GREENCASTLE — The Greencastle-Antrim football team turned the page from a rugged result a week ago to a huge victory on Friday night at Kaley Field.

The Blue Devils trailed for much of the second half, but once the offense earned the lead, the defense held Middletown in check and G-A produced its first win of the season in a Mid Penn Colonial clash, 19-16, over the Blue Raiders.

Wyatt Hull

“The defense played really well tonight,” Greencastle coach Jason Thurston said. “Defensive coordinator Spencer Long and his guys did a good job. They made some stops on fourth-and-short at crucial times.”

Middletown broke a 6-6 halftime tie with a drive fueled by running back Luis Roman to take a 13-6 lead. The Blue Devils answered on a 26-yard fake reverse run by Asher Whitson, but the extra kick was blocked for a second time, leaving the Blue Raiders in front 13-12.

It did not look good for G-A when Middletown zipped down the field by hitting some passes, good for a first down at the Blue Devil 1.

But Seth Kielek put a big-time hit on a running back for a 2-yard loss, then after an incompletion, Elijah Ambrose made a tackle for another loss and the Blue Raiders had to settle for a field goal.

“They ran it down our throats at times, but I expected them to do more passing than they did,” Thurston said.

Greencastle (1-2, 1-1 MPC) got a 32-yard kickoff return by Noah Shifflett to set up the go-ahead score, which came when Blake Reuter broke a third-and-1 play for a 21-yard touchdown with 11:54 left.

The Blue Raiders (2-1, 1-1 MPC) stalled on their next possession and G-A took over on its 32. It got one first down on a Middletown encroachment penalty, and another when Reuter scooted to the Blue Raider 33 on fourth-and-1.

Greencastle ran the clock down to 2:40 before a fumbled pitch lost big yardage. Middletown got the ball back with two timeouts at its own 25. On the first play, QB Harrison Ortiz flipped a pass to Nickayus Zenon, who broke two tackles and took it to the house … except a holding call brought it back to the Middletown 34.

The Blue Raiders got one first down when Roman was stopped short on fourth down, but he fumbled and it was recovered by his team ahead of the sticks. One more first down moved the ball to the G-A 49, but two passes fell incomplete to end the game.

“Overall, the kids played hard and they deserved a win,” Thurston said. “The offense really came alive, even though we didn’t finish a couple of drives. We made it a goal to have better passing and we did.”

Reuter gained 64 yards and made 6 tackles. Lane Barry completed 8 of 14 passes for 80 yards and Wyatt Hull caught 3 balls for 51 yards.

The Blue Devils play at East Pennsboro next Friday.

Greencastle 19, Middletown 16
Middletown             0     6     10     0     —     16
Greencastle              6     0      6      7     —     19
First Quarter
G — Blake Reuter 4 run (kick blocked)
Second Quarter
M — Luis Roman 26 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
M — Roman 1 run (kick good)
G — Asher Whitson 26 run (kick blocked)
M — 24-yard field goal
Fourth Quarter
G — Reuter 21 run (Blake Witmer kick)
Team Statistics
                                            Midd           G-A
First downs                          12               17
Rushing yards                    153             175
Passing yards                       95               91
Total offense                       248             266
Fumbles-lost                        1-0              1-0
Individual Leaders
Rushing —  Midd, Roman 19-96. G-A, Reuter 10-64, Lars Galinanes 10-46, Whitson 3-30, Noah Shifflett 5-27, Lane Barry 2-4, Spencer Long 1-(-1).
Passing — Midd, Harrison Ortiz 7-17-0-95. GA, Barry 8-14-0-80, Gavin Logsdon 1-1-0-11.
Receiving — Midd, Zenon 2-33. G-A, Wyatt Hull 3-51, Shifflett 1-11, Colby Armstrong 1-11.