LANGHORNE – Half of Central Bucks West’s defense had slammed Jamar Brittingham to the sod once, and then again, and so the Bucks figured Neshaminy’s meal ticket would be handed the football one more time, on fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line and time ticking away Friday night.

But Brittingham, the senior running back and Division 1 prospect whom West had committed eight, sometimes nine defensive players to stopping, did not get the bail He was a decoy, used perfectly to break the Bucks’ hearts.

Scott Mullin TE/LB

Instead of handing off to Brittingham, Neshaminy senior quarterback Jason Wiater pulled off a play-action fake, found tight end Scott Mullen for a 6-yard touchdown with no time, remaining in the fourth quarter, nullified a stirring West comeback and gave the Redskins a 21-19 win at Harry E Franks Stadium.

The play, which Wiater called at the line of scrimmage with 11 seconds left, capped a tingling sequence that saw all of the following:

West rallied from a 15-0 halftime deficit to take a 19-15 lead with 1 minute, 57 seconds to go.

The Bucks almost held off the Redskins by stuffing Brittingham twice from inside the 5 with Neshaminy out of timeouts.

In the end, however, the Bucks (3-2 overall, 2-2 SOL), single mindedly trying to stop Brittingham (116 rushing yards, 88 receiving yards), bit on Wiater’s moment of deception, and they now teeter on the edge of a district-playoff berth. This is their first season with two losses since 1995, and one more defeat likely would keep them out of the PIAA District One Class AAAA playoffs for the first time since 1992, the year District One instituted a postseason tournament

“This team stands out the most of the three years I’ve been playing for being close. There’s no cliques,” said West senior offensive lineman Justin Outten, who returned to the lineup Friday after sitting out one game with an ankle injury.

“We’re going to bounce back from this. There’s still a chance for the playoffs. We’re going to work hard.”

They did exactly that in scoring three second-half touchdowns, the first two by junior fullback Doug Kniese. And when senior Clay Lepley charged into the end zone from the 1 with 1:57 to go, the Bucks had positioned themselves to hand Neshaminy (5-0, 4-0 SOL) its first loss of the season and again become the team to beat in the Suburban One League National Conference.

But while West slowed the 6-foot-1, 194-pound Brittingham, who had averaged 233 rushing yards in his first three games, Wiater picked its defense apart, throwing for 208 yards, completing all five of his passes on the Redskins’ game-winning drive, and making that crucial call on fourth down.

“We got to the point where we were in that spot and we were stuck with the same personnel in the same defense,” West coach Randy Cuthbert said. “We were selling out to stop the run.”

We were in a straight man-to-man and were blitzing. We felt we had to sell out to stop Brittingham. You give something up when you do that.”

That something was Mullin, who released from the line and flashed into the left corner of the end zone. Wiater faked, sprinted left and made the easy throw as the clock hit: 00.

It was Mullin’s only catch of the game.

“On that call, I knew I was going out,” Mullin said. “I didn’t know I was going to be wide open.”

Neither did the Bucks.

“All that preparation and being together, it pays off when you win,” Outten said. “But when you lose, it’s like a shot in the face.”

2001 Neshaminy Redskins

(Editor’s Note:This game was the turning point in the 2001 Redskins season and served as a watershed moment for the resurgent Redskins. With the win, the ‘Skins took a giant step in the long climb back to recognition as one of the state’s premier football programs, and that recognition continues to this day.