Sussex Central Malik Bell #5 looks for running room in the Golden Knights 37-33 victory over Middletown. Photo by Dar’Juan Pitts
Georgetown – In baseball it’s called a walk-off, in basketball a buzzer beater, but in football it’s called an epic finish. Number four ranked Sussex Central, trailing by four with 12 seconds left, quarterback Bradley Chavez found JuJuan Sturgis in the endzone for a touchdown and a 37-33 victory over number two ranked Middletown.
Chavez was 6 for 15 passing for 82 yards and three touchdowns for the Golden Knights.
“One of the best compliments you can get as a coach is that your kids don’t give up. Even if we didn’t make that last catch I would have been proud of these guys for the way they fought back to the end,” Sussex Central head coach John Wells.
Middletown took the opening kickoff and went 80 yards on nine plays, capping off the scoring drive when Derian Cunningham hooked up with Darius Pope on a five-yard touchdown pass. Austin Hamm converted on the kick as the Cavaliers took a 7-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff Malik Bell returned the ball to the 32 yard line before fumbling and the Cavaliers Arric Dawkins recovered the ball giving Middletown a short field.
One play later Cunningham and Pope hooked up again for a 32 yard touchdown pass. The Golden Knights blocked the kick, but Middletown jumped out to a 13-0 lead just a mere four minutes into the game.
Sussex Central answered three plays later when Chavez found Will Harmon on a route out of the backfield for a 40 yard touchdown pass. Rodney Escobar-Gonzalez converted the kick as the Golden Knights cut the lead to 13-7 with 5:41 to play in the first quarter.
The defense took over for both teams for the second quarter. Anai Burney-Green intercepted a Harmon pass at the Middletown 42 yard line with 1:29 to play in the first half. The Cavaliers took advantage of the turnover when Daniel Davis took a short pass from Cunningham and then eluded two defenders in the open field for a 34 yard touchdown. Hamm converted the kick to give Middletown a 20-7 lead at halftime.
Sussex Central turned the ball over a total of four times in the game with Middletown scoring 20 points off turnovers.
The Golden Knights opened the second half with a 12 play 80 yard scoring drive consuming over five minutes capped off with a seven yard pass play from Chavez to Bell. The PAT was blocked as Middletown held a 20-13 lead.
Sussex Central struck again early in the fourth quarter on a three yard touchdown run by Harmon who also ran in the two point conversion to give the Golden Knights their first lead of the game 21-20.
The Cavaliers answered just a minute later when B.J. Garrett hauled in a 58 yard pass from Cunningham for a touchdown. The run conversion failed and Middletown retook the lead 26-21.
Middletown struck again as Sussex Central was driving deep into the Cavaliers end of the field. Chavez bobbled a bad exchange on the snap as he attempted to grab the ball out of mid air Morgan Davis gathered up the loose ball and raced 80 yards for a touchdown. Hamm converted the kick giving Middletown a 33-21 lead with just 5:32 to play in the game.
“We could have hung our heads and quit after that scoop and score, but these guys showed tenacity tonight to come back the way they did,” Wells said.
Sussex Central scored twice to close out the game. Harmon scored on a two yard run and Chavez added the conversion run to cut the Middletown lead to 33-29 with just 3:15 left to play. The Golden Knights forced a punt on the next Middletown possession before Sturgis ended the game on his touchdown reception.
Bell rushed for 215 yards on 30 carries for Sussex Central while Garrett led Middletown with five catches for 133 yards and a touchdown. Harmon scored three times for Sussex Central, two rushing and one receiving and Pope caught four passes for 84 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Sussex Central improves to 2-0 and will be idle next week before traveling to Delaware Military Academy on Sept. 20.
Middletown drops to 1-1 on the season, they will head to cross district foe Odessa next Friday for a 7:00PM kickoff.
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