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WILKES-BARRE — Fourth-and-6 from midfield. In a tie game midway through the fourth quarter, Raheem Twyman was just looking to get to the sticks.
But once he got there, hey, might as well keep going.
“I was just at the sideline looking for the marker, and I ended up passing it,” the Meyers wideout said. “And I see two guys in my way, so I just did a little side-step. Then, bam — green all the way.”
And victory for the Mohawks.
Twyman took a screen pass 50 yards down the home sideline at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium to paydirt, backing up a heroic defensive effort by the Mohawks in a 13-7 win over Palisades in Friday’s Eastern Conference Class 2A semifinals.
The win extends the Mohawks season one more week, as they will host District 2 foe Riverside next weekend with the tournament title on the line. The Vikings beat Mount Carmel 39-19 in the bracket’s other semifinal.
“I told them before the game I didn’t want the season to end yet,” Meyers coach Jeff Labatch said. “And it’s not.”
It was anything but easy.
Meyers had just 137 yards of total offense on the night, nearly all of it coming on Mark Robinson’s electric 76-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and Twyman’s sideline sprint in the fourth.
The other 30 plays the Mohawks ran on offense yielded just 11 yards.
Fortunately for Meyers, that was all the defense needed.
Despite being on the field for the majority of the night — Palisades ran 62 offensive plays to Meyers’ 32 — the Mohawks defense came up with four stops on fourth down.
The last one of those came on a fourth-and-2 from the Mohawks 46 with just under 10 minutes left in a 7-7 game. Four plays later, it was the Mohawks turning a fourth down of their own into the game-winning touchdown.
From there, Robinson came up with an interception to end one Palisades drive and the defense forced a fumble just across midfield on the next one to thwart any comeback attempt by the Pirates (5-6).
“They stepped it up when they had to,” Labatch said. “We were fortunate to come out with a win. Our offense did not play well. … We weren’t firing off the ball. They’re a tough defense. They fly to the ball.”
That they did. Palisades, which hails from near the New Jersey border in District 11, held Meyers to just four first downs the entire night.
Two came on the long touchdowns. One came on a 27-yard scamper by Robinson. And the last one came in the final 90 seconds as the Pirates were flagged for roughing the punter, allowing Meyers to run out the clock.
Robinson drew that flag, making sure to get the punt off before the contact came. The senior has provided a critical spark to the team since recently returning from an injury. On Friday, he ran for 108 yards and a score, added an interception and also had a big kickoff return to open the second half.
“He’s a big playmaker,” Labatch said. “He’s a leader. The team rallies around him.”
Palisades opened the scoring on the first play of the second quarter when quarterback Austin Krauss took a fourth-and-1 sneak 5 yards up the middle for a touchdown.
Meyers also struggled with some high snaps that led to fumbles and big losses. On top of that, a big-time punt return touchdown by Omar Kelly early in the game was wiped out by a personal foul flag.
But the Mohawks found a way.
“Even with all the stuff that was happening — all the fumbles, all the penalties — we didn’t break,” said Twyman, who also plays rush end on defense. “We kept composure and played like a team throughout the whole game.
“That’s why we came out with the ‘W.’ “
Eastern Conf. 2A Semifinals
Meyers 13, Palisades 7
Palisades`0`7`0`0`—`7
Meyers`0`7`0`6`—`13
Second quarter
PAL — Austin Krauss 5 run (Jared Colletti kick), 11:56
MEY — Mark Robinson 76 run (Ken Macko kick), 4:04
Fourth quarter
MEY — Raheem Twyman 50 pass from Willie Wallace (kick failed), 7:30
Team statistics`PAL`MEY
First downs`13`4
Rushes-yards`46-168`29-71
Passing yards`34`66
Total yards`202`137
Passing`8-16-1`3-5-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-11
Punts-avg.`1-21.0`5-31.4
Fumbles-lost`1-1`3-1
Penalties-yards`5-35`5-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — PAL, Matt McGrath 12-58, Austin Krauss 11-50, Patrick Lodwig 14-29, Jared Colletti 4-18, Kyle Maloney 1-9, Kyler Netwon 1-3, Trey Gretzinger 3-1. MEY, Mark Robinson 11-108, Jason Marston 8-2, Chayne Patterson 1-(minus-2), TEAM 2-(minus-4), Willie Wallace 5-(minus-16), Raheem Twyman 2-(minus-17).
PASSING — PAL, Krauss 8-16-1-34. MEY, Wallace 3-5-0-66.
RECEIVING — PAL, Anthony Fleck 3-16, Lodwig 2-10, Tyler Marsh 1-6, Blake Cassalia 1-3, McGrath 1-(minus-1). MEY, Twyman 1-50, Robinson 1-9, Omar Kelly 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS — MEY, Robinson.
MISSED FGs — None.
