Jersey Shore loses overtime thriller to ACC, 38-31

WILLIAMSPORT, PA – Jersey Shore and Allentown Central Catholic staged a great one Friday night at STA Stadium in Williamsport. The first-round PIAA playoff game went into overtime before the District 11 Vikings ended up a 38-31 winner.

The game was 31-31 at the end of regulation, the Bulldogs overcoming a 10-point deficit to forge the tie and send the contest to overtime. ACC had the first possession in OT and used two runs, two and eight yards, from tailback Caiden Shaffer to get 10 yards and the touchdown; the extra point made it 38-31.

Then it was Jersey Shore’s turn from the 10. Hadyn Packer took it to the 7, then quarterback Brady Jordan to the 4; Packer was stopped for no gain on the third down and on the fourth down Jordan rolled right and was tackled just short of the endzone, ending the game and an otherwise brilliant Bulldog season.

Packer and Jordan kept ‘Shore in the game which saw the Bulldogs score first on an ACC fumble returned for a touchdown. Meanwhile ACC used the arm of quarterback Edward Tamlin Ferguson and Shaffer’s running to build and maintain a lead of seven to 10 points for much of the contest. But ‘Shore did not quit, using big plays from the seniors Packer and Jordan to finally pull even at 31-all early in the fourth quarter. Packer finished with 177 yards rushing and two touchdowns and Jordan added 104 yards and one score. ‘Shore played without two-way standout Kooper Peacock who had been injured early in last week’s District 4 title game win against Selinsgrove.

For ACC, the loss avenged a 20-7 loss to Jersey Shore in the first round of the PIAA playoffs a year ago. The Vikings are now 8-5. Jersey Shore finishes at 12-1.

ACC 7 17 7 0 7 = 38
JS 7 14 7 3 0 = 31