Nazareth improves to 3-0 with shootout win against Wilson West Lawn 35-31

Written by: David Mika on Saturday, September 7th, 2024. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

NAZARETH – The pressure in a high-scoring offense slugfest might seem like it rests solely on the defense, but there’s also weight on the coaches and players on offense to keep the points coming.

Such was the case for Nazareth Area, locked into a back-and-forth affair against Wilson West Lawn at home Friday night. The Blue Eagles late stops sealed the win for Nazareth 35-31 in a non-league game Friday night at Nazareth’s Andy Leh Stadium.

“It was a battle. We went back and forth and back and forth,” said Nazareth Coach Tom Falzone. “Offensively we were clicking and so were they.”

Leading the way was Peyton Falzone who passed for 256 yards and four touchdowns. He rushed for 76 yards and a score.

This game was like watching a Hearns vs. Hagler prize fight. It was an all-out slugfest between both teams.

Both teams combined for 66 points and over 800 yards of total offense.

Quarter by Quarter breakdown

The first quarter was back and forth with big plays by both teams from the start.

The Blue Eagles struck first when Falzone hit Caleb Newsome on a deep throw for a 52-yard touchdown. Wilson answered right back with Madyx Gruber’s four- yard touchdown run tied the game up at seven.

Falzone hit another deep pass. This time to Tanner Zelachowski for 62 yards. Gruber answered back with his second rushing touchdown of the quarter. This time from one yard out. But the missed extra point by the Bulldogs gave Nazareth a slight edge 14-13 after one.

The second quarter was no different.

Falzone threw for two touchdowns in the quarter. One to Newsome for 35 yards and a 43-yard touchdown to Matt Leluga.

Wilson kept the pace when Gruber got his third rushing touchdown this time from one-yard out and Correll Akings scored from one-yard out.

Gruber finished the night passing for 236 yards and rushed for three touchdowns.

It came down to which team could stop the other’s offense first. The Bulldogs got that stop late in the first half. On fourth down, Nazareth’s pass by Falzone went incomplete.

Wilson took advantage. They drove down the field and Christo Hunsicker kicked a 32-yard field goal with no time left in the first half to give Wilson a 31-28 lead.

“It was an offensive slugfest the first half,” said Peyton Falzone. “They had a good game plan and we did too and both teams executed it.”

As good as both offenses were in the first half, the defense stood tall. The only score in the second half was a Falzone 50-yard run down the sidelines for the score. That touchdown put the Blue Eagles up 35-31 with 4:01 left in the third quarter.

The play of the game

With under a minute to play in the game, Wilson had the ball at the Blue Eagles goal line. Akings took the handoff and cut up the middle to what looked like the go ahead touchdown.

But Cash Mosteller and Brady Henry hit Akings simultaneously and he fumbled the ball into the end zone. Matt Dorniak fell on the ball and Nazareth took over on downs.

Nazareth couldn’t get the first down and had to punt the ball back to Wilson with less than 30 seconds to go in the game. After three incomplete passes, it came down to fourth down with five seconds left in the game. Gruber threw the ball into the end zone, but it fell incomplete and the Blue Eagles held on for the victory.

“Our defense stepped up in the end and made big plays,” said Tom Falzone. “We survived and it’s a long road ahead.”

Scoring summary

Friday, September 6, 2024	1	2	3	4	Final
Wilson Area	13	18	0	0	31
Nazareth Area	14	14	7	0	35

1st Quarter
N: Caleb Newsome 52 yard pass from Peyton Falzone (Owen Hall kick) 10:59
W: Madyx Gruber 4 yard run (Christo Hunsicker kick) 6:59
N: Tanner Zelachowski 62 pass from Peyton Falzone (OwenHall kick) 6:07
W: Madyx Gruber 1 yard run (kick no good) 2:14

2nd Quarter
N: Caleb Newsome 35 yard pass from Peyton Falzone (OwenHall kick) 10:46
W: Madyx Gruber 1 yard run (Cameron Zullinger pass from Madyx Gruber) 7:07
N: Matt Leluga 43 yard pass from Peyton Falzone (Owen Hall kick) 6:07
W: Correll Akings 1 run (Hunsicker kick) 2:37
W: Christo Hunsicker 32 yard field goal 0:00

3rd Quarter
N: Peyton Falzone 50 run (Owen Hall kick) 4:01

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