JOHNSTOWN — The Johnstown Johnnies football team made a huge comeback against Bishop Ready on Saturday, but it was not enough. A late touchdown gave the Silver Knights the victory over Johnstown, 21-17, in an action-packed game.
Ready jumped out to a quick lead after intercepting Johnstown quarterback Jay Orders’ first pass. The Silver Knights returned the interception inside the 2 yard line, and Bishop Ready’s Collin Leidinger quickly punched the ball in the end zone, giving the Silver Knights the early 7-0 lead.
Bishop Ready stuffed Johnstown on the Johnnies’ following possession, and quickly added another touchdown on a 1-yard touchdown smash by Leidinger to take a 14-0 lead and control of the action just over six minutes into the game.
“That was a very good team we played tonight,” said Johnstown head coach Mike Carter. “We got down early and that made it tough. I wish we could have started out not being down 14-0. I wish we could have played our style of smash-mouth football.”
Down by two touchdowns, Johnstown could have tucked tail and folded, but the Johnnies did just the opposite. They worked their running game and in the second quarter came up with a big touchdown on a Brad Couts 2-yard touchdown run. Couts finished the contest with 94 rushing yards and the touchdown.
Johnstown continued to stand up the Silver Knights at the line of scrimmage on the defensive end of the ball, and put together another nice drive in the waning seconds of the first half. Time ran out for a touchdown attempt, but the Johnnies did tack on a 30-yard Patrick Benton field goal as time expired in the first half, and went into the half down 14-10.
“No one quit tonight,” said Carter. “No one gave up and we fought for all four quarters. Our team plays together; these guys are not selfish. They never gave up hope, they kept believing in themselves.”
The third quarter saw both teams unable to get a clear advantage and neither was able to score until the fourth quarter. With 9:37 left in the game, Johnstown’s special teams play came up huge, as it did several times in the game. Senior Mitchell Hendren recovered a forced fumble on a punt return by the Silver Knights and ran the recovery back for a 38-yard touchdown, giving the Johnnies the lead at 17-14.
“We put an emphasis on special teams every day,” said Carter. “We always take it seriously; games can change on special teams plays.”
Bishop Ready was not quite willing to cooperate with the Johnstown comeback, however, and on their next possession, with 7:40 seconds left in the contest, the Silver Knights called for a deep pass play, ending up with a 40-yard touchdown bomb to seal their victory. Johnstown was unable to come up with another score, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. Unfortunately for the Johnnies, the game ended with a late interception that put a halt to any last-minute heroics the team was hoping to muster.
“There weren’t any divisions on this team and that is quite an accomplishment,” Carter said. “They all believed in another, they became more than teammates; they became kids who respected one another and made some lasting friendships. These are good kids and the community should be very proud of them. It will be hard to swallow [the loss], but we will do it as a team together.”
Johnstown had a successful season, hosting a playoff game and winning the Mid-Buckeye Conference outright. Now the Johnnies will go into the off-season looking to build off the highly successful 2008 season.
“Anytime you have success, it enables you to set foundations and building blocks for the upcoming years,” said Carter. “That’s what we are going to do; we will be able to take what we have done and keep working in that direction. We know what we need to fix and we are going to be able to work on those things. It’s going to give these young men on our team the confidence that when they work hard good things will happen. That is one of the best things you can get out of any season.”
