Oct 21, 2017 5 min read

CHARLEROI – In a game where two teams scored at will, the last play came down to a defensive stop.

And because of a stop by Charleroi’s Jake Stefanick and Colton Linn on Beth-Center running back Dominic Fundy, the Cougars held off the Bulldogs, 49-44, to clinch second place in the Century Conference and a home playoff game.

“This is the best game that I have ever been a part of,” said Charleroi coach Donnie Militzer. “It was two contrasting styles and we made just enough plays to win.”

“This was one of those games where both teams kept going and you had to keep up,” said Beth-Center coach Joe Kuhns. “I thought for sure when we gave the ball to (Fundy) on that play, he would carry four guys into the end zone.”

Fundy carried the ball 33 times for 294 yards, but on the toss right out of the Power-I from the four-yard line, he was stopped two yards short.

“I knew that I had to somehow get in there,” said Stefanick, who celebrated Senior Night with his classmates with a career-high 22 tackles. “We were able to do it.”

Beth-Center (7-2, 4-2) took the opening kick and went 77 yards on nine running plays and scored when quarterback Bailey Lincoski went in from three yards out with 6:33 to play in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs went for two, and Lincoski ran a zone read and kept the ball to make the score 8-0.

The Cougars (8-1, 5-1) countered with a three play, 62-yard drive when Hunter Perry scored from 18 yards out.

Charleroi went for two to tie the game, but a run attempt by Travis Lytle failed and B-C led 8-6 with 5:27 to go in the first quarter.

Fundy gave the Bulldogs the momentum right back as he took the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown, and Lincoski again ran a zone-read keeper for the two-point conversion to give B-C a 16-6 lead.

Charleroi answered with a score, and in typical fashion, it was fast.

The Cougars went 74 yards on two plays with Geno Pellegrini hitting Colton Linn with a 73-yard scoring strike, and Joey Caruso’s extra point made the score 16-13.

Lincoski scored his second zone-read touchdown of the game, this time from 22 yards with 9:59 to go in the second quarter and the Bulldogs held a 22-13 lead.

Pellegrini connected with Linn for another scoring strike, this time from 53 yards, and the extra point trimmed the B-C lead to 22-20 with 7:17 to play in the first half.

The Bulldogs worked the clock on their last drive of the half and went 78 yards on 11 plays, eating 6:32 off the clock. Fundy scored form one yard and B-C led 28-20 going into the half.

Lincoski intercepted Pellegrini on the last play of the half, and it was the first drive of the game that did not end in a touchdown.

For the half, B-C gained 265 yards on 30 plays, all rushing, with Fundy having 159 yards on 18 carries while Charleroi had 237 yards on just 17 plays.

The most telling stat of the first was Beth-Center having the ball for 17:27 while Charleroi had it for 6:33.

The offensive show started right back up to start the second half as the Cougars went 55 yards on three plays with Pellegrini hitting Ryan Workman with a 20-yard scoring strike.

Pellegrini ran in the two-point attempt and the game was tied.

The Cougars’ defense came out firing away on run blitzes to start the second half and forced Beth-Center to punt, the first of the game for either team, and took over at its own 11. Charleroi moved down the field and took the lead on an 18-yard run by Perry, and Caruso’s extra point made the score 35-28.

Beth-Center took the lead back on its next drive as Fundy scored his third touchdown, from 28 yards, and then Lincoski hit Devin Dingle with a two-point pass to give B-C a 36-35 lead with 4:16 to go in the third quarter.

On the first play of Charleroi’s drive, Pellegrini raced 49 yards for the touchdown. On the two-point conversion attempt, Pellegrini hit Dakota Romantino to give Charleroi a 43-36 lead.

On the ensuing drive, B-C faced 4th-and-three at the Charleroi four. The Bulldogs rolled out to the left, but Charleroi’s Colton Kisner sacked Lincoski at the 9-yard line for a turnover on downs.

B-C’s Trevor Anderson raced 22 yards and Fundy added the two-point conversion to make the score 44-43, in favor of the Bulldogs, with 6:33 to play. Charleroi, as if on cue, scored to take a 49-44 lead. The Cougars went 68 yards on 11 plays and Perry scored from five yards with 2:42 to play.

Beth-Center drove to the Charleroi four but the Cougars held the Bulldogs on downs.

Charleroi took a knee three times inside the 10-yard line. Beth-Center, however, took a timeout with nine seconds to go, and Pellegrini took the fourth-down snap and raced around the end zone. But instead of taking the safety, he tried to run the ball out of the end zone and was tackled at the Cougars’ four, which led to Beth-Center’s last-second attempt at the win.

Pellegrini was 10 of 21 for 314 yards and the three touchdown passes.

“My teammates came up big tonight,” he said. “The defense made that stop, the line blocked for me and even though they blanketed Dakota, the other receivers stepped up.”

Beth-Center had 500 yards of offense on 58 plays, including 57 rushing attempts. Charleroi had 484 yards on 44 plays.