Miracle in Meadville
Never-say-die Dragons rally in final 2 minutes for stunning win
MEADVILLE, Pa. – With 1:47 showing on the clock, Warren’s chances of picking up its third win of the season stood somewhere between slim and none, fading like the setting sun over Meadville’s Bender Field.
What transpired over those final 107 seconds might simply go down in Warren football lore as the ‘Miracle in Meadville.'”
“It’s pretty special,” said second-year Warren coach Mark Morelli after his team walked off the field with a 21-20 victory. “I would say this is the top moment for the Warren Dragons since I took over.”
In a rivalry that has produced a number of great games and heart-pounding moments, this one might have topped them all.
With those fateful 107 seconds left on the clock, Meadville had a first-and-goal from the 1 that was pushed back to the 6 after a false start penalty. Meadville’s Lane Reeher, who scored two touchdowns on the afternoon, was dead set on his third and game-clinching score, but, as he got stood up near the goal line, Aidan Morrison ripped the ball out of his hands and pounced on it at the 1.
“I knew they were going to be able to get a yard in four plays, and as he was falling forward into the end zone, I knew all I had was the strip so I just pulled it out of there,” Morrison said.
The play gave Warren life, but with 99 yards, 1:40 showing on the clock and a normally potent passing attack held in check for most of the afternoon, the Dragons’ task was still daunting.
Four plays and 37 seconds later, daunting turned into a lead.
And one play after that, daunting became a victory.
“I was running out on that field, praying and asking God to help us take this down the field,” said quarterback Jake Kupchella. “All I can do is thank the man upstairs who helped us out.”
Whether it was divine intervention, the big-play ability of the Warren offense, or maybe a little of both, they pulled off what mere moments earlier seemed impossible.
Marvin Bryant, who had another big game on the ground, carried the ball for five yards to get Warren out of the shadow of its own goal line.
Kupchella followed with a 20-yard completion to Devin McMeans, and an extra 15 yards were tacked on when Meadville’s Jontae Brown, picked up McMeans and body-slammed him to the turf.
Brown, arguably Meadville’s best player, was out on the next play, and McMeans was in, as in the end zone after Kupchella fired a dart to him at the Meadville 40. McMeans shook the lone defender on him and raced in for the score with 1:03 showing on the clock.
“I saw an open area and I knew that was it,” McMeans said. ” I just took the opportunity, all thanks to Jake Kupchella and everyone on this team.”
And Kupchella made those throws minutes after being knocked out of the game on a big hit from a Bulldog defender on the previous drive.
“It was a good shot but I knew with a minute left I had to lead the team back down the field and I couldn’t give up,” he said. “I threw that ball before he (Devin) even made his break and I knew all he had to do was run to it and that’s what he did.”
The Dragons were still down 1, and there was no doubt it anyone’s mind what they were going to do next.
“Never a doubt,” Morelli said. “We came here to get a win. We said all along we were going to go (for 2).”
Bryant made it look easy, racing around left end to give Warren a 21-20 lead.
The game wasn’t over, but Alex Anderson was about to make sure it was.
Meadville got the ball on its own 34, and as quarterback Colin Kilburn’s pass floated through the air, Anderson stepped in front of it for his second interception of the fourth quarter and Warren’s sixth and final takeaway of the game.
And just like that, Warren (3-2 overall, 1-2 Region 7) had its third win of the season in the most stunning way imaginable.
“It was just crazy,” Anderson said. “I saw the guy breaking on his route so I just had to come back and jump it.”
With Bryant and Brown leading the way, both teams found the end zone early, with Reeher breaking free on an 18-yard score in the first quarter and Bryant plowing through for a 10-yard score in the second quarter that, coupled with Sawyer Mohney’s extra point, gave the Dragons a 7-6 lead.
The final minute of the first half looked as if it would ultimately be what determined the outcome, however, as the Bulldogs scored twice in a span of 36 seconds to take a 20-7 lead into the locker room.
Reeher capped a 14-play drive that chewed up half of the second-quarter clock with a 2-yard plunge that made it 12-7 with 52 seconds left in the half.
A Warren fumble at its own 30 set the Bulldogs up with a short field, and they took advantage in just one play, as Kilburn found Brody Beuchat down the seam. A successful 2-point conversion sent Meadville into the locker room with a 13-point lead.
Last year, that might have been enough to do the Dragons in.
But not this team, which has grown by leaps and bounds both mentally and physically.
“You have to give the credit to the kids,” Morelli said. “Twice they could have folded up and said this game’s over.”
But it wasn’t.
Meadville drove down to the Warren 10 on its initial drive of the second half, but sophomore Micah Passmore pounced on a fumble to end the threat.
Warren drove the ball into Meadville territory on its ensuing possession, but gave the ball away when Matt Eidbo stepped in front of Kupchella’s screen pass and picked it off.
In a game in which the Dragons made a number of great defensive plays, it was Morrison, the captain of the defense, who injected life back into his team when they desperately needed it.
The senior linebacker stepped in front of a Kilburn pass, raced down the sideline, alluded a Meadville defender and got into the end zone to make it 20-13.
“I studied their film like crazy this week and knew their tendencies,” Morrison said. “I was able to jump the holes and knew that I could strip the ball a few times and jump those routes. All week we’ve known they like to run the ball. They like to run a lot of play-action, roll out to the right and run a flood pass. I knew he’d be running a deep out so I just got out there and jumped the route, made a move and got in.”
It was a signature game for Morrison, who merely has to look to the sideline as he proudly follows in the footsteps of another great Warren linebacker, his brother and current assistant coach Andrew.
“Aidan Morrison had a heck of game,” Morelli said. “Basically what we did is we went into the game with a different type of defense, thinking we could stop them. About midway through the second quarter we went back to our normal defense and we started to blitz more and put more pressure on them. That helped us to get the turnovers that enabled us to turn the game around in our favor.”
And while Morrison and Anderson made the biggest plays, it was certainly a group effort as the Dragons shut out Meadville in the second half. Collin Salapek played a dominant game along the defensive line and Passmore and fellow sophomore linebacker James Swanson were flying all over the field, as was McMeans from his safety spot.
Salapek (8 tackles) and Swanson (10 tackles) each finished with three tackles for loss, while Morrison and McMeans finished with 13 tackles each.
Jamo Douvlos also had six tackles and a fumble recovery.
And all of it added up to what Morelli described as a signature win.
And while Meadville is now 0-5 on the season, they are a team that has been to the last two District 10 Class 4A title games, winning one, and has suffered close losses to Mercyhurst Prep (which is unbeaten), Fort LeBoeuf (which beat Warren) and now the Dragons.
“It just speaks volumes about the kids, their growth and their maturity,” Morelli said. “They’re getting better each and every week and I can’t say enough about their effort. That sticks out to me the most.”
Added Kupchella: “We all came together as a team. We all looked at each other and knew we all had each other’s backs.”
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By Quarters
Warren 0 7 6 8–21
Meadville 6 14 0 0–20
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
M – Lane Reeher 18 run (PAT failed) 3:54
Second Quarter
W — Marvin Bryant 10 run (Sawyer Mohney PAT) 6:33
M – Reeher 2 run (2-point conversion faield) :52
M – Brody Beuchat 30 pass from Colin Kilburn (Sam Burchard 2-point conversion run) :16
Third Quarter
W – Aidan Morrison 56 interception return (PAT blocked) 2:20
Fourth Quarter
W – Devin McMeans 62 pass from Jake Kupchella (Bryant 2-point conversion run) 1:03
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W M
First downs 16 16
Total Net Yards 329 302
Rushes-yards 36-195 40-251
Passing
Comp-Att-Int 6-14-1 4-7-3
Punts 2-37.5 1-30.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-3
Penalties-Yards 8-55 5-55
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Warren: Bryant 24-154, 1 TD, Passmore 2-27, Kupchella 8-9, Morrison 4-7, Swanson 1-(minus)2. Meadville: Brown 16-109, Reeher 11-62, McCray 10-58, Edwards 1-12, Kilburn 2-10
PASSING–Warren: Kupchella 6-of-13, 134 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, Morrison 0-of-1. Meadville: Kilburn 4-of-7, 52 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs
RECEIVING–Warren: McMeans 2-81, Arnold 2-39, Bryant 2-14, Morrison 1-0; Meadville: Beuchat 1-30, Brown 2-15, Ferraro 1-6
INTERCEPTIONS - Warren: Anderson (2), Morrison. Meadville – Eidbo
FUMBLE RECOVERIES - Warren: Douvlos, Passmore, Morrison; Meadville: Brown
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