PINE GROVE — Mahanoy Area’s defense forced five turnovers and rewarded first-year head coach Mick Connolly with his first win in a 22-20 victory at Pine Grove on Friday.
The Golden Bears (1-5; 1-4) fell behind early, but were rewarded with an Owen Ogrdonick interception to end the first half, a blocked punt for a safety, two fumble recoveries, including a 38-yard fumble return by Kyler Quick for a touchdown, as well as a JD Kowalchick pick-six at the start of the fourth quarter.
Mahanoy Area held off a Pine Grove (1-5; 1-4) comeback which saw the Cardinals go on a 13-0 scoring run in the fourth quarter. Quick ended it with a string of runs to chew out the clock for the Golden Bears win..
“We turned the ball over six times last week, and it really killed us and this week we reversed the script,” Connolly said. “We’ve played some really good teams these first weeks of the season.”
Quintin Rucker put Mahanoy Area ahead 10-7 after halftime with a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown. Kowalchick’s pick-six to start the fourth quarter gave the Golden Bears a 22-7 lead, one they wouldn’t relinquish.
Quick led Mahanoy Area’s offense with 97 rushing yards and Rucker added 65 total yards.
Pine Grove was led by Wyatt Snyder’s two touchdowns, 78 passing yards and 54 rushing yards, while Logan Troup added 41 rushing yards.
“It’s amazing, and it’s tough to bring me down at times,” Quick said. “It’s painful but you’ve got to push past that pain. We’ve got a lot to improve offensively, but we’ll get there.”
The Cardinals struck first on a drive that saw Snyder run for a 23-yard gain. He closed it with a 10-yard touchdown run on fourth down for the 7-0 lead with just under four minutes left in the first half.
When Pine Grove got the ball back near the end of first half, the drive ended with an interception by Mahanoy Area’s Ogrodnick at the 15-yard, and the score remained 7-0 at the break.
Mahanoy Area’s defensive attack carried into the second half when the Golden Bears blocked a Pine Grove punt at the four-yard line that resulted in a safety and cut the deficit to 7-2.
“Our defense has been stepping up and playing really well, so they’re doing a great job,” Connolly said. “We had a great week of practice and I knew if we played like that we’d be fine.”
Tackles from William Stoyer and Tayten Matrician ended Pine Grove’s next drive before Rucker returned the punt 60 yards to the end zone and Kowalchick punched in the 2-point try to put Mahanoy Area ahead, 10-7.
Just three snaps later, Quick jumped on a Pine Grove fumble and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 16-7 with four minutes left in the third quarter.
“That was a huge momentum gain our way, and we were struggling on offense a little bit, so it picks everyone’s heads up,” Quick said. “We have a lot of young kids and heart, and that’s all we needed.”
The Cardinals got the ball back and yet again fumbled it back to the Golden Bears at their own 45-yard line.
The ensuing drive went nowhere, but the Golden Bear defense came up big again when Kowalchick stepped in front of a Snyder pass and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown and the 22-7 lead to start the fourth quarter.
“It’s amazing to see how fast these younger kids are developing,” Connolly said. “The defense has been playing great the last few weeks.”
Pine Grove wasn’t done fighting there, as Snyder found Omir Ballard for a six-yard touchdown pass to make the score 22-14 with five minutes left in the game.
The Cardinals scored again with just under three minutes left when Snyder hit Teagan Schneck-Haines for a 13-yard touchdown strike. The 2-point attempt was stopped, and the Golden Bears held on to the 22-20 lead.
“We knew we could play like this, and to come out and do it like this was great,” Connolly said. “We almost gave it away at the end, and it was a great game.”
Quick took the ball to close out the game with four straight runs before a quarterback kneel gave Mahanoy Area the 22-20 win.
Mahanoy Area travels to Nativity and Pine Grove will head to Minersville next Friday.
Mahanoy Area 22, Pine Grove 20
MAH (1-5; 1-4);0;0;16;6;—22
PG (1-5; 1-4);0;7;0;13;—20
Scoring
2nd Quarter
PG — Snyder 10-yard TD run, Renninger PAT (3:51)
3rd Quarter
MAH — Blocked punt safety (9:39)
MAH — Rucker 60-yard punt return TD, Kowalick 2-pt run (5:47)
MAH — Quick 38-yard fumble return TD (4:12)
4th Quarter
MAH — Kowalchick 22-yard pick-six TD return (8:00)
PG — Snyder to Ballard 6-yard TD pass, Renninger PAT (5:39)
PG — Snyder to Schneck-Haines 13-yard TD pass (2:43)
