Haverford falls an extra point try short of Garnet Valley

CONCORD — Garnet Valley has faced its share of adversity in the first month of the season.

There was the opening night loss at Central Bucks West, which snapped the Jaguars’ 34-game undefeated streak in District 1 competition.

There was the comeback at Ridley the following week, in which the Jags trailed by 14 points late in the first half, but scored five of the final six touchdowns en route to victory.

One week ago, GV found itself in another close game with a much-improved Penncrest squad, but pulled away late in the second quarter and cruised to a 21-point win.

The reigning five-time Central League champions have been challenged every week, a notable difference from years past. Haverford was the latest test. With their new-look triple option offense, the Fords came into Moe DeFrank Stadium looking to be the ones to hand the Jags their first Central League loss since 2017. While it was the furthest thing from easy, the Jags made enough plays to secure a 14-13 victory Thursday night.

GV’s defensive front thwarted Haverford quarterback Liam Taylor on fourth-and-three late in the fourth quarter, then Jags running back Luke Vaughn broke off a huge run to seal the win.

“We went through our ups and downs and we stuck together the whole time,” Garnet Valley center Dylan Bledsoe said. “And that’s what brings a good team together, and in a dogfight, that’s where it goes. We were able to stick together and get the win.”

The Jags and Fords were deadlocked at seven at halftime. Dean Koehler (108 yards on 16 carries) scored the game’s first touchdown on an eight-yard run with 9:54 left in the second quarter. The Fords then proceeded to run a 15-play drive that chewed up nearly eight minutes of game clock, punctuated by a 25-yard TD pass from Taylor to Buddy Coacher, who made a great catch in the back of the end zone.

“We knew it was going to be a dogfight and we stuck in it like we knew we could,” said Taylor, who was sensational running the offense. One week after a 229-yard rushing performance, the sophomore accumulated 148 yards on 28 carries. “It’s a one-point game. If we didn’t have a simple mistake, we would have won that game, you know? I’m proud of everyone. We are moving the ball really well. … We’re just going to keep getting better and we have.”

That “simple mistake” was a missed extra-point by backup kicker Ryan Corbett after Taylor’s three-yard scoring dash pulled the Fords (1-3, 0-1 Central League) to within a point of a tie with 2:05 left in the third quarter.

“Without Ryan Corbett playing the offensive line and defensive line, we don’t have 13 points on the board and they have more than 14,” Haverford coach Luke Dougherty said. “We asked him to go from linebacker and tight end to O-line and D-line this year. And he did it so willingly. He beats himself up. The only reason he’s kicking is because our kicker is hurt and he’s a gaelic football guy, so he knows how to boot the ball. Without Ryan on the O-line and D-line, we’re not even in the game.”

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Haverford quarterback Liam Taylor had an outstanding game but was stopped on a late run to try to get into the end zone for what would have been a Fords lead Friday night at Garnet Valley. (Pete Bannan - MediaNews Group)