By Adam Cohen, Athletic Communications Assistant
MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny football team roared back from a 21-3 halftime deficit to end the 2021 campaign with a 42-38 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) victory over Oberlin at Frank B. Fuhrer Field on Saturday (Nov. 13).
Oberlin opened up the scoring with a touchdown in the first half, but not before Allegheny responded on the next drive with a field goal from Garrett Paxton (Freedom, Pa./Freedom Area).
However, the Yeomen finished the first quarter with a second touchdown and outscored Allegheny 7-0 in the last 15 minutes before halftime.
As the snow settled down, Allegheny started off the second half with quarterback Jack Johnson (Hingham, Mass./Hingham/Milford Academy) finding Tre Worship (East Cleveland, Ohio/ Shaw) for a 32-yard touchdown. Oberlin still kept the pressure on the Gators as they retaliated with a touchdown of their own to make it a 28-10 game.
Nevertheless, Johnson utilized wide receivers Anthony Steinpreis (Tempe, Ariz./Marcos De Niza) and Declan O'Brien (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) for two more touchdown passes to end the third quarter with the Gators trailing 28-23.
Within the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, the Yeomen scored their fifth touchdown of the day. Yet, Johnson continued to share the wealth as Shane Cafardi (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland) registered his fourth touchdown of the season. After a failed two-point conversion, the Gators trailed 35-29.
Allegheny's defense then prevented Oberlin from recording a first down, forcing the Yeomen to punt. Allegheny moved immediately into Oberlin's red zone as Ethan Lee (Newville, Pa./Big Spring) blocked the kick, resulting in a 13-yard deep in Yeomen territory. Following this play, Worship delivered a five-yard run to put the Gators ahead 36-35.
The defense shined once again as the Gators limited the Yeomen to a field goal. Trailing 38-36, the offense made their way to the 50-yard line before Allegheny went for it on a 4th and 11. Allegheny's strategy paid off as O'Brien caught a first down pass and placed the Gators at Oberlin's 26-yard line.
Three plays and an Allegheny timeout later, Ian Durci (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) trotted into the end zone for his first collegiate touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Johnson. With the Gators ahead 42-38 they put the final nail in the coffin as Maxwell Hammond (Gibsonia, Pa./Deer Lakes) registered two sacks on the ensuing Oberlin possession to turn the ball over to Allegheny and seal the victory.
Offensively, Johnson went 21-35 with 277 passing yards and five touchdowns after entering towards the end of the first quarter. Worship paced the Gators with 59 rushing yards on 16 attempts. Meanwhile, O'Brien led Allegheny with 89 receiving yards on five receptions, whereas Durci had a team-high six passes caught and added 37 yards.
Defensively, Hammond and Score Perkins (New Concord, Ohio/John Glenn) racked up nine tackles each. Hammond boasted a game-high 2.5 tackles for loss (TFLs), while the trio of Zach Altenbaugh (Industry, Pa./Western Beaver School), Chris Rubino (Monaca, Pa./The Kiski School) and Travis Dear (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) combined for 2.0 TFLs.
In addition to the victory, Allegheny football closed out its 37-year tenure with the NCAC by honoring seniors Jack Parker (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane), Moses Snell Jr. (North Lauderdale, Fla./Taravella), Lee, Steinpreis, Marcus Wolf (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield), Phil Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon), Christian Calle (Waterbury, Conn./Career Academy), Daeson Gibbs (Brooklyn, N.Y./Eagle Academy), Trey Adams (Grove City, Pa./Grove City), Gabriel Devore (North East, Pa./Harborcreek), Ian Craycroft (Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley), Jake Fedell (Allison Park, Pa./The Kiski School), Jared Foss (Massillon, Ohio./Washington) and Mark Torsello (New Castle, Pa./New Castle). The Gators will return to action in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) in fall 2022.
