Gordon Tech edges Guerin

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

In their final Catholic League contest between each other, Guerin Prep and Gordon Tech fought to the very last second and beyond.

The visiting Rams came away with a 23-20 win over the Gators on Saturday afternoon before a small melee marred what was an otherwise exciting and well-played game.

The Rams played spoiler with the win as the result eliminated Guerin from any chance of moving on to the state playoffs.

Gordon Tech (3-5, 3-1) battled back all game long and took the lead for good with 57.6 seconds remaining in the game on a 5-yard touchdown run by sophomore Marty Haderlein. The play was set up after Guerin (3-5, 2-2) seemed to have forced the Rams to try for a game-tying field goal.

Sean Rice looked to be the man who may have saved the game, but his tackle of Haderlein was deemed to have happened out of bounds, resulting in a fresh set of downs for the Rams at the Gators’ 10-yard line.

The Rams used a three-pronged running attack to keep the Gators on their toes, and each of the three runners reached pay dirt.

Senior Noel Duckworth ran 69 yards with 7:21 remaining in the second quarter to tie the score at 7-7. Senior Lionel Lucas bulldozed his way through the pile from one yard out to help tie the score again at 14-14 with 6:53 remaining in the third quarter.

Guerin held the lead for most of the game until Gordon Tech senior Jalal Shaikh converted a 34-yard field goal with 44.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Gators quickly answered when senior running back Gerald Killingsworth dashed for a 64-yard touchdown score on the first play of the fourth quarter. A key block by sophomore Brian Campbell finally sprung Killingsworth free from any Gordon defenders and made the score 20-17 after a missed point after.

Guerin’s first score came from Killingsworth on a 10-yard run with 8:49 remaining in the opening quarter. He ran for 127 yards on 19 carries for the day.

The other Gators’ touchdown came from junior quarterback Dennis Kelly when the signal caller bolted up the middle and on third-and-one for an easy 34-yard scoring run.

Kelly racked up 139 yards on the ground on eight attempts. The Gators welcome Providence for their season finale on Saturday afternoon.