Dover doomed by penalty problems vs. Big Spring
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There are a lot of things Dover football coach Wayne Snelbaker thought his team did right or did well in Friday night's game with Big Spring.
One area the Eagles and Snelbaker were not happy with were the penalties. For the second-consecutive week, Dover suffered over 120 yards of penalties.
Unlike last week when Dover was able to overcome such mistakes in the season-opening win against Shippensburg, this week, the Eagles saw Big Spring rally back for a 36-35 win at Dover High School.
"We got to figure something out," Snelbaker said. "And (the penalties) are one-sided."
Big Spring was flagged three times for 35 yards, all of which came in the second half.
"We'll send somebody film. I will guarantee you that," Snelbaker said. "But we're getting there. It's just a matter of time."
Big Spring junior quarterback Jaret Petty scored on a 7-yard run with 2:46 left in the game to tie the score for the fourth time in the game. The extra point attempt by junior Noah Keiter provided the difference.
Dover (1-1) had taken the lead with 7:13 left after senior quarterback Taylor Blazosky connected with senior Caden Snyder on a 34-yard touchdown pass, but saw its extra point attempt blocked.
The Big Spring win overshadowed some strong offensive performances by Dover.
Blazosky wound up completing 16 of 26 passes for 268 yards and three scoring strikes to Snyder. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Snyder scored on a 7-yard pass in the opening quarter, a 66-yard bomb in the third quarter and the 34-yarder in the fourth.
"Caden is a playmaker," Snelbaker said. "He can score. He's a real go-to guy when we need it."
Senior running back Durran Ledbetter, who ran for 102 yards last week, was limited to just nine yards against Big Spring but still helped the Eagles by returning a first-quarter kickoff 95 yards for a score.
"I was surprised they kicked it to him the second time," Snelbaker said. "The big plays were there. We just came up a little short."
The 5-foot-8, 180-pound senior then returned the opening kickoff of the second half 90 yards for his second TD of the game.
Big Spring (2-0) got 101 yards rushing and 149 yards passing from Petty, who either ran or passed for four of his team's scores.
Big Spring901314—36Dover140156—35
First Quarter
Do — Caden Snyder 7 pass from Tyler Blazosky (Josh Bradley kick), 7:19.
BiS — Jaret Petty 1 run (Noah Keiter kick), 2:55.
Do — Durran Ledbetter 95 kickoff return (Bradley kick), 2:41.
BiS — Safety, Dover intentional grounding penalty in end zone, :16.
Third Quarter
Do — Ledbetter 90 kickoff return (Tyler Blazosky run), 11:44.
BiS — Ryan Adams 44 pass from Petty (run failed), 5:47.
BiS — Adams 32 run (Keiter kick), 2:09.
Do — Snyder 66 pass Blazosky (Bradley kick), 1:21.
Fourth Quarter
BiS — Tristan Robb 26 pass from Petty (Keiter kick), 9:28.
Do — Snyder 34 pass from Blazosky (kick blocked), 7:13.
BiS — Petty 7 run (Keiter kick), 2:46.
BiSDo First downs1613Rushes-yards44-22023-51 Passing10-16-016-26-1Passing yards159268Total yards379319Punts5-37.82-41.0Fumbles-lost2-24-2Penalties-yards3-3511-121
Individual statistics
Rushing — BiS, Jaret Petty 23-101, Ryan Adams 9-74, Triston Cooper 7-27, Tristan Robb 5-18. Do, Brett Mohn 8-30, Durran Ledbetter 4-9, Tyler Blazosky 8-6, Cole Jesmer 1-4, Joey Zutell 2-2.
Passing — BiS, Petty 10-16-0, 149 yds. Do, Blazosky 16-26-1, 268 yds.
Receiving — BiS, Adams 2-50, Anthony Tressler 1-49, Robb 3-41, Cooper 2-9, Garrett Chestnut 1-7, Derek Sweger 1-3. Do, Derek Breneman 5-71, Tad Pequignot 2-1, Caden Snyder 3-107, Andrew Hoffman 2-62, Zutell 2-18, Mohn 2-9.