Abington Heights opened and re-established a 17-point lead in the District 2 Class 5A football championship game on Nov. 7.
The Comets were stopped short of a second straight district title and state tournament appearance, however, when visiting Delaware Valley scored the game’s final 20 points for a 27-24 victory.
The Warriors returned to the top of the district by scoring twice in the last minute of the first half, then shutting out the Comets in the second half.
Mike Iuzzolino, who carried 29 times for 153 yards and two touchdowns, opened the fourth quarter with a 3-yard touchdown on the first play.
Abington Heights worked its way back up the field with a 15-play drive on what became its last possession of the season.
The Comets converted a pair of fourth downs, including a fourth-and-five where Nick Bradley got off a pass under pressure. He found Noah Kayal in the middle, near the chains and Kayal turned it into an 11-yard gain for the first down at the opponent’s 22 yard line.
Three straight runs put the ball at the 18 yard line, but the Comets were unable to come up with a third fourth-down conversion.
Delaware Valley ran the final 4:04 off the clock, ending the game by going into Victory Formation at the Abington Heights 10.
Early on, it appeared that the Comets (8-3) were ready to repeat last year’s feat of falling to the Warriors in the regular season, but beating them with a title on the line.
Thomas Reese recovered a fumble on the second play and the Comets converted two third downs and a fourth down to score on a possession in which they gained more than two yards on just four of the 10 plays.
Jayden Anglin ran nine yards on the longest play, then scored on a 7-yard run with 7:25 left in the first quarter.
Cayd Sespico followed up a tackle for loss with a sack on the next play as Abington Heights drove Delaware Valley back on its second possession.
The Comets used a 31-yard Anglin run and a pass interference penalty to move into position for a 35-yard Jack Hartshorn field goal and a 10-0 lead after one quarter.
The defense, which held Delaware Valley to seven net yards through three possessions, got a fourth-down stop from Max Gordon and Brendan Dougherty on the first play of the second quarter.
Bradley scrambled for 17 yards to start the drive which he finished by scrambling away from the rush to hit Gavin Anders with a 16-yard touchdown on the 17-0 lead.
Colin McGarvey, who hit his last eight passes to finish 11-for-13 for 169 yards, got Delaware Valley’s offense going on the next drive. He hit three of four passes for 50 yards to set up Iuzzolino’s 16-yard touchdown.
The Comets, however, went right back up by 17 points.
Anglin returned the kickoff 43 yards, then ran on five of six plays. He started the drive with a 15-yard run and capped it by taking a pitch, cutting up off left tackle and running 20 yards for the score.
The touchdown run pushed Anglin past 100 yards for the game and he finished with 154 on 24 carries.
The score was the last the Comets could manage despite Anders catching eight passes for 65 yards.
Delaware Valley kept chipping away. It scored on six straight possessions and was in position to do so a sixth time when it succeeded in running out the clock to clinch the victory.
McGarvey hit all three of his passes for 69 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown to Donald Outer to came it 24-14 with 54.5 seconds left in the half.
A bad snap cost Abington Heights and forced a punt with 25 seconds still left.
Delaware Valley raced into scoring position with 29- and 11-yard passes. Reagan Decker banked a 21-yard field got off the right upright as the second-quarter clock ran out.
The Warriors opened the second half with a Trey Newton interception, but settled for another Decker field goal, this one from 28 yards, after moving 72 yards in 16 plays.
Another Comets turnover led to the winning score.
Iuzzolini carried on all seven plays, picking up 34 yards, including the 3-yard touchdown.
The Warriors, who face unbeaten Hollidaysburg in the state playoffs, improved to 6-5. After losing their first four games, they are 6-1 with the only loss coming in overtime to unbeaten Lackawanna Football Conference champion North Pocono.