Pessoa sparks Clayton to wild win over Pennsville in triple overtime - nj.com

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It might have taken a big second-half comeback, three overtimes and a monster performance by Justin Pessoa, but the Clayton football team is just glad to finally have a win over an old nemesis.

Pessoa ran for 131 yards and scored three touchdowns, including the game-winner in triple OT, as the Clippers rallied for a thrilling 28-20 victory over host Pennsville in West Jersey Football League United Division action on Friday night.

Clayton (1-1) was trailing 20-6 at halftime but stormed back to tie the game in the third quarter. The score stayed deadlocked until the third extra period, when Pessoa found the end zone from 5 yards out and added a two-point conversion run.

Pennsville (0-2) had one final chance but was unable to force a fourth overtime. Fittingly for such a wild game, it ended on a deflected pass that just fell out of reach of an Eagle receiver in the end zone.

“I believe in this team and I believe we can do anything as long as we put our minds to it,” Pessoa said. “I think we got better tonight. … In over three hours, we got better. Right when it hit overtime I was like, ‘This is our game. This is our game and we’re not leaving unless we win.’”

Clayton avenged a 44-22 loss to Pennsville last year and ended a 14-game losing streak in the series. It was the Clippers’ first win over the Eagles since a 19-18 game all the way back on Oct. 9, 2004.

“It was amazing,” Clayton junior linebacker Taylor Siciliano said. “I’ve never beaten Pennsville in my whole life and after last year we had something to prove. We just had to stay together and stay focused.”

The Eagles gave themselves multiple chances to win despite losing starting senior quarterback Kyle Taylor to a heartbreaking injury on just the third play from scrimmage. He rolled out to his right on third-and-5 and hit Gabe Watson along the sideline for a first down, but paid the price when he was drilled by Siciliano right after releasing the ball.

Taylor immediately screamed out in pain after suffering a serious injury to his right leg. The game was stopped for about 10 minutes and he was eventually carted off on a stretcher and left in an ambulance.

“He’s a tough kid and I hope he bounces back,” Clayton coach Corey Harvey said of Taylor. “We know how it is with injuries and we just hope and pray he’s OK.”

Pressed into action, sophomore Randy Hall turned in a gutsy effort and helped Pennsville build a 20-6 advantage. He had a 15-yard touchdown run and senior running back Gavin Locke (27 carries for 121 yards) added two TD runs, with all of the scores coming in the second quarter.

Clayton seemed to be falling apart at that point but found a way to regroup at halftime.

“We lost one of our captains, one of our leaders, two weeks ago, Eli Rivera,” Harvey said. “We had to replace him and we were just digging in because he’s a big part of our team. So we had some young guys in there learning on the fly and some kids in different positions. My guys hung in there and we came together. That first half was tough; we had to make some adjustments and our coaches did a great job coming up with a good game plan, and the kids executed.”

Pessoa got the comeback started when he fielded a ground-ball punt by Pennsville at the Eagle 35 and showed no hesitation, bursting up the middle and returning it to the house early in the third quarter. On the ensuing two-point conversion, he ran left on a direct snap and appeared to be bottled up well short of the goal line, but somehow reversed field and found an opening all the way on the other side of the field to get Clayton within 20-14.

“When I saw (the punt) hit the ground I was like, ‘I can run this back for a touchdown,’” he said. “That helped bring up the momentum. It was big for my team.

“(On the conversion), I didn’t expect to do that. The play is not over until the whistle blows for me — for our whole team, actually.”

Later in the quarter, a 32-yard pass from Kyle Clark Jr. to Omari Watson set up an 11-yard, game-tying touchdown run by Lawrence Connell Jr. on the final play of the period. The two-point attempt failed, setting up a crazy ending.

Pennsville answered with an impressive drive and marched within the Clayton 10 only to come up inches short on fourth-and-1 from the 9. Sky Eppes’ second interception of the day gave the ball back to the Eagles in good field position and they eventually got down to the 2, where it was first-and-goal.

But Clayton freshman Demetrius Williams dropped Watson for 8 yards on first down back to the 10, and the promising drive ended two plays later on an interception by another rookie, Colby Carr.

“I think it was a jet sweep,” Williams said of his potential game-saving tackle. “They sent him in motion, I got off my block and tackled him to the ground. That put us back in the game.”

Williams also made a big tackle for loss in overtime and was active all night from his outside linebacker spot.

“This is my first varsity game and it feels good starting as a freshman,” he said. “My stomach was nervous coming in, but when you make a hit it goes away real quick. I usually play safety but they switched me down to outside linebacker. I like that better because there’s a lot of contact. You just have to always tackle low, not high, that’s the key.”

The entire Clayton defense seemed to come to life after halftime. Watson made a number of plays in the backfield and Siciliano, as usual, was dominant from his inside linebacker position, finishing with double digits in tackles and setting up an interception with a deflection.

“I love playing linebacker — there’s nothing better,” he said. “You just see the ball and go for the ball, and I love the contact too. Playing defense is my favorite.

“It was different because Eli is such a good player and that’s a big spot to fill, but Demetrius stepped up today. We have the best linebacking corps. We 100 percent (feed off each other) and that’s how we get energy, going back and forth.”

Pennsville made its fair share of defensive stops as well, including a goal-line stand in the first half and several huge plays in the first two overtimes as neither offense was able to get going. The Eagles did have an apparent game-winning touchdown run by Locke from 17 yards out in the first OT, but it was called back for a holding penalty that the Pennsville coaching staff was not pleased with in the least.

“My heart was beating a little fast there,” Harvey admitted. “But I did see the hold and I’m glad they called it. That’s football — there’s a lot of ups and downs.”

Finally, in the third OT, Clark made a crucial play when he scrambled for 15 yards on fourth-and-5, setting up first-and-goal from the 5. Normally a wide receiver, the senior was filling in for injured starter Bobby Corsey, who was hurt in the season opener and could miss another week or two.

“He did an awesome job,” Harvey said of Clark. “He just moved to quarterback and he’s only had a couple of practices but he’s out here making plays. He’s a senior and he stepped up for us.”

Pessoa scored the game-winner on the next play to cap off his memorable night and complete Clayton’s comeback.

“The coaches told me, ‘Don’t let their heads get down and don’t let yours get down, because if that happens the game is done,’” Pessoa said. “I just told them, ‘We have to step up the tempo.’ That’s when we started getting our heads straight and driving up the field. It was all of us, not just me. It was a team effort.”

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