In a defensive slugfest that seemed destined for a scoreless tie, Norwood pulled off a dramatic 3-0 victory against the Bulldogs on a 28-yard field goal by senior John Nee as time expired.
Dramatic Final-Second Finish and Controversy
For 59 minutes and 55 seconds, the English defense—anchored by Jamie Saltzman—stifled Norwood’s offense, including containing senior running back Ken Wenstrom. With just seconds remaining and Norwood facing a first-and-10 at the English 18-yard line, Saltzman broke through the line and dragged down quarterback Tim Drummey. Desperate to avoid a game-killing sack out of field goal range, Drummey flipped the ball away as he fell to the turf.
While everyone in the stadium anticipated an intentional grounding penalty, the referee ruled it an incomplete pass, noting that senior end Bob Taggart (No. 45) was in the vicinity. With only five seconds left on the clock, John Nee booted the game-winning 28-yard field goal.
English coach Paul Duchane was left furious after the game, vehemently arguing that the play should have resulted in intentional grounding. “There was nobody near him. The referee missed the darn call,” Duchane said, though he acknowledged he would review game films.
Missed Opportunities for English
Despite the controversial finish, English squandered multiple scoring opportunities throughout the contest due to fumbles, interceptions, and missed red-zone conversions:
- In the first half, a stellar 33-yard run by Henry Rucker set up a first-and-10 at the Norwood 13, followed by a three-yard gain from John Kelter, but English stalled out with a dropped pass and two incompletions.
- The Bulldogs repeatedly coughed up the football deep in Norwood territory, losing fumbles on drives starting from the Norwood 9-yard line and later from the 24-yard line.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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