By: Joe Cicchino - Sports Information Assistant

FORT WASHINGTON -- Down 17-14 with just four seconds to play, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy lined up for a potential game-tying field goal. Instead of seeing the ball sail through the uprights, SCH saw it go back the other way. The Patriots not only blocked the kick, but it was then picked up by Jerry Griffen-Batchler '21 and returned for a touchdown.

"I didn't really know the game was over until the ref started running with me," Griffen-Batchler said. "I just picked it up and started going."

The late touchdown brought the final score to 23-14 in favor of GA. However, the game was much closer than that score would imply. 

After each team had a possession, the Blue Devils struck first on a quarterback sneak. That would be the only score of the first half. The Patriots had a few promising drives, but saw them disrupted by penalties. 

In the third quarter, GA came alive. On their opening drive, the Patriots ran the ball a total of 10 times for 53 yards, ultimately capping it off with a Trae Vance '20 touchdown. With time running out in the third, Nick Niemynski '21 hit a field goal to give GA a 10-7 lead.

"We didn't perform well in the first half," Head Coach Matt Dence said. "I knew we had just keep them going. We get to the second half, I thought we could really impose our size on them. We started pushing them around a little bit."

Not only were the Patriots pushing SCH around on offense, but also defense. GA registered three sacks and two forced fumbles on the day. More importantly though, they held the SCH offense to only seven points. 

The majority of the scoring came in the final quarter of play. The Blue Devils were able to block a punt and return it for a touchdown, giving them the lead with 7:22 left in the game. The Patriots looked like they would answer, only to see the ball get fumbled away at the goal line. 

With 1:21 left to play, GA got the ball at the SCH 45 yard line. Matt Brittingham '19 hit Vance for a 14-yard gain on first down. Brittingham would lose yardage on the next play, bringing up a second and long. It was then that Dence dialed up a special play.

Brittingham flipped the ball to Vance, who then flipped it to Lacey Snowden '21 on a reverse. However, instead of cutting upfield, Snowden -- who filled in at quarterback a year ago -- found Brittingham for a 16-yard gain.

"That was something we've been working on the past week," Brittingham said. "I was thinking, 'don't drop it, don't drop it,' but once we called it, I just had faith and trusted myself."

Brittingham said that before the drive he knew to stay calm and cool. He said he knew he had to trust the play calls and the players around around because he knew that they would make plays for him.

Following a run by Vance, one of those players -- Tayshaun Mack '20 -- made a huge play. The junior wide receiver caught a pass from Brittingham in the back corner of the endzone for a 14-yard touchdown with less than 40 seconds to play. 

On the ensuing kickoff, the ball went out of bounds, giving SCH great starting field position. A series of quick throws got them down to the 15-yard line with less than 10 seconds on the clock. After an incomplete throw to endzone, the field goal unit lined up for what would be the final score, just not in the way they expected.

"That's one of the best offenses in the area," Dence said. "To hold them to 14 points total, [Defensive Coordinator] Steve Moll and his staff deserve a lot of credit."

Following the return by Griffen-Batchler, the field was covered in pink as the student section ran onto the field to celebrate with the team. Coming off of a disappointing loss a week ago, the atmosphere was welcomed.

"We have a whole GA Superfans section behind our team, it doesn't get any better than that," Griffen-Batchler said. "It feels great. We're trying to get the Inter-Ac Championship and that just helped us a lot going into next week against Episcopal. Just keep that momentum going and we'll be fine."

GA travels to Episcopal Academy on Oct. 26 for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. 

 

	1	2	3	4	Final
Germantown Academy	0	0	10	13	23
Springside Chestnut Hill	7	0	0	7	14

GA Stats

PASSING

	Comp.	Att	Yds	TD	Int
Matt Brittingham	10	17	146	1	1
Lacey Snowden	1	1	16	0	0

RUSHING

	Car.	Yds	TD
Trae Vance	26	118	1
Lacey Snowden	14	68	0
Matt Brittingham	5	7	0

 RECEIVING

	Rec.	Yds	TD
Jerry Griffen-Batchler	2	74	0
Tayshaun Mack	3	36	1
Matt Brittingham	1	16	0
Trae Vance	1	14	0
Jacob Hsu	2	10	0
Tim Ruth	1	8	0
Lacey Snowden	1	4	0

DEFENSIVE

Sacks by: Shane Harkins (1), Michael Rowan (1), Elijah Wroten (.5) Hans Lillis (.5)

Blocked Kick: Hans Lillis

Forced Fumble: Jerry Griffen-Batchler

Fumble Recovery: Jerry Griffen-Batchler