Dragons surge past Hawks in second half

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 19 October 2019 at 5:46 pm

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley quarterback Jacob Norman picks up a first down with a big fourth down carry as Pembroke defender Giovanni Smart looks to make the tackle. The action took place during the host Hawks loss to the Dragons this afternoon.

Breaking away from an 8-8 halftime deadlock, Pembroke scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to earn a 26-8 victory over host Holley this afternoon in an 8 Man Football Division game.

Pembroke took the lead for good at 14-8 on a 3 yard touchdown run by Colby Cerasani capping a seven and a half minute drive to open the second half. Runs of 17 and 10 yards by Cerasani and a 15 yard Holley penalty keyed the march.

(Click here to see Cerasani go around the end for the tie-breaking TD.)

Holley did answer back with a good drive highlighted by a 14 yard run by quarterback Jake Norman on fourth down and a 15 yard Pembroke penalty. However, the drive stalled out on a lost fumble at the Dragons 14.

The Dragons then broke the game open in the fourth quarter as Cerasani scored on an 18 yard run and Noah Godzala on a 60 are pass reception from Brady Kimmel on a halfback option play.

Pembroke also jumped out to an 8-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 48 yard touchdown pass from quarterback David Colby to Keith Neureuter and a two-point converse run by Colby.

Holley had its first two drives stopped inside the Pembroke 10 yard line, the first on downs and the second on an interception by Cerasani.

However, the third time proved to be the charm for Holley as the Hawks scored on their third possession on an 8 yard touchdown run and two-point conversion carry, both by Jacob Affronti, to knot the contest at 8-8 with 5:13 to go in the second quarter.

(Click here to see Affronti score the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 8.)

Runs of 13 yards by Norman and 10 by Affronti along with a 14 yard pass completion from Norman and David Farruggia keyed that drive.

The Hawks though came up empty on three second half possessions losing two on fumbles and the other on downs.

Pembroke improves to 3-1 while Holley slips to 2-2.