Lane Hubbard and Eddie Sebright paired to lead the Eagles to a narrow road victory over the previously unbeaten Warriors.
GLEN ROCK -- The Bermudian Springs football team still had some unresolved questions heading into Friday's contest with Susquehannock. The Eagles, one of the preseason favorites to capture the York-Adams Division III title, had started 1-1 against a pair of Division II teams, falling to New Oxford before routing York Suburban last week.
A clash with the Warriors, who looked the part of a D-II contender in their 2-0 start, would help answer this burning question -- just how good are the Bermudian boys? As it turned out, coach John Livelsberger's squad is pretty good indeed.
In a low-scoring, back-and-forth game, the Eagles used two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 44-yard connection from quarterback Lane Hubbard to running back Eddie Sebright, to capture an impressive 21-14 victory in Glen Rock.
"The line did a great job tonight," Hubbard said after his team racked up 180 yards on the ground in the triumph. "They played their butts off."
Coming off a five-touchdown performance against the Trojans last week, Hubbard struggled early on against a formidable Susquehannock defense. The junior completed 8 of 15 passes for 133 yards for the contest, but was just 2-of-8 with an interception in the first half.
"The air wasn't really working too well for me (in the first half)," Hubbard said. "So we just handed it off to Eddie and Eddie couldn't be stopped. He was just pushing and pushing. Our running back always do great and they seem to get us positive yards every single time."
Hubbard found his touch in the second half, completing four his six passes in the second half on the drive capped off by Sebright's score.
If it weren't for the heroics of Sebright, who ran for 128 yards in addition to his 54 yards on two receptions, the Warriors (2-1) may have left Friday's contest with an unbeaten record. While only four of Sebright's 21 carries went for more than nine yards, the senior had only three negative runs while picking up eight first downs on the evening. That included a 4-yard run on a fourth-down play that put the Eagles ahead early in the final quarter.
Trailing in the second half for the first time all season, the Warriors answered back. Senior QB Josh Pecunes led the offense on an eight-play, 65-yard drive that he capped off with his own fourth-down conversion, a 34-yard scamper in which he sidestepped two Bermudian tacklers before reaching the end zone.
The Eagles (2-1) countered with their own eight-play, 75-yard drive. Sebright's biggest play of the night came on a critical third-and-6 at the Susky 44 with just over two minutes left in a 14-14 deadlock. Hubbard found his running back open in the flat at the line of scrimmage and Sebright did the rest, taking the play 44 yards to the house.
Hubbard admitted that he initially thought he overthrew the 5-foot-7 Sebright, and even when he saw him grab the pass, Hubbard figured he would quickly be tackled. Instead, Sebright eluded several Warrior defenders in the middle of the field before turning on the jets for a back-breaking score.
"To be honest, I thought I threw it over his head," Hubbard said. "But then I saw him grab it and I looked at the sideline for the next play and didn't realize he scored."
'Beat ourselves': After back-to-back impressive victories to begin the season, the Susquehannock boys were understandably feeling good about themselves. With Pecunes playing at an all-star level, the Warriors cruised to a 26-10 win at Delone Catholic before allowing 15 total yards in last week's 44-0 shutout of Littlestown.
A formidable foe in Bermudian, combined with a slew of costly penalties and a critical turnover late in the first half, certainly didn't help Susky's goal to get to 3-0 on the season.
"We had a lot of mental mistakes," Susquehannock coach Joe Sorice said. "Those 30 or 40 yards of penalties we had (in key moments) were just due to being sloppy and undisciplined and that is going to change next week."
The Warriors took the lead midway through the first half as Pecunes -- who rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 111 more -- did his best impression of Kyler Murray, eluding several would-be tacklers in the backfield before eventually completing a 15-yard touchdown run.
After the defense forced a turnover on downs at their own 26 late in the first half, the Warriors' sloppiness caught up to them. With just over a minute left in the half, Pecunes threw a backwards pass that was dropped and recovered by the Eagles at the Susky 19. Two plays later, Colby Watkins scored on a 3-yard plunge to even the score with 44.3 seconds left.
"That was not even supposed to be a backwards pass," Sorice said, clearly frustrated by the result.
The Susky defense did a good job of keeping Bermudian in check most of the night. The Eagles had a long drive to start the game but turned the ball over on downs at the Susky 12. Their next drive was halted by an interception in the end zone by Joe Fuller before a quick three-and-out on their next possession preceded Pecunes' initial score.
Berm then turned the ball over on downs once again at the Susky 26, and nifty 20-yard run by Dawson Zorbaugh seemed to be just what the Warriors needed for a potential scoring drive to end the first half. But a penalty for an ineligible player downfield, combined with an unsportsmanlike penalty, negated Zorbaugh's run before the backwards pass gave the Eagles the opportunity they needed.
"It seems like whenever we put a challenge before these guys, they come through it," Sorice said. "But we can't beat ourselves."
With Pecunes at the helm, the Susky boys are always a threat to score when they have the ball. The senior signal-caller avoided Bermudian pressure defensively all night by making a key pass or scrambling to keep drives alive. He directed the Susky boys over midfield with over a minute left, but his pass for Fuller -- who made a highlight-reel one-handed catch at the end of the first half -- was intercepted by Dylan Hubbard to seal the victory for the Eagles.
"We knew they (Susky) were going to be physical," Livelsberger said. "This was a great game by both teams, but unfortunately there has to be a winner, and we were fortunate enough to come out on the right end tonight."
Bermudian is set to open Division III play against Fairfield next Friday, while Susquehannock will look to rebound by hosting Red Lion in its non-divisional finale.
Rushing: BS, Eddie Sebright 23-128, Nayel Lua 7-38, Jack Gautsch 6-12, Colby Watkins 2-6, Lane Hubbard 1-(-4); Sus, Josh Pecunes 14-91, Dawson Zorbaugh 9-56, Ryan Simons 1-5, Grayston Copenhaver 1-(-1).
Passing: BS, Hubbard 8-15-1, 133; Sus, Pecunes 11-13-1, 111.
Receiving: BS, Sebright 2-54, Gautsch 3-18, Dylan Hubbard 2-44, Lua 1-17; Sus, Joe Fuller 5-66, Nick Burns 2-20, Zorbaugh 1-15, Maddox Jackson 1-4, Simons 1-3, Brooks McKnight 1-3.