Bethany’s ‘Harvard Turn’ leads to win at Waynesburg
WAYNESBURG – The play wasn’t even supposed to be in the repertoire for this game, and the players on Bethany College’s football team had to lobby to use it.
It was a desperate time for the Bison, tied with Waynesburg with only 34 seconds remaining to play before a possible overtime and facing a third-and-10 at the Bethany 32.
“I wasn’t looking for just a first down,” said Bethany wide receiver Eric Blinn. “I was looking for a touchdown.”
The play was called the Harvard Turn, basically a hook pattern along the sidelines. Blinn snagged the pass, shook off the tackle of Marvin Sampson, then broke the Yellow Jackets’ heart by racing 68 yards for a touchdown that gave the Bison a 27-20 victory over the Yellow Jackets in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game at Wiley Stadium.
To make matters worse for Waynesburg, quarterback Carter Hill suffered a knee injury on the last play of the game when he was sacked by defensive tackle Jarret Rahymes. Hill limped out of the stadium with an ice pack on his right knee.
The win keeps Bethany (3-1, 3-3) in the hunt for a PAC championship. But conference games with Westminster, Thiel, Saint Vincent and Thomas More remain. Waynesburg falls to 3-2 in the conference and 5-2 overall. The Yellow Jackets’ fate rests with the diagnosis on Hill’s knee this week and the outcomes of games against Geneva, Westminster and Washington & Jefferson.
“It looks like a sprain right now,” said Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas. “(The trainers) told me the knee is stable.”
Blinn’s touchdown gave Bethany its only lead of the game. He finished with 11 receptions for 154 yards and also caught a 3-yard scoring pass early in the fourth quarter to tie the game, 20-20. Grimard finished with 33 completions on 46 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns.
“That pass play was something we put in this week, and it did not work that great,” said Bethany head coach Bill Garvey. “But those guys wanted to run it, and they are obviously a lot smarter than me. I’m not sure whether we would have run it if they hadn’t ask me.”
Blinn’s touchdown followed a bizarre set of circumstances in Waynesburg’s previous possession. Hill, who completed 18 of 30 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown, drove Waynesburg to the Bethany 7-yard line with just over three minutes to play. The Yellow Jackets faced third-and-1 and a first down would have allowed them to do at least one of three things:
1. Force Bethany to use all of its timeouts before kicking a field goal.
2. Score a touchdown that would have probably put the game away.
3. Assure an overtime situation.
Inexplicably, Waynesburg was called for delay of game, moving the ball back to the 12. Then, Shepas used one of his timeouts before the next play was run.
“The delay penalty caused us to change our mindset,” said Shepas. “We had a running play called, then the delay penalty (was called).”
Hill got the penalty yardage back on a pass to Andrew English, but his keeper over left tackle came up a yard short on third down. Alex Henry’s 25-yard field goal was blocked by safety Dion Williams, and Bethany recovered at the 2-yard line with 2:22 remaining.
Grimard got the Bison out of the hole with a 12-yard run on second down, then hit Brandon Hill with a 28-yard screen pass. The next completion won the game.
“We were slightly out of position,” said Shepas. “Blinn has the speed to outrun us. It was a good throw and a good catch.”
And it ruined a strong effort by Waynesburg, which did not have a turnover and finally saw its running game produce. Jerry Lawman had the best day of his career, gaining 109 yards on 25 carries and scoring on a 1-yard run in the third quarter that gave Waynesburg a 20-13 lead.
Henry gave the Yellow Jackets a 6-0 lead, hitting two first quarter field goals. Bethany tied it in the second quarter when Hill caught a 14-yard pass from Grimard and Pedro Lalor’s extra point attempt was blocked.
Tight end Zac Capan gave Waynesburg a 13-6 halftime lead when he caught a 9-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds to go. Tyler Ambush tied it in the third by catching an 11-yard scoring pass from Grimard.
“These kind of games are character-builders,” said Shepas. “It’s a bump in the road, and we have to move forward.”