Frostburg Wins Overtime Thriller Against Notre Dame (OH)

On Saturday, October 8, for their homecoming game, Frostburg’s Football team hosted Notre Dame (Ohio). After suffering a 1-point loss the week prior against UNC Pembroke the Bobcats looked to put another tally in the win column.

Frostburg started with the ball and struggled to get their offense going in the first half, their first five possessions ended with punts. While the offensive was still finding its stride, the Bobcats’ defense came ready to play.

Junior cornerback Akyian Loney came up with a fantastic interception on Notre Dame’s first possession. Loney never gave up on the play and took the ball right out of the hands of the Notre Dame receiver. 

The Falcons’ offense found holes in Frostburg’s defense, but couldn’t find the endzone, leaving them with a pair of field goals in the first quarter. Notre Dame leads 6-0. 

The Bobcats tried to get some points by picking up the pace and running a no-huddle offense. They completed two first downs but failed to get a third. Punter Dayne Koontz placed a great punt down into the Falcon’s territory which took a couple of lucky bounces and put the Falcons on their own 1-yard line. 

The Bobcats’ defense stayed hot and was able to get the Falcons’ offense off the field after a sack on third down by Robert Horsey and Isaiah Sewell.

Frostburg stayed in the no-huddle offense hoping to catch the Falcons off guard. It worked perfectly as quarterback Graham Walker completed a 28-yard pass to RB Sean Aaron, and then a 23-yard pass to Jordan Marcucci to set them up in scoring position. Walker finding his rhythm completes one more pass before finding Sean Aaron again for a touchdown. Frostburg goes up 7-6. 

Notre Dame was able to answer with 26 seconds left. After an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Bobcats’ defense and a 16-yard pass from Falcons’ QB Chris Brimm. Kicker Cameron Shirkey nailed a 46-yard field goal to put the Falcons up 9-7 right before halftime.

The Bobcats, in an attempt to capitalize off their new fast-paced offense, completed a 30-yard pass to WR Jordan Marcucci. Unfortunately, Graham Walker was sacked and couldn’t complete his next throw. Kicker Dayne Koontz booted a 55-yard field goal to put the Bobcats up 10-9.

The Frostburg defense came up with another interception on the Falcons’ first drive of the second half. Senior cornerback AJ Felton came up with the interception giving the ball right back to his offense.

Head Coach Eric Wagoner decided to switch his quarterbacks and drew up a couple of running plays for Kisaye Barnes who is an explosive runner and can make big plays with his feet. Barnes did exactly that, running the ball for 14 yards and adding another one for 10 yards before the starting QB Graham Walker returned. Frostburg WR Max Davis caught a 42-yard pass from Walker to put them within eight yards of a touchdown. Frostburg wasted no time in handing the ball off to RB Sean Aaron who ran it eight yards for the touchdown putting FSU up 17-9.

The Bobcats’ defense kept the pressure going. After giving up one first-down defensive tackle, Robert Horsey forced a fumble which Frostburg recovered.

The FSU offense stopped its fast pace attacking scheme and slowed down which proved ineffective against the Falcons. Walker threw three incomplete passes and FSU punted after just one minute with the ball. 

The Falcons weren’t going away anytime soon, Notre Dame QB Chris Brimm and his offense completed an 80-yard drive ending with a touchdown making the score FSU 17 – Notre Dame 16.

Notre Dame stopped the Bobcats’ offense after two penalties were called on FSU. The Falcons capitalized on the next possession with another long drive down the field. Two catches and seven runs later the Falcons take the lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by QB Chris Brimm. Notre Dame leads 23-17.

Frostburg went back to the two-QB approach that seemed to work earlier in the game and brought in Kisaye Barnes. The Bobcats continued to keep their running game going, WR Jordan Marcucci had a 33-yard run to put FSU into the Falcons’ territory. After Graham Walker was unable to find an open man on a third and long, Dayne Koontz nailed a 39-yard field goal which brought FSU within three points. The score was 23-20.

The Bobcats’ defense stopped the run and forced the Falcons’ offense off the field after a sack on third down by senior Luke Freeman. The punt was returned by WR Max Davis for 15 yards and put FSU in Notre Dame’s territory. A short possession for the Bobcats’ ended in a 51-yard field goal by kicker Dayne Koontz tying the game at 23.

The two following possessions by Notre Dame and FSU ended with both teams having to punt. The Falcons got the last possession of regulation. One 13-yard pass from QB Chris Brimm to WR Napoleon Harris got the Falcons in range to kick a field goal. With four seconds remaining in the game and all the Frostburg fans on their feet making as much noise as possible, the kick went up and missed to the right sending the game into overtime, and the fans into a frenzy. 

Overtime on homecoming weekend… you can’t write a better script than that. The overtime rules state that each team will get a possession starting on the opponent’s 25-yard line and the game will go on until a team cannot score more than the opponent’s previous possession.

The Bobcats won the toss and wanted the ball. On the first play of overtime, RB Sean Aaron ran the ball for 25 yards scoring his third touchdown of the game putting Frostburg up 30-23. 

Notre Dame stayed calm and ran the ball for a first down. Another 4-yard run put the Falcons on the 10-yard line which set up RB Tyris Dickerson to run it in tying the game thus sending it to double overtime.

Since both teams scored it counts as a new quarter. The possessions flip and the Falcons start with the ball. The loud Frostburg fans were quiet after QB Chris Brimm found WR Michael Soloman for a 21-yard gain leaving them on the 4-yard line. A false start penalty pushed them back five yards and the Bobcat fans were right back on their feet screaming. Three massive tackles were made by Robert Horsey, Marquise Allsup, and Yasir Holmes forcing the Falcons to kick a field goal. Frostburg players on the sideline signaled the crowd to get louder. With the cowbells ringing, horns being blown, and all the fans stomping their feet, Notre Dame kicker Cameron Shirkey hit the left upright and the ball spun away. The 21-yard attempt is missed.

The Bobcats have the ball and can win it with a field goal. RB Sean Aaron ran three times securing the ball in the middle of the field which helped line up the kick. As kicker Dayne Koontz walks out onto the field Frostburg fans tell each other to quiet down. All eyes are on number 37 Dayne Koontz as he has a chance to redeem himself from last week’s missed game-winner. One more hush can be heard from the crowd before silence fills the stadium. 

With a good snap, Dayne Koontz nailed the 39-yard field goal to win the homecoming game against Notre Dame 33-30.

Frostburg will travel to Wheeling, West Virginia to face off against the Cardinals at 1 pm on Saturday.