The passing combination of freshman Aiden Collins to junior wide receiver Kage Southerton rallied Honesdale to a 20-19 victory at Abington Heights Saturday afternoon in a non-league matchup of Lackawanna Football Conference teams.
Collins and Southerton connected for touchdowns of 72 and 36 yards in the last nine minutes.
Abington Heights carried a 19-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
Collins found Southerton deep down the middle and the receiver won the race to the left corner to finish off the 72-yard touchdown with 8:54 left.
The Hornets were faced with fourth-and-16 in the final minute when Collins rolled left and evaded the rush. He hit Southerton open down the left sideline inside the 10 on his way to the game-winning 36-yard score with 18 seconds left.
Collins finished 11-for-27 for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns. Southerton caught 7 of the passes for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus a swing pass that was slightly backward, making it a lateral and technically a running play that went for another 27 yards.
Abington Heights got all three of its touchdowns through the air and seemed to be headed to a 2-0 start and Honesdale to 0-2 before the comeback that left both teams at 1-1.
The Comets led 7-0 after one quarter and 13-7 at halftime before taking the 12-point lead into the fourth quarter.
P.T Cutrufello threw 33-yard touchdown passes to Christian Henzes in the first quarter and Nico Bossi in the second.
In between, Connor Schmitt tied the game on a 9-yard touchdown run.
Abington Heights expanded its lead in the third quarter when Colin Davis threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Scott.
MORE SATURDAY FOOTBALL COVERAGE
Hanover Area-Susquehanna game: https://www.nepafootball.com/event/2021-hanover-area-at-susquehanna/.
Scoreboard: https://nepasportsnation.com/district-2-football-scoreboard-4/.
