, next weekend at a site and time to be announced. ... Sharpsville rallied for the victory despite a scary moment preceding the last-minute heroics. Senior Chris Cusick was injured and lay on the field for several minutes before he was taken by away by ambulance as a precaution. His condition was not known as of press time. Also, junior Reggie Burns suffered a left knee injury with 5:25 remaining in the first frame and Piccirilli said following the game the preliminary indication was a torn medial collateral ligament.
PIAA Class A Quarterfinals BELLWOOD-ANTIS 0 0 8 7 15 SHARPSVILLE 14 0 0 3 17 Scoring plays S _ Ju. Napotnik 6 pass from Jo. Napotnik (VanZanten kick) S _ Ju. Napotnik 23 pass from Jo. Napotnik (VanZanten kick) B _ Guyer 11 run (Fay pass from Miller) B _ Guyer 3 run (Tubbs kick) S _ VanZanten 25 field goal Team stats SHARPSVILLE BELLWOOD-ANTIS 19...........First downs...........16 104...........Rushing yards...........154 157...........Passing yards...........62 26-13-3...........Att-comp-int...........14-7-3 0-0...........Sacks-yards lost...........1-5 261...........Total yards...........211 3-0...........Fumbles-lost...........0-0 10-77...........Penalties-yards lost...........3-25 Individual stats Rushing: BELLWOOD-ANTIS _ Guyer 25-84, Ligenfelter 14-48, Miller 1-14, Garner 2-8 SHARPSVILLE _ Ju. Napotnik 21-70, Watson 4-21, Burns 4-6, Lucas 2-5, Jo. Napotnik 4-1. Passing: BELLWOOD-ANTIS _ Miller 14-7-3-62; SHARPSVILLE _ Jo. Napotnik 26-13-3-157. Receiving: BELLWOOD-ANTIS _ Fay 3-30, Tubbs 2-18, Gwinn 2-14; SHARPSVILLE _ Ramsey 6-88, Ju. Napotnik 5-47, Brian Watson 2-22.
