Huge comeback nets Fleetwood OT victory, Eastern Conference 4A title
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Logan Moyer — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
COAL TOWNSHIP — The referees waited for what felt like an eternity to make the call.
Hanging in the balance was the Eastern Conference Class 4A trophy. Fleetwood had scored 27 straight points to send the game into overtime, but none of that would have mattered if the officials ruled that Trey Killian was short of the end zone on his two-point conversion attempt.
“I’m thinking, this could either be the best or worst moment of my life,” said Fleetwood quarterback Jack Riffle. “Right away, I thought that ball was over.”
The line judge agreed, outstretching both hands upwards towards the cold Friday night sky, sending the Tigers’ sideline into a frenzy celebrating their 42-41 overtime victory over Shamokin at Kemp Memorial Stadium.
“It was like it was out of a movie,” Riffle said. “The refs had to clear off the pile and see if the ball was across the line or not. Thankfully, it was.”
A penalty against the Indians on Czion Brickle’s 3-yard touchdown run set up the opportunity to go for the conversion with the ball now on the 1-yard line instead of the 2.
“Trey Killian did an awesome job,” Riffle said. “The line was just perfect. They actually called the play.”
Overtime, much less a Fleetwood victory, was unthinkable with 11:13 remaining in the third quarter, when a 35-yard TD run by Za’kem Clinton gave the Indians (5-6) a 34-7 lead.
The Tigers answered with 27 straight points over the final 23:13 to force overtime.
It took a miracle onside kick recovery for the Tigers (6-5) to get in position to force overtime. Czion Brickle’s 1-yard TD run with 1:23 left in the fourth quarter put the Tigers within one score; a 2-yard TD reception by Tristan McFarland after the onside kick recovery tied the game. The latter drive contained two fourth-down conversions.
“(At halftime), I reminded them that we’ve grinded out games before where we’ve had to come back,” said Fleetwood head coach Steve Pangburn. “A lot of these guys, it was their last game. I sent home the message that we leave it all out here.”
Everything went the Indians’ way in the first half. They started the game with a risky onside kick attempt, which they recovered. That didn’t result in points but it set the tone for a dominant half.
Shamokin jumped out to 27-7 lead thanks to a litany of huge plays. A 31-yard reception by Chase Pensyl opened the scoring late in the first quarter, followed by a 68-yard TD run by Clinton early in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the Tigers squandered multiple opportunities to score by electing to go for fourth-down conversions instead of kicking field goals.
“I would just say that (Shamokin) did a lot of things right early on,” Pangburn said. “They were more physical up the chute. Once things settled down and we kind of figured out what they were doing over there, we just had to shift our game plan.”
Fleetwood’s defense certainly aided the second-half comeback; the Tigers forced five turnovers, including two while Shamokin was in the red zone.
“(Shamokin) was loosey goosey with the ball a little bit,” Pangburn said. “We talked about that, we had to start ripping at (the ball) a little bit. We had to make things happen quickly.”
The offense more than held up their end of the bargain. The Tigers tallied 646 yards offensively – 415 in the air, 231 on the ground.
There were countless records broken amidst the comeback. Senior wideout Mason Musitano set the program’s single-game record for receptions (15), receiving yards (206), single-season receptions (59) and career touchdown catches (18, tied).
Riffle’s 415 passing yards shattered the previous record of 327, set by Luke Emge in 2015. Brickle also became the second Tigers player to rush for 2,000 career yards, running for 163 yards and finding the end zone three times.
“They’re special,” Pangburn said. “Jack played the best game of his career tonight. I’m so proud of him, and Mason, too, for that matter. Complete team effort; I’m at a loss for words really.”
Riffle put the ball into the air 49 times, completing 26 passes – over half of which went to Musitano.
“We’ve been at it since we were 5 years old, flag football and playing in the ditch,” Musitano said. “We’re going to go out there and show what we’ve been working on for 13 years of our life now.”
Riffle, Musitano, Brickle and Fleetwood’s nine other seniors end their high school careers how very few do – with a win, lifting a trophy into the air and celebrating the entire 59-mile drive home.
“It means the whole world, man,” Musitano said. “Everyone remembers their last high school game. This is pretty special.”
Combined with their 2021 win, two Eastern Conference trophies now belong to Fleetwood – pretty impressive for a program that’s only existed for 23 years and now has five winning seasons.
“It’s been our mission to build this program,” Pangburn said. “This is how you do it, you win ballgames.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final | |
| Fleetwood | 0 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 8 | 42 |
| Shamokin | 7 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 41 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Shamokin | Pensyl, 31 pass from Steele (Pensyl kick) | 1:21 |
| 2 | Shamokin | Clinton, 68 run (Pensyl kick) | 10:55 |
| 2 | Fleetwood | Brickle, 55 run (Maurek kick) | 8:29 |
| 2 | Shamokin | Bell, 43 pass from Steele (kick missed) | 8:13 |
| 2 | Shamokin | Delvalle, 7 run (Pensyl kick) | 2:41 |
| 3 | Shamokin | Clinton, 35 run (Penyl kick) | 11:13 |
| 3 | Fleetwood | Musitano, 17 pass from Riffle (run failed) | 4:22 |
| 4 | Fleetwood | Brickle, 52 pass from Riffle (Maurek kick) | 8:41 |
| 4 | Fleetwood | Brickle, 1 run (Maurek kick) | 1:28 |
| 4 | Fleetwood | McFarland, 2 pass from Riffle (Maurek kick) | 0:11 |
| OT | Shamokin | Clinton, 10 run (Pensyl kick) | |
| OT | Fleetwood | Brickle, 3 run (Killian run) |
Team statistics
| Fleetwood | Shamokin | |
| First downs | 24 | 16 |
| Rushes-yards | 40-231 | 39-381 |
| Passing yards | 415 | 193 |
| Total yards | 646 | 574 |
| Passes | 26-49-0 | 7-8-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 5-5 |
| Punts-average | 1-43 | 2-41.5 |
| Penalties-yards | 12-80 | 6-20 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Fleetwood: Brickle 25-163, Petion 6-29, Riffle 6-25, McFarland 3-14.
Shamokin: Clinton 16-215, Steele 6-101, Ginck 3-26, Delvalle 6-22, Pensyl 4-21, Parker 1-9, Team 3-(-13).
PASSING
Fleetwood: Riffle 26-49-0–415.
Shamokin: Steele 7-8-0–193.
RECEIVING
Fleetwood: Musitano 15-206, Brickle 3-100, Hare 2-43, Moore 1-33, McFarland 4-24, Petion 1-9.
Shamokin: Parker 1-50, Pensyl 3-49, Bell 1-43, Price 1-35, Delbaugh 1-16.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Fleetwood: Maurek 49.
