Oct. 20, 2012
by Chris Appel

CUMBERLAND — Cody Arigo caused more disruptions than a five-car pileup and Fort Hill was able to forget about three costly turnovers to run for 238 yards and stave off a group of hungry Lions to beat Chestnut Ridge 32-28 Saturday afternoon at Greenway Avenue Stadium.

While the day ended with Fort Hill on top, it started with the Sentinels burying themselves under their own mistakes. They cost themselves five yards with a penalty before their first snap and fumbled the ball to the Lions on second down to give Chestnut Ridge the ball just 18 yards from a touchdown.

The Sentinels fumbled again on their very next play, setting the Lions up with another short field at the Fort Hill 31.

The Lions took advantage of both opportunities, just as they would with the third, needing three plays before Matt Wiley scored on an option pitch from five yards out after the first turnover, and getting a 10-yard touchdown from quarterback Beau Bosch off the second.

“Chestnut Ridge took our mistakes and made us pay for them, and that’s what a good team will do to you,” said Fort Hill head coach Todd Appel. “It says something about our players, though, that we committed three turnovers that resulted in points and we still found a way to win the game.”

Fort Hill shook off the slow start beginning on their third drive when they marched to the Chestnut Ridge six-yard line before settling for a 21-yard field goal by Chris King.

Dekari Darr had a 36-yard run on the drive to set the Sentinels up for the field goal, and had 103 yards on the ground during the first half. He finished with 133 on the day.

Fort Hill scored on its next possession, breaking into the end zone this time with a 16-yard pass from Hunter Squires to Zac Elbin. Elbin was wide open when he caught the ball at the seven and backpedaled his way across the goal line to cut the Chestnut Ridge lead to 14-10.

Squires completed 5 of 7 passes for 82 yards, with Elbin catching four balls for 50.

Bosch flashed his skill as an option quarterback on the Lions’ next drive, going 31 yards on a keeper that began with him hurdling a defender and keeping his balance off the right side. The quarterback scored on the drive when he dove over the plane, was flipped by a Fort Hill defender and almost landed on his head.

The extra-point kick made it 21-10.

Squires sparked the Sentinels on the next drive when he avoided the rush by spinning out of the pocket and throwing to Travis Bush for 34 yards. Bush was covered well by the Lions defender, but left no doubt to the referee as to who had the ball when he secured what looked to have been a simultaneous possession.

The pass set up Darr for a two-yard score with 4:03, and Arigo led the Fort Hill defense to its biggest stop of the day with a three-and-out on the next series.

“Cody is one of our few returners, in fact, he’s our only returner on defense, and he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do as coaches. He’s been one of our most important guys on defense and is a key part to our offensive line. He’s really just getting used to playing offensive guard after being a fullback before he came here.”

Arigo may have had a flashback to those days, because whether it was making the tackle himself or just disrupting the timing of the play he spent more time in the Chestnut Ridge backfield than he did on Fot Hill’s side of the line of scrimmage.

“It’s amazing all he can do in there,” added Appel. “He’s so good at holding up the blocker, reading the play and then getting rid of the block. He’s got a wrestler’s body and mentality, and along with his skills and balance he’s been making plays for us all season.”

The Sentinels got the ball back with 1:30 left until halftime, and that was more than they needed as Ty Mance scored from 42 yards on the third play of the drive to give Fort Hill a 25-21 lead at halftime.

Chestnut Ridge retook the lead on Jacob Mock’s three-yard run in the third, but Darr added a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and the Arigo-lead defense for Fort Hill took care of the rest.

The Sentinels leaned on Darr for much of the first half and went back to the junior again when they needed him late. He missed a few plays late in the first half after he came up limping after a couple of carries.

“Dekari is a lot tougher than he thinks he is,” said Appel. “He’s smaller than your normal-sized fullback and takes the shots that a lot of other backs with his ability wouldn’t have to take. But he’s always answered when we go to him and as you saw today, we have no problem leaning on him later in the game regardless of his actions early on.”

The win is the fourth in a row for the Sentinels (6-2), who host Mountain Ridge on Friday. Chestnut Ridge (4-4) returns home and will play another Cumberland team when Allegany visits New Paris, Pa., on Friday.