Titusville ended their winning 2023 season with a close victory over the Corry. They ran all over the Beavers with Jaxon Covell rushing for over 200 yards himself.
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Now a year older and with many of the same weapons Titusville had reason to go into their opening round game with confidence.
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But Corry had learned a few things from last year's game and was prepared.

They jammed up the line. The Rocket runners were often stopped in the backfield and corralled for either a loss or only a short gain.
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In the end, Covell recorded only 67 yards on the ground in the 28-22 Titusville loss.

It wasn't the way coach Mike Reynolds and his Titusville Rockets wanted to begin the 2024 campaign. 

"We came in with a little bit of arrogance,” Reynolds said. “I came in feeling like 'yeah we can run the ball down their throat’ and they overloaded us in a couple ways that we didn't adjust to well early enough."
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Reynolds takes the blame for not getting his team prepared to take on a better Corry team than they faced last year. "Corry is a good ball team," he said. "It came down to us not providing answers for our kids soon enough for our kids to be successful... that's on us (coaches).”
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Titusville struggled out of the gate, going three and out gaining a net of only two yards on three carries. They held Corry but again couldn’t get anywhere on offense and ended their second possession with a punt.
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When Corry got the ball back on their own 30, they went to work putting together big plays. Nolan Carey hit Mason Savitz for a big 30 yard pass play. Then facing fourth and eight, Carey hit Blake Cook for 38 yards and the first score of the game at 7:06 in the first.
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Titusville countered, finally beginning to move the ball.

​Covell had two runs totaling 13 yards for the Rockets' first first down. McDonald hit JJ Miller for another 12 yards, but a penalty negated that play. But the Rockets were seeing how they could move the ball. After a sack, McDonald hit Covell for a big gain and another first down.

The drive was capped by a 17-yard scamper by Covell. It was the first of Covell’s three touchdowns on the night.
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The fake kick resulted in a two-point conversion to put the Rockets up 8-7.
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It looked like the Rockets had the momentum when they forced Corry to punt on the next possession. A muffed snap led to Titusville getting the ball in good field position on the Corry 28.

A couple plays later, however, the Rockets put the ball on the ground and gave it back to the Beavers.

Turnovers would plague them all night.

Corry went back to big plays and moved the ball fast down the field to score again, making it 14-8 midway through the second quarter.
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McDonald showed his scrambling ability to elude the Beavers' blitzes and find ways to get positive yardage.

Titusville again put the ball on the ground, but, were fortunate it rolled out of bounds on the six-yard line. Three plays later they punched it over the line with a one-yard touchdown by Covell.
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McDonald played escape artist on the two-point conversion to eventually find Kam Mong in the back of the end zone, putting them up 16-14 with 4:05 left in the half. It was enough time for Corry to strike again.
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It only took Carey and crew five plays in two-minutes to go 67-yards to take back the lead 21-16.
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Titusville had another chance to score, but a sack put them on their heels. A long pass attempt resulted in an interception to end their drive and the half.

Corry ate up a lot of the clock to start the second half but Titusville eventually stopped the Beavers and got the ball back.
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Again Titusville moved the ball, mostly through the air on short passes and runs.

​An apparent touchdown pass by a scrambling McDonald was called back as an illegal forward pass thrown past the line of scrimmage. On a third and 17 McDonald was intercepted in the end-zone.

Then Corry took the ball 80 yards including an untouched 35-yard run by Nicholas Lesher with 10:08 to go in the game.

In their next possession, Titusville started in good field position and managed one first down before turning it over on downs with just over six minutes remaining.

​Up two scores, Corry decided to employ clock management and eat up as much time as they could by running the ball.

​A key first down forced Titusville to start using its timeouts with three and a half minutes remaining. It worked and Corry was forced to punt, pinning Titusville back on their own 17 with 3:18 left.
Needing two scores, the Rockets went to work in a hurry.
Aided by a personal foul at the end of a long pass play to Mong, Titusville found themselves on the Corry 36 in quick fashion.
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At 2:21 remaining, Covell ran 25 yards to score off a short pass from McDonald and bring them to within six at 28-22.
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Corry got the ball back after a failed onside kick attempt and ate out the game, ending on a punt with no return.
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In the end, McDonald had 161 yards in the air and 183 total yards. Covell ran for 67 and added anther 78. Mong added 36 and Miller caught four passes for 44 yards. Miller had 11 of the teams 39 tackles on defense.

"There were a few things we needed to take advantage of and we didn't. We really just weren't patient, and that's on me," Reynolds said. "We were really trying to push the ball in the end zone when we really just needed to settle down.

​"In a game like this, if we took the time in the second quarter to put the ball in the end zone, the end of this game is totally different."

That very distinctive sound heard around the corner from Pasquale's Pizza is music to football lovers like head coach Mike Reynolds - it the crack of good shoulder pads coming together with force and determination.

​It's the echo off the historic concrete Carter Field football stadium of whistles, grunts from hard working players and the occasional up-level voice of a coach teaching passionately about the disciple and stray of being a football player on a football team.

​A lot of learning takes place between the conditioning and drills.