Valley can't hold on against Wilkes

ANNVILLE - The first four weeks of this supposed-to-be-charmed season were an incredibly frustrating time for the Lebanon Valley College football team.

But after what happened Saturday, the Flying Dutchmen are probably looking back at the first month of the 2010 campaign as if it were the good old days.

In desperate need of a win to get its season back on track, LVC instead invented a new way to lose Saturday, incomprehensibly turning a comfortable 28-6 fourth-quarter lead into a devastating, soul-crushing 35-28 overtime loss to Wilkes in front of a shocked home crowd at Arnold Field.

Winners of just one of their first four games heading in, the Dutchmen appeared to be well on their way to righting their off-course ship after Blair Ransom's six-yard touchdown run with 2:48 left in the third quarter and Brittany Ryan's fourth extra point of the day produced the aforementioned 22-point advantage.

And then it all went terribly, stunningly wrong.

A week after rallying from 11 points down with six minutes left to trip up Albright, the Colonels (3-2, 2-0 MAC) produced an even more epic comeback this time, reeling off 29 unanswered points before stopping LVC tailback Ben Guiles on a fourth-and-goal run at the one-yard line on Valley's first and only possession of overtime to secure the win.

If you're trying to figure out how the above could have possibly happened, well, join the club.

"Unbelievable," said LVC coach Jim Monos, moments after addressing a shell-shocked squad that is now 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the MAC. "It's really disappointing. I don't know what it takes for us to play four quarters of football. We played three good quarters, and just gave it away in the fourth.

"I thought we did some pretty good things today but, my gosh, we just gave it away. I don't know, it's just really tough."

Making the setback even more demoralizing was the fact that Wilkes rallied behind its third-string quarterback, freshman Alex George, who was called into action after starter Tyler Berntsen and backup Marc Persing went to the bench due to ineffectiveness and injury.

In little more than a quarter on the field, George threw two TD passes and ran for two more scores, including a one-yard jaunt around the right side on the fourth play of Wilkes' only OT possession that eventually stood up as the game-winner.

But George would have never gotten the chance to be the hero in the end if LVC's last-minute drive in regulation hadn't come up empty.

After George hit Anthony Dorunda with a 20-yard scoring strike with 2:36 left, then found Todd Eagles with a two-point conversion pass to tie the game at 28, LVC drove from its own 20 to the Wilkes 4 before stalling with eight seconds left.

That brought on junior Matt Nawracaj for a 21-yard field goal try to win the game despite the fact that Ryan had been perfect on four extra-point tries of similar distance. But with the ball on the left hash, and a swirling breeze a factor in the north end zone, Monos felt more comfortable going for the win with Nawracaj.

"Against the wind, and it was gusty, I felt like he was the one to kick it from the hash," said Monos. "Brittany's been practicing (field goals), but she practices from the middle for extra points and I just didn't feel like it was gonna work. So that's why I went with Matt."

The snap and hold were true, but the kick leaked wide right, forcing an extra period that didn't figure to be necessary after LVC jumped to a 21-3 halftime lead behind a pair of touchdown passes from QB Caleb Fick and a short scoring run from Ben Guiles.

With senior tailback Guiles leading the way with 172 yards on 28 carries, LVC amassed 296 rushing yards on the day. But it negated its ground-game dominance with four lost fumbles.

The most damaging of the lost fumbles were Nic Shirey's punt return giveaway late in the third that set up a score, and Fick's cough-up at the LVC 32 that led to the tying points.

"We're minus-11, minus-12 in turnovers for the year," estimated Monos, with a grimace. "It's a significant statistic. I don't know (how to fix that)."

In spite of it all, Valley still had victory in its grasp even after George put Wilkes ahead in OT. But after beginning promisingly, LVC's own extra-time possession bogged down at the two-yard line, then ended when Guiles found no running room up the middle on fourth down.

"Our best players, our best running back (running) over our best offensive lineman," Monos said of the final play that sent Guiles toward the goal line. "I felt that was the best way to go."

But if this season has proven anything, it's that even the best plans don't always work out. And if LVC is going to salvage anything from the wreckage of its first five games, it had better soon find one that works.

"I hope so," Monos said solemnly when asked if his squad can still find its way. "I don't know, but I hope so."

Right now, hope is all LVC has left.