Photo by: Nick Mays

Photo

Canfi eld’s Bryce Jackson (on bottom) battles for the ball with Howland’s Dan Ebert (11) during Friday’s game in Howland. The Tigers defeated the Cardinals, 30-28, on a 38-yard fi eld goal with 4.7 seconds left in the game.

Team

Howland

Record	Div.	Conf.
6/4	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

Team

Canfield

Record	Div.	Conf.
12/1	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

Howland Band - 'Spider-Man'

Video

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

Howland

As the seconds ticked down Friday night, the longtime soccer player turned first-year football kicker paced the sidelines, waiting for the chance to add a game-winning field goal to a resume in need of a little padding.

What was going through Connor Gilmour’s mind?

“Oh, nervousness — really high up there,” he said.

Thirty seconds earlier, the Tigers had fallen behind by one point on Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky’s gutsiest call since ... well, since last week. But thanks to two big throws by Tiger QB Eric Lockney and a roughing the passer penalty, Howland had the ball at the Canfield 21 with 4.7 seconds left.

“My team had confidence in me,” he said. “I just did my job.”

Gilmour slipped a little bit on the 38-yard kick but “I still had my angle. I got my steps down and it went through.”

As it did, his teammates exploded around him in front of a group of Cardinals that just saw the biggest win of their careers turn into the most heartbreaking loss.

“Gilmour, that’s why we have him,” said Howland coach Dick Angle. “Kickers win games.”

The gutsy, heart-stopping, “Can you believe it?” ending came exactly 37.5 seconds after what looked like the first gutsy, heart-stopping “Can you believe it?” ending.

Capping a 12-play, 51-yard drive that chewed up more than six minutes, Canfield senior Jordan Italiano scored on a 2-yard TD run with 37.5 seconds left that made it 27-26 Howland.

The Cardinals had beaten Dover the week before when Pavlansky called for a two-point conversion in the final seconds. He dialed it up again Friday, with Italiano diving over the goal line to give the Cardinals the lead.

“In the second half our offense was controlling their defensive line,” said Pavlansky. “We felt comfortable calling the play.”

A good return off Canfield’s squib gave Howland the ball at its own 40 with 31.8 seconds left. Lockney, filling in for injured QB Brendan Hayes (who broke his collarbone last week), then hit Matt Hayes for a 15-yard pass and the Tigers picked up 15 more on a roughing the passer penalty.

“One play is not going to determine that [game],” Pavlansky said of the penalty.

After two incompletions, Lockney again hit Hayes on a diving 9-yard out pattern — “Great catch,” Angle said — to set up Gilmour’s final dramatics.

“I believe in our two-minute offense and I just step back and they take over,” Angle said of coaches Jeff Bayuk and Dominic Menendez. “I don’t do nothing, just watch and cheer.”

It was the second straight last-minute victory for Howland (4-0, 1-0 All-American Conference Red Tier), which rallied to beat Warren Harding last week.

“It was tough preparing this week because of the big win last week,” said Angle. “We were a little mentally down and it was hard to get our emotions up.

“But the biggest thing was not our emotions, it was getting rid of mental mistakes.”

The Tigers weren’t flawless — they fumbled the ball away the first two times they touched it — but behind another terrific performance from junior De’Veon Smith (19 carries, 202 yards, 1 TD), three Gilmour field goals and a near-flawless first start by Lockney (7 of 9, 106 yards, 1 TD), their record still is.