Brady Hughes scored the game-winning touchdown on an interception return with no time left in Chambersburg’s 26-20 win over Carlisle (photo courtesy Pictures Plus)

CARLISLE — With 1:42 remaining in the game, Carlisle’s Caleb Richwine kicked a 28-yard field goal to give his team a 20-13 lead over Chambersburg.

It appeared the Trojans’ feel-good regular season was going to end on a sour note.

But Chambersburg scored two touchdowns in that short span, including an interception return of at least 60 yards by Brady Hughes with no time on the clock to pull out a miracle 26-20 Mid Penn Commonwealth victory Friday night.

“It was a very frustrating game until the very end,” Trojan coach Mark Luther said.

Chambersburg finished the regular season with a 7-3 record (4-3 MPC) and will play a District 3 Class 6A playoff game on the road next Friday as the No. 7 seed, almost certainly at No. 2 seed Manheim Township (9-1).

“We are making some dumb mistakes that we weren’t doing earlier in the season,” Luther said. “Having to deal with some injuries is the difference, but we’ve got to get that corrected this week.”

Trailing 20-13, the Trojans drove 80 yards to score with 34 seconds left on a one-yard plunge by quarterback Brady Stumbaugh, and Tanner Luther’s kick tied the game, 20-20.

The Thundering Herd got a good kick return by Kurtis Ravenel to their own 45. One play gained nine yards, then QB Cole Wolaver threw two incompletions. On fourth down, with just 0:04 on the clock, Wolaver tried to force a pass to his left.

Hughes, who had just come onto the field for that play, replacing a linebacker, stepped in front of the pass, picked it off and set sail down the sideline. He blew past the Carlisle linemen and got a couple of shielding blocks that enabled him to reach the end zone untouched for a most improbable ending that ended with a pile of Trojan players on the field.

Luther said, “What we feared was them getting into position for their kicker, so we didn’t expect any long passes. But after the two incompletions, and with only four seconds left, they had to give it a shot long, so we put Brady in as another deep safety.

“They threw it up and Brady made a break on it, and you figure their linemen won’t make the tackle, so they had only one other guy back there and I think Garner Funk got in his way. I was praying for no blocks in the back.”

Chambersburg held a 7-3 lead at halftime, thanks to another pick six, this one for 18 yards by Tanner Hunt. The Herd scored on the final play of the first half on a 49-yard field goal by Richwine.

“We left a lot of opportunities on the table in the first half,” Luther said. “I don’t know if Carlisle got past midfield (until the next-to-last play), and we moved the ball. But we’d shoot ourselves in the foot and couldn’t score.”

On its first possession of the second half, the Herd had a nice drive and scored on an 18-yard run by backup QB Owen Hacker to take a 10-7 advantage.

Brady Stumbaugh (photo courtesy Pictures Plus)

The Trojans came back to take a 13-10 lead. Stumbaugh hit Keyshawn Jones with a 19-yard screen pass and completed a pass to Hughes for another first down. On third-and-20 from the Carlisle 22, Stumbaugh threw to Hughes, who made an outstanding catch for a touchdown, but the kick failed.

Ravenel returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield and Carlisle marched straight down the field to score on a 2-yard run by Tristyn Sulich, giving it a 17-13 advantage.

Luther said, “In the second half, they marched down the field and really shortened the game. We just couldn’t make a stop.”

The Trojans then went three-and-out, punting the ball to the Herd at the Chambersburg 44 with six minutes left. Carlisle drove to the Trojan 11 and faced fourth-and-1, and decided to have Richwine come in to kick the field goal. A first down would have ended the game because Chambersburg had used all of its timeouts.

“First they tried to make us jump offsides, which we had just done,” Luther said. “But when we didn’t, they brought in the kicker. I was happy to see that, since we didn’t have any timeouts.”

Trailing by seven with 1:42 left and starting from its own 20, the Trojans found a weakness in the Herd defense. Stumbaugh completed three passes to Kevin Lee, of 22 yards, 31 yards and 14 yards.

Kevin Lee (photo courtesy Pictures Plus) 

A holding penalty against the Herd moved the ball to the 9. Stumbaugh carried once to the 2 with 45 seconds left, and on his first sneak, Carlisle was called for a facemask, putting the ball on the 1. Stumbaugh pushed in from there and Luther’s kick tied the game.

Luther said, “Brady made some really good throws there and Kevin Lee made some good catches. When we needed to get it done, we did. It was a heck of a drive, and Tyler had a lot of pressure on him to make that kick (to tie the game), because he had been struggling.

“I just can’t say enough about the kids not giving up.”

NOTES: Keyshawn Jones had 81 yards on 15 carries … Stumbaugh hit 15 of 28 passes for 238 yards with no interceptions, which was the most completions and his second-highest yardage total of the season … DaQuan also had an interception for the Trojans … The Herd finished 3-7 (0-7 MPC).

Chambersburg 26, Carlisle 20
Chambersburg         7   0   0   19   —   26
Carlisle                      0   3   7   10   —   20
First Quarter
Ch — Tanner Hunt 18 interception return (Tyler Luther kick), 1:24
Second Quarter
Car — Caleb Richwine 49 field goal, 0:00
Third Quarter
Car — Owen Hacker 18 run (Richwine kick), 7:39
Fourth Quarter
Ch — Brady Hughes 22 pass from Brady Stumbaugh (kick failed), 10:55
Car — Tristyn Sulich 2 run (Richwine kick), 6:59
Car — Richwine 28 field goal, 1:42
Ch — Stumbaugh 1 run (Luther kick), 0:34
Ch — Hughes 74 interception return (no kick), 0:00
Team Statistics
                                               Chbg             Car
First downs                            19                 14
Rushes-yards                      33-97           39-146
Passing yards                       238               110
Passing                               15-28-0         10-21-3
Total offense                         335               256
Fumbles-lost                         1-0                 1-0
Punts-average                   6-25.8            4-37.5
Penalties-yards                   4-25               4-35
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Chbg, Keyshawn Jones 15-81, Stumbaugh 16-17, Andrew Shetter 1-4, Tyeshawn Worrell 1-(-5). Car, Sulich 25-92, Ben Nix 8-31, Hacker 2-22, Ravelel 2-1, Cole Wolaver 2-0.
Passing — Chbg, Stumbaugh 15-28-0-238. Car, Wolaver 5-12-2-71, Hacker 5-9-1-39.
Receiving — Chbg, Kevin Lee 3-67, Garner Funk 4-62, Hughes 2-39, Hunt 1-30, Shetter 2-23, Jones 1-19, Bryce Diller 1-4, Stumbaugh 1-(-6). Car, Ravenel 5-63, Nix 3-18, Tristan Wolaver 1-18, Eric Hoover 1-11.
Interceptions — Chbg, DaQuan Rogers, Hunt, Hughes.