G-Men gamble pays off in final seconds
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GARRETTSVILLE -- The humid night air was permeating around those packed in the metallic and wooden stands flanking both sides of the football field running parallel to state Route 88.
Others decided waiting around a chain-link fence or camping out on a grassy spot was their best vantage point.
The air of the Windham-Garfield rivalry had those on both sides -- towns separated by 5 miles -- finding the drama in each play of Friday's 29-28 Garfield victory.
With 41 seconds remaining, the host G-Men made the biggest game-changing decision. Garfield football coach Mike Moser called for a two-point conversion as his team rallied from a 14-point deficit, cutting the Windham lead to one.
Stopping a Bombers team that had 335 yards of total offense made the G-Men pause. Were they going to control a potent offense with a shortened field in overtime?
The Bombers (4-1) made one of their many encroachment penalties after Garfield scored late in the fourth quarter, this one moved Garfield closer to the lead. Windham had 17 penalties for 126 yards.
"Can't beat a good team with a bunch of penalties," Windham coach Anthony Maiorca said.
Anthony Denigris ran through the Windham defense and scurried around toward the G-Men stands, celebrating the team's first lead, 29-28.
Windham couldn't get a first down on the ensuing series as the game ended and Garfield rushed from their sidelines to celebrate with their teammates at midfield.
"Our kids wanted to go for it," said G-Men coach Mike Moser, whose team improved to 4-1. "I wanted to go for it. We were going to live with the result."
The Bombers' Mason Angle used his 6-foot, 200-pound powerful frame to bully his way past G-Men defenders, even viciously using a stiff-arm to plant a couple of would-be tacklers face first into the grass. Angle had 15 carries for 92 yards and three touchdowns, including a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal with 9:51 remaining.
Angle plowed through the G-Men defense and gave the Bombers a 28-14 lead, which seemed at the time insurmountable for a run-first Garfield team.
It's a stark difference from Phillip Maiorca's slashing maneuvers, which are elusive to opposing defenses. The coach's son had 15 carries from 82 yards.
"He's a big, bruising type of back," Windham coach Anthony Maiorca said of Angle. "He's a good compliment. They did a good job shutting down our outside stuff for the most part.
"We had him going up the middle. He did a good job of doing that."
The G-Men were far from deterred as they went 11 plays in 4:36 as Devyn Penna took a reverse and swept across, toward the home team's sideline. Untouched, Penna scored and celebrated the score to trim Windham's lead to 28-21 with 5:14 remaining.
Garfield, which had its problems containing Windham's running game (44 carries for 213 yards), forced the Bombers to punt on their next drive. The clock displayed 2:31 remaining as Garfield had 74 yards between it and a potential tying score.
Quarterback Ryan Brown, who had 15 carries for 111 yards, found gaps in the Windham defense and followed his blockers as he made the G-Men's view a bit better with a 45-yard run.
Three plays later, on a first-and-10 from the Windham 18, Penna went on another sweep. This one wasn't as easy, but he found his way into the end zone with a Bombers defender dragging his heels with 41 seconds left. It set up the momentous 2-point conversion, which decided this rivalry contest.
"When I felt that, I saw the end zone and I dove and hoped and prayed for that touchdown," Penna said.
Headlights spanned out from behind Garfield High School, on to state Route 88, as those in attendance headed toward their nearby homes following this much-anticipated rivalry.
"The kids will never have anything like this, whether they make the playoffs or anything," Anthony Maiorca said. "This type of thing is what high school football should be all about."
The lights and score of 29-28 on the G-Men scoreboard remained about 20 minutes following the game, until it went dim -- closing yet another chapter on this storied rivalry.
"I've been here for 17 years when we played Windham all the time through the 2000s," Moser said. "This is what the Windham-Garfield game was all about. It's a great rivalry. It was a hard-hitting football game all night long. Hopefully it'll be a rivalry we can play for years to come."