NEWVILLE — By the end of the first half Friday night, Greencastle-Antrim held a 16-6 lead over Big Spring.

However, the Blue Devils did not score any more points and the Bulldogs turned it around with two touchdowns of their own to steal a 20-16 win in a Mid Penn Colonial football clash in Newville.

Asher Whitson

Greencastle (1-4, 1-3 MPC) had the offense working early in the game. Blake Reuter found the end zone on a 41-yard pass play from Sean Marshall to open the scoring.

In the second quarter, Carter McCauley ran the ball in from 2 yards out for a touchdown after he and Marshall connected on a 33-yard passing play on which Carter made a diving catch at the Bulldog 2. Andrew Bowers converted a 30-yard field goal try to raise the score to 16-0.

“Our offense played well early and we had some other opportunities that we missed on,” G-A coach Devin McCauley said. “Let’s say that we left some points on the board.

“In the second half we had two good scoring chances, but a penalty hurt us on one and on the other we made a mistake. The running game was working pretty well, and we moved the ball between the 20s. But we didn’t finish enough and that hurt us.”

Big Spring’s star running back, Grant Hall, had a lot to say about the eventual outcome. Hall scored all three TDs for the Bulldogs (1-4, 1-3 MPC), on runs of 1 yard in the second quarter, 3 yards in the third quarter to make it 16-13, and 37 yards in the fourth quarter to give his team the lead for good.

Hall ended up with 27 carries for 232 yards and also hauled in a pass for 39 yards.

McCauley said, “There was a big turning point after we went ahead 16-0. They ran a fake punt and converted it, but we held them without allowing a score. But then we went three-and-out, had to punt and they went down and got a touchdown before halftime.”

Marshall ended up 10-for-20 for 140 yards, and McCauley caught 6 balls for 77 yards. Asher Whitson was the top running back with 9 carries for 61 yards. Greencastle had 209 yards of offense.

“We couldn’t find a way to win,” McCauley said. “The last two games we haven’t scored in the second half. We haven’t finished drives and that’s been our Achilles heel.”

Big Spring 20, Greencastle-Antrim 16
Greencastle            7     9     0     0     —     16
Big Spring               0     6     7     7     —     20
First Quarter
GA — Blake Reuter 41 pass from Sean Marshall (Andrew Bowers kick)
Second Quarter
GA — Carter McCauley 2 run (kick failed)
GA — Andrew Bowers 30 field goal
BS — Grant Hall 3 run (kick blocked)
Third Quarter
BS — Hall 1 run (kick good)
Fourth Quarter
BS — Hall 37 run (kick good)
Individual Statistics
Rushing — GA, Asher Whitson 9-61, Reuter 10-41, Marshall 4-27, Noah Shifflett 6-24, Lars Galinanes 7-14, McCauley 1-2.
Passing — GA, Marshall 10-20-0-140.
Receiving — GA, McCauley 6-77, Reuter 2-45, Shifflett 1-9, Wyatt Hall 1-9.