Justin Holmes’ eyes told the story of a superstar player willing his unbeaten team to a victory Friday night over a team it possibly could see again in a few weeks.
The Northwestern senior’s emotions were still flowing moments, however, after his fourth-down sack and strip of Pottsville’s Jazce Carabello-Snowell and seven consecutive runs ran out the clock on a 22-14 victory.
“I’m pretty excited right now to be 8-0,” Holmes said. “It’s awesome. Energy level is up right now, but I’m sure when I get home I’ll be tired.
“I was kind of spying [Carabello-Snowell] on that [fourth-down play]. He was scrambling a lot. I was missing some tackles, so that time I just went straight at him.”
Holmes ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including a 3-yard scoring run that gave Northwestern a 19-7 halftime lead.
A 43-yard burst on his second carry of the second half set up a field goal that extended the Tigers’ lead to 15 points, but the Crimson Tide defense adjusted and limited the Kent State commit to just 21 yards on his last 13 carries.
Pottsville made it a one-score game with four minutes left in the third quarter.
But Northwestern forced a three-and-out its next offensive series before Pottsville was left to go for it on fourth down on its last drive with 4 minutes remaining in the game.
Holmes made several defensive plays throughout the game, but also missed a few tackles. He did not miss on the Tigers’ biggest play so far of the season.
“At the start of the game I got yelled at a little bit,” he said. “I was trying to do some arm tackles. That’s the signature of me. But I started going at their legs. It was pretty tough.
“This is huge for us. I’m so excited right now. First place in the Gold Division and helping us out for district seeding. We’re just trying to get that medal.”
The Tigers got a strong defensive performance from several players. Dalton Clymer recovered the fourth-down fumble late in the game. Ben Dunstan and Andrew Sabo had sacks. Holmes also had an interception to end the first half.
Pottsville likely can lock up a District 11 Class 4A playoff berth next week at Bangor, but it will look back on several plays Friday knowing the outcome could have been different.
The Crimson Tide were 0 for 4 on fourth down. They also had a Carabello-Snowell interception a Holmes pass that he returned deep into the Tigers territory negated by a penalty. Northwestern took advantage of the second chance to score the game-tying TD late in the first quarter.
“Couple dropped balls, a missed screen, a fumble that we tried to scoop and score instead of fall on,” Pottsville coach Tom McGeoy said. “All those little things when you’re playing a good team like this, you’ve got to take advantage of them.
“[But] to hold them to three points in the second half and battle back like that, and then offensively we shot ourselves in the foot on a few plays at the end there.”
To capitalize or not
Jason Fermaintt’s fumble recovery of a Holmes fumble led to Pottsville’s only first-half score, a Carabello-Snowell 1-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 Tide lead with 4 minutes, 50 seconds left in the first half.
Pottsville appeared to have another turnover, a Carabello-Snowell interception and return deep in Northwestern territory, but it was called back on a personal foul penalty.
“Our guy, everyone says they didn’t do but we’ll on tape,” McGeoy said of the penalty. “That was a big momentum change that ended up being a touchdown for them.”
The Tigers drove for the tying score, a 1-yard TD run by Holmes.
Pottsville’s next drive ended when Sabo sacked Carabello-Snowell on fourth down at the Northwestern 22.
Seven plays later, the Tigers took their first lead on Cade Christopher’s 4-yard scoring run with 8:03 left in the first half.
Pottsville gambled again on its next series, going for it on fourth-and-1 on its 34. Northwestern held again.
Six plays later, Holmes scored from three yards out to give the Tigers a 19-7 halftime lead. His 11-yard run on third down kept the drive going.
Pottsville stopped Northwestern on fourth down on the game’s first series, but came up empty.
Up next
Northwestern (8-0) travels to Saucon Valley (4-4) at 7 p.m. Friday. Pottsville (6-2) visits Bangor, also at 7 Friday.
Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com
NORTHWESTERN 22, POTTSVILLE 14
Pottsville; 7; 0; 7; 0; 14
Northwestern; 7; 12; 3; 0; 22
ORDER OF SCORING
First quarter
P: Jazce Carabello-Snowell 1 run (Raeff DiCello kick), 4:50
NWL: Justin Holmes 1 run (Luke Benvin kick), 1:47
Second quarter
NWL: Cade Christopher 4 run (pass failed), 8:03
NWL: Holmes 3 run (pass failed), 3:01
Third quarter
NWL: Benvin 22 FG, 7:16
P: Travontai Davis 9 run (DiCello kick), 4:00
TEAM STATISTICS
Stat; Pot; NWL
First downs; 11; 14
Rushes-yards; 35-187; 42-226
Passing yards; 52; 76
Comp-Att-INTs; 5-14-1; 6-12-0
Punts-average; 3-34.3; 2-36.0
Penalties-yards; 5-48; 7-40
Fumbles-lost; 1-1; 2-1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: (Pottsville) Travontai Davis 16-120, TD; Jazce Carabello-Snowell 14-48, TD; Amari Dunn 4-10; Raeff DiCello 1-9; (Northwestern) Justin Holmes 29-166, 2 TDs; Dalton Clymer 4-14; Cade Christopher 9-46, TD.
Passing: (Pottsville) Carabello-Snowell 5-14-1, 52 yards; (Northwestern) Holmes 6-12-0, 76 yards.
Receiving: (Pottsville) DiCello 1-25; Dunn 4-27; (Northwestern) Christopher 3-57; Clymer 2-14; Ran McDonnell 1-5.
