The hosts carried a 27-6 lead into the fourth quarter, but New York was not done fighting as quarterback Nick Rinker, a Pioneer graduate, rushed for a short score and then threw for two more touchdowns to bring things to a close with a 27-27 tie.

“Obviously, you want to come out with a true victory, but I’m just proud of these guys,” said New York head coach Jehuu Caulcrick. “We had adversity, we turned the ball over several times. We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds going into the half. We had to play smart football, we had to play together, and I think the second half we battled and we did that.”

As to be expected, Saturday’s game got off to a disjointed start with both teams trading turnovers as players worked to try and find a rhythm offensively.

Noah Costa got Pennsylvania on the board with a 36-yard field goal near the 10-minute mark of the opening quarter before three consecutive fumbles resulted in the hosts earning another scoring opportunity.

New York’s Nolan Brink (Frewsburg) makes a reception.

Donny Pattison of Bradford made the most of that chance, banging home a 12-yard rushing touchdown that was followed by a Costa extra point to make it 10-0.

Pennsylvania would carry that lead into the second quarter as New York’s Conner Golley was unable to convert on a 40-yard field goal try. After working its way down to the 9-yard line early in the second period, Pennsylvania’s offensive would come to a halt, forcing another kick from Costa to make it 13-0.

As he has done so many times before in his career, Southwestern’s Alex Card was able to come up with a big play just when his team needed it the most with five minutes remaining before halftime.

Finding a seam in Pennsylvania defense, Rinker hit Card with tight spiral on the left side and the talented wideout was able to fight off a tackle from one defender on the way to a 77-yard catch-and-run.

“It was and out-and-up,” Card said of the touchdown. “We’ve been running that all week. They were playing cover three, so the quarterback put the ball right in between the zones. It was a perfect ball. I wasn’t supposed to play in this game, but at the last second I joined in and it was so much fun being with the guys and the coaches. It was a great atmosphere.”

New York’s Skyler Wright (Randolph), right, forces a fumble during the first quarter.

New York would suffer a missed extra point after that explosive play and then was flagged for making contact with the Pennsylvania punter with time winding down. Earning another chance after that flag, the hosts would make it 20-6 as Mason Klesa hit Issac Schloder with a 6-yard touchdown pass before halftime.

Pennsylvania would add to that margin with another big run in the third quarter before Caulcrick and his coaching staff were able to mount their comeback.

Early on in the fourth, Card would provide another big spark, grabbing a 25-yard pass from Rinker before being forced out of bounds near the goal line.

New York’s quarterback would finish that opportunity off with a leap and a stretch.

“Card is a big-time player,” said Caulcrick, who is the head coach at Southwestern. “That is why he’s going to play at the next level. He wants to help his team, he is in there asking for the ball every time, he wants to go in on different series and everything like that. I’m not surprised at all with the way he played.”

New York’s Alex Card (Southwestern) keeps his balance on the way to a 77-yard touchdown reception.

Despite not having much opportunity to practice with his receivers, Rinker found a groove late in Saturday’s contest, hitting DeAndre Ahrens for a pair of 30-yard touchdown passes to finish off the night.

New York would be forced to go for a two-point conversion with 4:31 remaining, giving Caulcrick and his staff a chance to dive deep into the playbook.

The game would finally come to a tie following a reverse that was really a called pass, as Connor Parsons hit Ira John with the extra point throw to ignite the New York bench.

The visitors would have an opportunity to close things out in the following series, as Golley lined up for long field goal that turned out to be an unsuccessful fake.

“Nick did a great job,” Caulcrick said of Rinker, “He told me all along, ‘Hey coach, count on me, I’ll take this game over,’ and he did that. Nick stepped up, he played big-time football.”

Pennsylvania 10 10 7 0–27

New York 0 6 0 21–27

P–Costa 36 field goal

P–Pattison 12 rush (Costa kick)

P–Costa 26 field goal

N–Card 77 pass from Rinker (kick fail)

P–Schloder 6 pass from Klesa (Costa kick)

P–65 rush (Costa kick)

N–Rinker 2 rush (pass fail)

N–Ahrens 30 pass from Rinker (Golley kick)

N–Ahrens 30 pass from Rinker (Parsons pass from John)