Game-Ending Score Lifts Doane Past MMU In Season Finale

The Tigers received first and made one first down before they were faced with a third and long. The pass on third down was bobbled by the receiver and intercepted by Gabe Baptista.

The Lancers’ drive would stall around midfield and the Lancers would end up turning the ball over on downs after a failed fourth down conversion. From there the Tigers put the ball in the air and scored on a 49-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Hartman to receiver Andrew Waido.

The Lancers got the ball back and after a delay of game penalty, drove down the field in a three-pronged rushing attack. Rodney Broadnax, Malachy Harts and Kyle Hirsch all had several big runs that set up an 8-yard touchdown run from Hirsch. Doane took to the air again to set themselves up deep in Mount Marty territory to start the second quarter.

Doane scored on the first play of the second quarter on a 12-yard pass from Hartman to Zach Perez.

From there, each offense produced one missed field goal until deep in the third quarter. Mount Marty had a methodical drive that took up eight minutes of game time. The drive resulted in a 9-yard touchdown run up the middle by Harts with 30 seconds left in the thirdquarter.

Doane got the ball back to start the fourth and their next drive went three and out resulting in a punt. Mount Marty had another long drive that was capped off with a touchdown. This time Hirsch ran it in from the nine-yard line, making the score 21-14 with 6:23 left to play.

On the Tigers’ next drive Hartman was picked off by Josiah Gaetani. Mount Marty ran more clock and Finder’s punt put Doane on their own four-yard line. Doane drove down the field with four separate third down conversions. Their last conversion came as time ran out. It was a touchdown pass from Hartman to Waido.

In a gutsy call Doane opted to go for the two-point conversion and win the game outright rather than go into overtime. The move paid off as Hartman, who evaded the Lancers’ pass rush most of the game, slipped out of the pocket and found James Miles III.

This is the second year in a row that Mount Marty has lost to Doane by one point. Last year Mount Marty lost 21-20.

“We had some missed opportunities that we left on the field; offensively and defensively,” said Lancers’ head coach John Michaletti. “We fought well as a team today. We can’t control the refs or the other team. We just need to focus on controlling what we can as a team.”

The Lancers took to the ground most of the game with Harts being the leading rusher. He had 135 yards and a touchdown on 25 attempts. Hirsch had 123 yards and two touchdowns on 26 attempts. Ryken scrambled his way to 37 yards.

In passing Ryken went 9-18 for 68 yards.

For the Tigers, Hartman was the leading rusher with 57 yards on eight carries. Hartman also passed for 257 yards and 14 completions on 29 attempts, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Waido was his main target on the day, hauling in five catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, Mount Marty was led by DuVaughn Williams, who tallied six tackles two pass breakups and Mount Marty’s only sack.

For Doane, Jarett Boggs led the defense with 14 tackles. He was followed by Andrew Brown, who had 13.

The Lancers (6-5, 5-5 GPAC) ended the season with the first winning record in program history and finished with new bests in wins in the conference and wins overall.

Doane ended the season 3-8 (3-7 GPAC), a one-win improvement on last year’s season.