ALTOONA — Trailing by one point at halftime, Altoona switched modes in the second half, rushing the ball 28 times for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns to take control.
That proved to be enough to get past Chambersburg, 19-14, in a Mid Penn Commonwealth game Friday night at Mansion Park.
Jashaun Palmer
The Trojans scored with 1:12 left on a 32-yard pass from Justin Deneen to Jashaun Palmer to make it 19-14. Chambersburg’s Deakon Snavely then recovered an onsides kick from Aaron Castillo at the Mountain Lion 43 … but the celebration was cut short when a flag was thrown for an illegal formation by the Trojans.
Chambersburg coach Gary Carter said, “They made the call because they said one of our guys crossed in front of the kicker. The official in the back called it; it had to be really close. Tough call to make at that point.”
The Trojans (1-5, 1-4 MPC) rolled up 301 yards of offense, but could manage only a pair of touchdowns. The Mountain Lion defense gave up 17 first downs and plenty of big-yardage plays, but played tough when Chambersburg got close.
Carter said, “We ran some RPO’s and our backs, Malachi Tasker and Jyshawn Dixon, and Deneen, too, ran hard. I felt like we controlled them in the first half. The coaches had a good game plan. But we had a dropped pass that should have gone for a touchdown and we had an overthrown pass that should have been a score, too.”
It did seem that Altoona (4-2, 4-1 MPC) capitalized on some really good breaks and made them work in its favor:
— On a 45-yard TD run by Mountain Lion QB Mehki Jackson, the ball was snapped early and he simply took the ball and ran, dodging through several defenders near the line. “It was a broken play, but they scored,” Carter said.
— Chambersburg linebacker Mason Mowen tipped a short Lion pass into the air … and it went right to Altoona RB Myzick Clemons.
— A punt by the Trojans’ Colton Horst (starter Devon Nalewak is out) came down around the Mountain Lion 29. Two Altoona players collided, the ball hit one of them and, even though several Chambersburg players were in the area, the ball comehow bounced 10 yards and out of bounds.
— Horst’s next punt took a huge bounce backwards and Altoona took over at the Trojan 25, from where the Lions scored the eventual game-winning TD.
Chambersburg’s defense has produced only two turnovers all season, both on interceptions.
Carter said, “Every game we’ve played, the opponent has put the ball on the ground at least twice and we haven’t been able to recover one yet. And we drill on that all the time.”
By the time Chambersburg got the ball for its third possession, it had put up 6 first downs, but no points. This time, the Trojans overcame a 3rd-and-9 on Deneen’s pass to Isaiah Ferguson for 19 yards, then made up for a holding penalty when Deneen found Ferguson down the middle and he split the secondary for a 56-yard scoring play.
That came with 3:27 left in the half, but Jackson’s scoring run made it 7-6 at the half. Altoona gained only 89 yards in the first half on 19 plays, if you eliminated Jackson’s run. In the second half, the Mountain Lions ran 30 plays for 217.
On Altoona’s opening drive of the second half, it scored on an 18-yard run by Myzick Clemons. That capped a 12-play drive that featured mostly option plays.
Jackson’s 5-yard run bumped the score to 19-7 after the Mountain Lions took advantage of the short punt.
Carter said, “Since the second half of the Cumberland Valley game, our guys have played their tails off. In four of the five game we’re lost, we really should have won. That’s on me. If we’d made a couple more plays tonight, we would have won.”
NOTES: Carillo made both extra points for Chambersburg … Deneen, who was sacked 6 times for 34 yards, hit on 16 of 27 passes for 200 yards … Tasker ran 13 times for 70 yards … Ferguson (4-75) and Palmer (4-68) were the top receivers … Jackson ran for 106 yards.
Altoona 19, Chambersburg 14
Chambersburg 0 7 0 7 — 14
Altoona 0 6 6 7 — 19
Second Quarter
Ch — Isiah Ferguson 56 pass from Justin Deneen (Aaron Carillo kick), 3:27
A — Mekhi Jackson r45 run (kick failed), 1:38
Third Quarter
A — Myzick Clemons 18 run (kick failed), 5:32
Fourth Quarter
A — Jackson 5 run (George Delbaggio kick), 2:33
Ch — Jashaun Palmer 32 pass from J.Deneen (Carillo kick), 1:12
Team Statistics
Chbg Alt
First downs 17 16
Rushes-yards 28-101 40-254
Passing 16-27-0 9-11-0
Passing yards 200 52
Total offense 301 306
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
Punts-average 5-23.2 3-44.6
Penalties-yards 3-20 3-12
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Chbg, Malachi Tasker 13-70, J.Deneen 12-18, Jyshawn Dixon 2-10, Palmer 1-3. Alt, Jackson 11-106, Clemons 18-71, Luke Geishauser 6-44, Wyatt Moyer 1-11, Cody Chathams 2-9, Vince Nedimyer 1-7, Brayden Pike 1-6.
Passing — Chbg, J.Deneen 16-27-0-200. Alt, Jackson 9-11-0-52.
Receiving — Chbg, Ferguson 4-75, Palmer 4-68, Lucas Ocker 4-36, Brock Chlebowski 1-8, Nathan Chambers 1-7, Seth Gilliam 1-5, Tasker 1-1. Alt, Nedimyer 3-23, Noah Stump 1-18, Pike 2-5, Clemons 2-4, Chathams 1-2.