Photo of receiver Evan Snyder. He had six catches, 104 yards and 2 TDs
DALLAS — Midway through the third quarter Friday night, Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish kept starting quarterback Elijah Jordan on the bench for an offensive series. Opening night had been a struggle for the converted running back, and Jordan was playing on offense, defense and special teams. So Gravish gave the senior a quick break.
Whatever happened during that quick breather, Jordan returned to the field at Mountaineer Stadium a different player. Jordan completed 13 of his final 20 passes for 156 yards, including a game-winning touchdown with 43 seconds left to give the second-ranked Bulldogs a come-from-behind 28-21 win over returning state finalist Dallas.
Jersey Shore passed its first test in a year where it has ramped up its schedule to nothing like the Bulldogs have ever played against. Jordan and Shore were trailing 21-7 when he returned from his quick break, and the Bulldogs rallied off the final 21 points of the night to take a stunning win.
“It says a lot about these guys,” Gravish said. “We have a lot of newcomers who showed up big time in a big time game. I’m so proud of the resiliency we showed after halftime. At 21-7 our backs were against the wall and it was time to make plays and the kids never quit. I’m sure darn proud to be part of it.”
Shore was out of sync for the better part of 2 1/2 quarters Friday night against a Dallas team which should again battle for a District 2 championship. It ran the ball for just 19 yards on 23 carries in the first half, largely because of five sacks registered against Jordan, who was making his first career start at quarterback after being the Bulldogs’ second-leading rusher a year ago. Jordan also struggled throwing the ball, completing just 3 of 10 passes for 70 yards and an interception.
The Bulldogs’ lone offensive spark in the first 30 minutes of the game came on an option pass from Carson Watkins to Luke Ryan. It was a trick play which gained 46 yards and finally injected some life into the Shore offense. Four plays later, Jordan floated a beautiful fade pass to Evan Snyder, who wrestled the ball away from Dallas’ Gavin Lewis for his first of two touchdown receptions last night.
“Evan is a threat anywhere on the field,” Gravish said. “But scoring there allowed us to get back to some of the ordinary things we do extraordinarily well.”
It still took some time to click on both sides of the ball for Shore. The defense surrendered three touchdown passes on wide receivers screens where Mountaineer receivers Lewis and Logan Geskey had open lanes to the end zone.
Lewis’ first of two catch-and-run scores came just over 2 minutes into the game from 23 yards out. Geskey added a 40-yarder midway through the second quarter to give the Mountaineers a 14-7 lead.
Lewis pushed that lead to 21-7 with 3:06 left in the third quarter. Shore’s defense read the screen perfectly. But Dallas quarterback Brady Zapoticky (223 yards, 3 TDs) held the ball for an extra second allowing Lewis to slip behind the defense and go 36 yards for his second touchdown.
“They have a really nice left tackle and he gets our there and bodied up our corner,” Gravish said. “We need our corner to make that play, but we also need the safety, and a backer, and the defensive end to get out there and make a play. But (Lewis) just outraced us the whole way. He was really good for them last year, too.”
At 21-7, Dallas was in total control. But that was also when Shore’s offense finally found its footing.
Jordan completed 3 of 5 passes on the ensuing drive, including another 50/50 ball to Snyder which he again wrestled away from Lewis for a 16-yard touchdown with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
“All I saw was the ball in the air and I knew I had to go get it,” Snyder said. “There was a little frustration at halftime, but as soon as we come together like we did, it feels like nothing can stop us.”
While Shore’s defense took away any semblance of Dallas’ running game despite returning 1,000-yard back Dylan Geskey, the Bulldogs’ offense continued to build. Jordan went 5 for 5 for 42 yards to set up a Bo Sechrist 1-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter to tie the game, 21-21.
And after Dallas’ Rowan Laubach missed a 40-yard field goal attempt wide right with 2:33 to go, it felt inevitable Shore would answer. Jordan took some easy yards early to move the sticks on a couple quick hitters before picking up 27 yards on a post pattern to Snyder to get to the Dallas 31-yard line.
After Jordan scrambled for 15 yards to give the Bulldogs first down at the Dallas 11, he threw a dart to Severino over the middle for an 11-yard scoring pass with just 43 seconds left to give Shore its first lead.
Jordan finished his first start at quarterback with 226 passing yards and a trio of touchdowns. After being sacked five times in the first half, he wasn’t sacked at all in the second half.
“No question, that kid can sling it,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “Those receivers are good, and that quarterback is a tough-minded young man. We knew we were going to have our hands full. We hit him and he just kept getting up.”
“We knew Elijah just needed a series. He’s on punt, he’s playing defense, and we asked him to run probably 20 times,” Gravish said. “But his elusiveness and ability to extend a play with his eyes downfield was a key for us.”
“I have no clue what happened, but I know he came back way better,” Snyder said. “He helped us move the ball and brought us some energy.”
It was only the first step in a long season which is going to include games with the likes of Delaware Valley, Williamsport, Hollidaysburg and Penn Wood. But it was an important first step Friday night for Shore.
“We’ve been in these kinds of games before, but maybe not with exactly these kids,” Gravish said. “But this is the part of tradition that never graduates.”
Jersey Shore 28, Dallas 21
Jersey Shore 0 7 7 14 – 28
Dallas 7 7 7 0 – 21
First quarter
D—Gavin Lewis 23 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Rowan Laubach kick), 9:59
Second quarter
JS—Evan Snyder 16 pass from Elijah Jordan (Brodie Herr kick), 6:55
D—Logan Geskey 40 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 6:34
Third quarter
D—Gavin Lewis 36 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 3:06
JS—Snyder 16 pass from Jordan (Herr kick), :51
Fourth quarter
JS—Bo Sechrist 1 run (Herr kick), 7:30
JS—Trent Severino 11 pass from Jordan (Herr kick), :43
JS Dal
First downs 22 13
Rushes-yds 43-116 31-42
Com-att-int 17-34-1 12-34-1
Pass yards 272 223
Total yards 388 265
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0
Penalties-yards 7-40 6-54
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Jersey Shore, Brodie Herr, 17-65; Elijah Jordan, 19-33; Bo Sechrist, 6-13, TD; Nolen Pauling, 1-5. Dallas, Dylan Geskey, 19-36; Nate Malarkey, 2-6; Brady Zapoticky, 9-1; Team, 1-(-1).
Passing—Jersey Shore, Elijah Jordan, 16-32-1, 226 yds., 3 TDs; Carson Watkins, 1-1-0, 46 yds.; Nolen Pauling, 0-1-0. Dallas, Brady Zapoticky, 12-32-0, 223 yds., 3 TDs; Team 0-1-0; Dylan Geskey, 0-1-1.
Receiving—Jersey Shore, Evan Snyder, 6-104, 2 TDs; Paul Hale, 5-45; Luke Ryan, 4-113; Trent Severino, 2-10, TD. Dallas, Logan Geskey, 4-85, TD; Gavin Lewis, 3-76, 2 TDs; Nate Malarkey, 3-47; Cole Rigol, 2-15.
INTERCEPTIONS—Jersey Shore, Luke Ryan; Dallas, Nate Malarkey.
RECORDS: Dallas (0-1); Jersey Shore (1-0).
