WAYNESBORO – The Mifflin County Huskies were more than obliged to receive the gift of a short field and holding on to a 3-0 lead near the end of the third quarter.
What transpired next was essentially the deciding score of a Mid-Penn Keystone Division varsity football game against the host Waynesboro Indians.
Mifflin County, a two-plus-hour drive from due north, went on to score a touchdown for what proved to be the winning points en route to a 17-6 victory.
Instead of punting the ball on fourth down from its 37-yard line, the call from the sideline was to go for it. The Indians needed six yards, but the pass fell incomplete, and the Huskies took over at the Waynesboro 37.
Before the Tribe’s failed fourth-down conversion, the Huskies (4-3) received a Boro punt and drove the ball 42 yards on 10 plays before settling for a 27-yard field goal off the leg of Joel Beamer with 2:31 left in the third quarter.
Perhaps lost among the fervor of things was how close Waynesboro came to taking a touchdown lead in the second quarter. But four straight running plays to Kean Baumgardner yielded five yards when the Tribe needed six.
Mifflin County punted from deep in its own territory, but the Huskies dodged the proverbial bullet, and Waynesboro punted on its next two possessions during a scoreless first half.
Fast forward to late in the third period. Brandon Kauffman broke free for a 21-yard run for a first down at the Indians’ 18. Two plays later, quarterback Chase Hartung lofted a pass to Lucas Hartung for the touchdown with 5.7 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Beamer’s extra point kick made it 10-0.
There was plenty of time left, and Waynesboro had some offensive life left. Finally, after failing to put up points on the previous seven possessions, the Tribe marched 80 yards on seven plays, punctuated by a 12-yard bullet from quarterback Rayshawn Fraser-Hewitt to Christian Munday.
Fraser-Hewitt started the drive with a 13-yard completion to Aaron Fortney. Baumgardner gained six yards, followed by a 10-yard run by Fraser-Hewitt. After a short gain and a five-yard penalty on the Indians, Steven Howard pulled in a 36-yard pass from Fraser-Hewitt for a first down at the Mifflin County 12.
The extra point was blocked, meaning Waynesboro needed a touchdown and couldn’t tie the game with a field goal.
It didn’t matter because the Huskies took the ensuing kickoff and drove 60 yards for an insurance score. Kauffman, who ran 17 yards on the first play of the possession, scored on a seven-yard run to make it 17-6 after the extra point.
The key takeaway from the game was that it was a very winnable game, as was Waynesboro’s home contest two weeks ago against Palmyra (a 9-7 loss).
The loss drops Waynesboro’s record to 2-5, with a Homecoming game this Friday on tap against Mechanicsburg.
Photos by Toya McCleary:
