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Owl rally falls short against Bishop Guertin

Saturday, September, 10 By Jeff Hamrick

TIMBERLANE – Owning a roster loaded with Division II state championship experience, chances were Timberlane wouldn’t cower when facing Division I adversity.

And while they saw their 13-game winning streak come to an end Friday night in a 23-20 defeat to Bishop Guertin, the Owls proved more than capable of hanging against New Hampshire’s best with a stirring second-half rally.

“Our guys aren’t intimidated,” Timberlane coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “They’re tough kids and they’re a veteran group. They aren’t intimidated by anybody … It was a physical football game from start to finish.”

Bishop Guertin (2-0) appeared in control after an impressive drive that included an Owl personal foul on a third-and-26 play and ended with Matt Santosuosso’s second touchdown with 24 seconds left in the first half to open a 23-7 lead.

But the Owls, who got on the board late in the first quarter with a 40-yard scoring pass from Dom Coppeta to Matt Williams, cranked up the defense and opened their passing game after intermission.

After a scoreless third quarter, Coppeta found Jaden Mwangi wide open at the goal line for a 37-yard touchdown on the fourth quarter’s first play, capping a five-play drive that needed only 79 seconds.

Three plays into Timberlane’s next possession – and one play after a 9-yard sack – Coppeta found an uncovered Ed DiGiulio in the flats and the running back tore down the sidelines before juking then jiving a couple defensive backs to finish off an 82-yard touchdown.

Harrison Bloom’s extra point made the score 23-20 with 8:16 remaining.

“They did a lot of things to make us look bad in the first half,” Fitzgerald said of the Crusaders who ran twice the number of plays and gained 102 more yards in the opening two quarters. “I thought we cleaned ourselves up in the second half. We did much better defensively. We found a couple things that worked offensively. But we have to learn from this and learn to play a complete 48-minute game against a very good opponent.”

After forcing Bishop Guertin to punt on its next possession, Trey Baker’s 22-yard punt return set up the Owls at their own 47 with 4:34 left. Losses on two plays quickly left them with a fourth-and-21. But Braden Perras’ 24-yard scramble on a fake punt provided new life.

“I was hoping it would (work that well),” Fitzgerald said. “It was long, and they were in my ear. We were grasping at straws at that point. I felt that was the best opportunity to keep the ball in our hands and try to go down and win it.”

A 21-yard scramble by Coppeta helped Timberlane to a first down at the BG 28 but three penalties left the Owls facing a fourth-and-30 play that Santosuosso intercepted to end the threat with 35 seconds left.

“They had a big momentum drive at the end of the game, and we just had to lock in,” said Santosuosso, who finished with a game-high 141 yards rushing. “It really showed on that last (Timberlane) drive. We stayed composed and played our hearts out.

“I knew they were going to throw the ball to the right because they were picking on that (side) all game. Once I saw the quarterback’s eyes move to his left, I knew that ball was coming there. I was able to get to the right place.”