GREENCASTLE — This was the game Greencastle-Antrim had been waiting for.

Brady Diller

The Blue Devils have been close in several of their losses in football this fall, but Friday night at Kaley Field, they prevailed in a wild Mid Penn Colonial thriller over West Perry, 37-34, that took a massive G-A comeback and three overtimes to decide.

In the end, Brady Diller secured an 11-yard pass from Taylor Conrad in the end zone to erase a 34-31 Mustangs lead and send the crowd into a frenzy.

“We kept knocking on the door and we finally got one,” an ecstatic Greencastle coach Devin McCauley said. “I am really happy for the kids and the staff for hanging in there and getting a big win on Senior Night. This was great for the kids, who have worked their tails off. We’ve had some good practices and the kids were rewarded for that tonight.”

It took a huge comeback for Greencastle (4-5, 2-4 MPC) to even be in position for a win.

The Mustangs (4-5, 2-4 MPC) scored in the second period on a 38-yard fumble return by Ian Goodling and he kicked a field goal as time expired in the first half for a 10-0 lead. When Connor Wheeler scored on a 28-yard pass with 5:15 left in the third, West Perry held a 17-0 lead.

But Diller got the comeback started when he took a misdirection handoff two plays later and scored on a 52-yard jaunt. On the first play of the fourth quarter, G-A quarterback Conrad snuck in from a yard out to make it 17-14. Then with 1:08 left in regulation, Nate Kirkwood drilled a 23-yard field goal to the the game.

“That score by Diller got us going, and then the defense played solid — they did the whole night,” McCauley said. “When it was 17-0, we could have said, ‘Here we go again’ and folded, but we didn’t.”

The Mustangs tried to get in position to score, but two incomplete passes stopped the clock and they had to punt. A good punt return by Austin Wyand put Greencastle in business at the 50 and two quick sideline passes set up Kirkwood for a 43-yard field goal attempt. But he missed it slightly left, sending the game into overtime.

McCauley said, “I was proud of the kids for doing what we had to do to get set up for that field goal. It was deep enough; he just pulled it. We could have lost some momentum there, but we didn’t let it bother us.”

West Perry scored a touchdown in the first overtime, but on G-A’s second play, Tavon Cooper ran it in from 10 yards out to tie it. In the second OT, Diller caught a 9-yard pass from Conrad to put the Devils up 31-24, but the Mustangs’ Goodling caught a 10-yard TD pass from Quaker.

In the third overtime, West Perry had to settle for a 24-yard Goodling field goal.

Seth Stouffer

“We got a stop on third down, which was huge,” McCauley said. “We had two big plays by Seth Stouffer in press coverage. He defended a slant pass on second down and a slant-and-out on third down.”

On Greencastle’s second play, the Conrad-to-Diller connection worked again to win the game.

McCauley said, “The student section came on the field and it was pretty chaotic. The fans were great tonight. It was an evenly-matched and physical football game. Hats off to West Perry for a great game, but it was just nice to get one of these close ones.”

The Blue Devils finish the season next Friday at 9-0 Shippensburg.

Greencastle-Antrim 37, West Perry 34
West Perry                  0    10     7     0     7     7     3     —     34
Greencastle                0      0     7    14     7    7     7     —     37
Second Quarter
WP — Ian Goodling 38 fumble return (Goodling kick), 1:45
WP — Goodling 39 field goal, 0:00
Third Period
WP — Connor Wheeler 28 pass from Marcus Quaker (Goodling kick), 5:32
GA — Brady Diller 52 run (Nate Kirkwood kick), 5:15
Fourth Quarter
GA — Taylor Conrad 1 run (Kirkwood kick), 11:56
GA — Kirkwood 23 field goal, 1:08
First Overtime
WP — Derek Snook 2 run (Goodling kick)
GA — Tavon Cooper 10 run (Kirkwood kick)
Second Overtime
GA — Diller 9 pass from Conrad (Kirkwood kick)
WP — Goodling 10 pass from Quaker (Goodling kick)
Third Overtime
WP — Goodling 24 field goal
GA — Diller 11 pass from Conrad
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — WP, Trent Herrera 18-132, Snook 7-25, Quaker 9-15, Wheeler 2-9. G-A, Cooper 19-119, Diller 5-63, David Niebauer 7-29, Conrad 4-8.
Passing — WP, Quaker 23-33-0–219, Team 0-1-0–0. G-A, Conrad 6-10-0–106.
Receiving — WP, Goodling 14-118, Dylan Gutshall 3-36, Wheeler 2-35, Herrera 3-23, Isaiah Weller 1-7. G-A, Darren Klein 1-52, Ethan Shank 2-21, Diller 2-20, Cooper 1-13.