ARCANUM — Despite playing stout defense through most of the game, the Arcanum Trojans fell to the National Trail Blazers 15-10 on an 80-yard, fourth-quarter drive capped by a quarterback sneak with less than a minute to play.
The Trojans, under returning head coach Jason Schondelmyer, fell to 0-2. The Blazers, coached by Mark Hoffman, improved to 1-1.
Both teams contended with a constant drizzle through much of the game. The first quarter saw no scoring with a Trojan touchdown run by Dylan Burns negated by a holding call, and the offense further pushed back by a false start penalty. A field goal attempt by Evan Atchley failed due to a muffed snap and hold.
The Trojans, however, did get on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter on a punt return for a touchdown by Daniel Coats. The extra point attempt gave Arcanum a 7-0 lead going into the half.
After a scoreless third quarter, National Trail opened up its passing game with Blazer quarterback Evynn Short leading his team to the Arcanum 9-yard line where Peyton Lane ran for a touchdown. Short connected with Jacob Heck for a successful 2-point conversion to give National Trail a 8-7 lead with 9:41 left in the game.
Starting at its own 43-yard line after the kickoff, it was Arcanum’s turn to sustain a drive with Atchley leading the Trojans to the Blazer 2-yard line. On fourth and 2, Schondelmyer opted for a field goal, which put the Trojans ahead 10-8 with 5:18 remaining.
Asked if he regretted the call to kick a field goal instead of going for the touchdown late in the fourth, Schondelmyer said “No.”
“We have a great field goal kicker,” he said. “I had confidence our defense was going to make a play, and we had most of the game.”
A personal foul against National Trail during the field goal attempt allowed the Trojans to send the kickoff into the endzone, and the Blazers had to start from their own 20.
The 80-yard game-winning drive saw National Trail convert a number of third downs, and even one fourth down, before Short snuck the ball into the endzone from the 1-yard line. The extra point made it 15-10 and left Arcanum with only 39 seconds left. An interception by the Blazers’ Zach Woodall at the 8 ended the Trojans’ hopes for a last-second score.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Schondelmyer said following the game. “We’ve got some inexperienced guys, and right now we’ve got ‘deer in headlights’ type of look in our eyes, and we’re not as confident as we need to be.”
Arcanum (0-2) next travels to Ansonia to face the Tigers (0-2) on Friday.
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