Fort Hill defeats Hollidaysburg
Sentinels take control in second half, roll to 49-21 win

Sep 21, 2019
Cumberland Times-News

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — Fort Hill, in trademark Sentinel fashion, took advantage of its opponent's mistakes and got the offense in fifth gear in the second half, as the Sentinels took down Hollidaysburg, 49-21, on Friday night.

After the teams finished the opening quarter tied at 7, Hollidaysburg (2-3) took the ball into Fort Hill territory when Bryce Martellacci connected with Tristian Chaney on a first-down pass that put the Golden Tigers at the Fort Hill 42.

On the next play, the Sentinels stripped the ballcarrier and recovered the fumble on the other side of midfield, taking over at the Hollidaysburg 38.

Eight plays later, after a pair of third-down conversions, Breven Stubbs reached the end zone on an 8-yard pass from Danny King. King’s point-after try was good, giving the Sentinels a 14-7 lead, which they took into the halftime break.

“We did a lot of good things in the first half,” Fort Hill head coach Todd Appel said. “We challenged the kids to play better defensively. … In the second half, we came out and made some big plays, then let our guard down defensively, so we have to fix those things.”

Coming out of halftime, it was more or less all downhill for the Golden Tigers. They took a holding penalty on first down, knocking them back to their 13. Then, Fort Hill safety Korey Stafford picked off a pass, giving the Sentinels the ball at the Hollidaysburg 27.

After a trio of runs, Carson Snyder took the handoff, following the right side of the line right into the end zone on a 3-yard run. King’s PAT gave Fort Hill a 21-7 lead at the 9:51 mark. Fort Hill held at least a two-score lead the rest of the night.

Fort Hill’s offense got up and running early, with Stubbs returning the opening kickoff to the Fort Hill 20, Carson Snyder took the handoff on the first play from scrimmage and bolted down to the Hollidaysburg 24 on a 56-yard gain.

The Sentinels gained six yards on each of the next four plays — twice by Snyder, once by Santmyire and capped off by a six-yard touchdown run by Stubbs to give Fort Hill the early 7-0 lead, at 9:39, following Danny King’s point-after try.

Hollidaysburg responded two drives later, with Martellacci capping off a seven-plus minute drive with a four-yard plunge into the end zone. Ethan Pinter’s PAT with 37 seconds to play in the opening quarter tied the game, 7-7.

After Snyder’s touchdown to make it 21-7 in the third quarter, the Sentinels again took advantage of a Hollidaysburg mistake, as Fort Hill forced a three-and-out and Austin Burt blocked the punt, giving the Sentinels the ball at the Golden Tiger 19.

Four plays later, on fourth-and-1, Snyder bolted into the end zone on a 10-yard scamper. King’s PAT extended Fort Hill’s lead at 28-7 at the 6:32 mark.

The Sentinels took a 35-7 lead into the fourth quarter when Burt hauled in a 19-yard pass from King for a score with 46 seconds remaining in the third stanza. King converted the PAT.

Both teams scored twice in the fourth, with Trent Paddock getting the Golden Tigers on the board first in the final quarter at the 6:04 mark.

Stubbs responded 26 seconds later on a 58-yard touchdown run for his third score. King converted the PAT.

Deshawn Moss scored the Golden Tigers’ final touchdown of the night on a 15-yard pass from Jake McGinnis, with Pinter’s PAT converted with 3:35 to play.

Santmyire closed the scoring with a 4-yard run with one minute to play. Robert Bower booted the extra-point to put the score at its final.

The Sentinels (3-0) have one less day to fix those problems this week, as they play their home opener on Thursday, 6 p.m., against Cathedral Prep (3-2), of Erie, Pennsylvania, in a matchup of state champions — Fort Hill being the Maryland Class 1A title-holders and the Ramblers the Class AAAA champs.