9/14/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College football was 56 seconds away from a massive upset, but Snow College got the last laugh, scoring the game-winning touchdown with seven seconds remaining to seal a wild 43-40 victory for the Badgers over the Falcons on Saturday night at PenFed Field at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
 
The #13 Falcons (2-1) blew an eleven-point lead in the second half but made a fourth down stand at midfield with 1:44 to play, handing the ball to the offense, down 36-33. Lackawanna, which put up 388 yards of total offense, got the ball to the 33-yard line, then hit the front on a touchdown pass from Wyatt Hagan (Chantilly, VA) to Carmelo Taylor (Roanoke, VA) that made it 40-36, Falcons, with 56 seconds remaining.
 
An unsportsmanlike penalty on the ensuing kickoff placed the #3 Badgers (4-0) at their own 38-yard line, and Snow moved it to the Lackawanna one-yard line in four plays. The Badgers punched in the game-winning touchdown on a diving score from running back Adonis Tillman and led 43-40 with just seven seconds on the clock.
 
The Falcons had two seconds left after the kick return but couldn't get a pass downfield to make Snow sweat out the final play.
 
Hagan finished 19-for-33 for 279 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Maurice Edwards (Mundelein, IL) ran for 114 yards and a touchdown, while Taylor and Daryl Harper (Montgomery Village, MD) each had five receptions. Taylor led the way with 108 yards and three touchdown catches, while Harper had 62 yards receiving and a touchdown. Michael Hodge (Richmond, VA) added four catches for 81 yards. Gene Townsel (Richmond, VA) was everywhere on defense, putting up eleven tackles and three tackles-for-loss. Nyair Graham (Camden, NJ) had eight tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss.
 
Snow's Donnie Smith was 18-for-30 for 297 yards and three scores, along with two picks, while Matt Wilson led the backs with 36 yards on the ground on 20 carries. Kache Kaio led the receivers with four catches for 96 yards and a score, while Reggie Frischknecht had four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.
 
The game could not have started worse for the Falcons, as the Badgers returned the opening kick 93 yards for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead just ten seconds in. Lackawanna recovered to score a touchdown on its opening drive, helped by a pair of big runs from Edwards and capped by a touchdown pass from Hagan to Harper. However, special teams hurt Lackawanna again when the PAT failed. Snow led 7-6 with 12:23 to go in the first.
 
A Lackawanna interception, and a personal foul penalty, gave the Badgers the ball on their own 41-yard line at the ten-minute mark of the first quarter. A pass interference penalty negated a third-down stop for Lackawanna, and the Badgers hit a 46-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to make it 14-6, Badgers.
 
The Falcons answered on the next possession, with a 34-yard pass to Hodge the highlight. The score came on a nine-yard connection between Hagan and Taylor, the first of three the duo would score, and the Falcons trailed 14-13 after the extra point.
 
Snow put a ten-play drive together on their next possession, scoring on a 12-yard touchdown pass, then scoring the two-point conversion to stretch the lead out to 22-13.
 
Early in the second quarter, the Falcons punted away, but the Badgers muffed the punt and Lackawanna recovered at the Snow 2-yard line. Edwards cashed in the field position with a score to cut into the deficit at 22-20 with 12:53 to go in the second.
 
Later in the second quarter, the Falcons got good field position at the Snow 49-yard line, then advanced the ball down to the 15, before having to settle for a 41-yard field goal from Keegan Hughes (Scranton, PA). That field goal gave the Falcons their first lead of the night at 23-22 with 4:51 to play in the half.
 
After the teams traded punts, a Snow drive with just 90 seconds to go made it out to midfield, but Lackawanna got an interception from Victor Holt (Olyphant, PA), who returned the ball to the Snow 35-yard line. A 15-yard penalty pushed the ball down to the 20. Lackawanna took a shot at the end zone, and it initially looked like Hodge dragged a toe in the back to secure a touchdown, but the officials ruled him out of bounds, so Lackawanna settled for another Hughes field goal, this from 37, that made it 26-22 at the break.
 
On its first possession of the second half, the Falcons got to the Snow 11-yard line, but a third straight field goal attempt was blocked, and Snow took over at its own 35.
 
The Badgers gambled on a fourth down fake punt, but Lackawanna turned them away two yards shy of the first down. The Falcons then made the Badgers pay with a 49-yard touchdown strike to Taylor, and the Falcons opened a double-digit lead at 33-22 with 6:54 to go in the third.
 
Snow put together an impressive drive, converting three third-downs on a 12-play drive that ended in a touchdown to cut the lead back to four at 33-29.
 
In the fourth, Hagan was intercepted at his own 30-yard line on a pass to the sideline, but Snow gave it right back when Smith threw an interception to Benjamin Jones (Stroudsburg, PA) in the left corner of the endzone.
 
With about nine minutes remaining, and the Falcons still ahead at 33-29, Snow took over from its own 38. The Badgers converted a third-down, then hit a 41-yard pass down the middle where, initially, it looked like the ball popped out and hit the turf, but the officials ruled that the receiver caught the ball, and the ground forced the ball to bounce free. Lackawanna's defense got things to a fourth-and-goal from the two, but Snow converted on an excellent leak-out play to the tight end in the left corner, taking the lead with 5:27 to play at 36-33.
 
It seemed like the Falcons may have blown their chances on the next possession, when Hagan threw an interception down the left sideline, the third pick of the day for defensive back BJ Inmon. Snow had the ball with 2:47 to go and a three-point lead.
 
The Badgers moved the ball out to the 49, and faced a fourth-and-two with just under two minutes to play, but the rushing attempt by Matt Wilson fell one-yard short, as Chris Campanelli (Kenoza Lake, NY) and Andrew Marshall (Carroll, OH) held firm to give the Falcons a chance.
 
Hagan hit Harper over the middle to pick up a first down at the Snow College 28, but a false start on second down made it second-and-15 from the Snow 33 with just over a minute to go. Hagan took the low snap, shifted his shoulders, and saw Taylor one-on-one down the right sideline. Hagan lofted a pass towards the right side, and Taylor raced to grab it in the endzone. While the defender initially popped the ball up, Taylor kept his eye on the prize and snagged the loose ball in the corner for the miraculous score, putting Lackawanna up 40-36 with 56 seconds left in the game.
 
Snow returned the ensuing kick to its own 23-yard line, but a personal foul penalty by the Falcons put the Badgers up to their own 38. A 27-yard pass put Snow at Lackawanna's 35, and a 13-yard pass, followed by a 21-yard strike, had the Badgers knocking at the door on the one-yard line. A Tillman run to the left side was the difference, as he stretched over the goal line for the game-winning score with seven seconds remaining.
 
The Falcons will need to rebound quickly, as Lackawanna is scheduled to travel to Milledgeville, GA next weekend for a crucial road game against the #9 Georgia Military College Bulldogs. That game is set for a 1:00pm ET kickoff at Davenport Field in Georgia.