BRADFORD — The Brookville Raiders had never played a Thursday night football game in Bradford.
And probably nobody ever saw a play like what Raiders linebacker Zach Phillips managed to pull off on the second play of the fourth quarter at Parkway Field either.
Trying to cash in on a Raiders turnover and snapping the ball on a third-and-two play from the Brookville 18 down 13 points, Owls quarterback Andrew Giordano took the snap and handed the ball to … Phillips.
The Raiders sophomore snatched Giordano’s handoff attempt and raced 78 yards for what turned out to be a game-securing touchdown as the Raiders pulled away for a 49-27 victory, their first of the season.
It’s basically a fumble recovery that never touched the ground and Phillips said it was all instinct.
“I saw the guard. My guard pulled to the left. I just shot weak side A gap, and next thing you know, I saw the ball and I just took it from I took it off like I was running back,” said Phillips, who quarterbacked in junior high. “I just saw it in the moment, and I just took it and I turned the jets on. I heard that (Logan Kohler) was catching me.
“It was a different feeling, especially out here on a Thursday night. Nobody, no other high schools playing. I can just show what I can do. Coach (Morrison) said he needed someone to step up and be the leader and I did exactly what he said.”
Morrison appreciated the big play that sapped the Owls’ momentum in an instant. They were on their way to perhaps cutting the game to a one-score contest after the Raiders broke out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter before Bradford had a first down.
“Zach’s a kid that’s always trying to do the right things,” Raiders head coach Bill Morrison said. “Once he gets clicking, he was making tackles for a loss after that as well, which is the stuff that gets me excited. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take that touchdown every time, but when we get a linebacker getting downhill and making plays … Zach’s kid with a lot of potential and sometimes we forget his coaching staff that he’s just a sophomore.”
The Raiders had two other return touchdowns as Parker Kalgren returned a punt 57 yards for that 20-0 lead with 1:58 left in the first quarter and Hayden Freeman picked off an Owls pass and returned it 88 yards for a touchdown four plays after the Owls’ Tommy Langdon intercepted a Trenton Colgan pass and went 80 yards to cut the Raiders’ lead to 27-14 with 3:54 left in the first half.
Freeman’s score gave the Raiders a 34-14 halftime lead. The Owls cut it to 34-21 on their second possession of the third quarter on Langdon’s 8-yard run at the 6:41 mark and were threatening to score again after Kohler intercepted Colgan and returned it to near midfield to set up what could’ve been a score that got them within a touchdown.
“That was the big thing,” Morrison said. “We answered the bell anytime there was adversity, even though we did jump out to the big lead.”
Raiders running back Sam Krug blasted 56 yards on what was his final carry of the game to put the Raiders up 49-21 at the 8:01 mark of the fourth quarter. Krug finished with a career-high 141 yards on 19 carries.
The Raiders outgained the Owls, 329-311, with the Owls scoring with the backups playin in the final minute on a 60-yard pass from Lucas Wallace to Max Gow with 26.4 seconds on the clock.
Colgan completed 16 of 21 passes for 176 yards with three TDs, all in the first half, and two interceptions. Colgan completed 12 of 14 passes for 167 yards in the first half with an interception.
“We thought we could hit those screens, so we went ahead and did that,” Morrison said. “Credit to (Bradford). They were trying to stack the box and stop our run game after what they saw last week, so it just worked out that way for us. And then in the second half, the run game was able to take off due to what we did in the first half.”
Colgan capped the game-opening drive with a 30-yard TD pass to Freeman on a quick out pass on the fifth play of the night. After the Raiders forced a three-and-out Owls opening drive, the Raiders went 80 yards on 10 plays to score on Colgan’s 16-yard pass to Krug on fourth-and-four at the 4:35 mark of the first quarter.
Kalgren’s punt return made it 20-0 before the Owls scored on Langdon’s 14-yard run on the fourth play of the second quarter. Langdon led the Owls with 122 yards rushing on 16 carries.
The Raiders answered the Owls again to go up 27-7 when they scored on the ensuing drive, a six-play, 65-yard possession that finished with Colgan’s 26-yard TD pass to Blake Porter.
“Any time you have to travel this far and everything and get a win, it’s nice,” said Morrison, whose Raiders played at Bradford for the third straight season. “I’m real happy for these kids. They haven’t quit on us one bit and we felt like we were moving in the right direction the last few games and we kicked the door in.”
Both teams play next Friday. The Raiders (1-4) host Port Allegany for Homecoming while Bradford (1-4) hosts Redbank Valley.