This
Date in Blue Devil Football
•
September 7th •
By
BOB MILLER
Daily Herald Sports Editor
—
On September 7, 2001,
Bellwood-Antis turned a determined Bishop Guilfoyle back without points
after the Marauders put the ball inside the BA-1, then scored 31 unanswered
points in the second half for a 45-7 win.
—
In 2000, B-A held an undefeated BG squad to minus rushing yardage in a
31-0 win at Mansion Park. Then in 2001, in a battle of ICC division winners
from the previous year, with Bellwood-Antis leading only 14-7 and Bishop
Guilfoyle driving for a tying score or at least a potential field goal
to narrow the led to 14-10, the Blue Devil defense rose up and prevented
a point from being scored. Faced with BG having the ball at point-blank
range inside the BA-1, The Blue Devil defense shook the Marauders for
one yard in losses on the next two plays and a fourth-down field goal
attempt went wide right, devastating BG.
—
B-A began red-hot with a pair of first-quarter scores. Senior linebacker
Josh Evans fell on a BG fumble at the Marauders-40. Facing a third down
and 18, senior quarterback Chuck Benton, who completed nine of 17 passes
for 162 yards, waited and waited, courtesy of an offensive line that gave
him an ocean of time, to spot Troy Beaver all alone for a 47-yard pass
connection to the BG-1. Fullback Duane Ehredt bulled for the TD on the
following call and Dan Graham’s PAT gave the Blue Devils a 7-0 advantage.
—
Adam Plummer, Zach Bobak and Troy Beaver each made a defensive stop on
the next series, forcing a BG punt and B-A moved 71 yards for another
tally. Eric Kustaborder dashed 22 yards, Benton completed passes to Beaver,
Ryan McCartney and finally to Beaver again for the seven-yard score.
—
In the second half, Kustaborder scampered a dozen yards for a TD. Dan
Graham tied a school record for longest field goal with a 37-yard boot.
Ehredt zipped 44 yards for his second score of the night. Sophomore Dan
Houser moved the sticks for a first down on a 12 yard jaunt, then two
calls later went right and outran everybody for a 43-yard TD. Derrick
Miller capped the scoring with a one-yard smash following a 26-yard pickup
by Cory Daly to set up the TD. Dan Graham kicked six PATs in addition
to the field goal to round out the scoring.
—
Ehredt, who was the only Blue Devil to score in each of the first 10 games
in 2001, led all runners with 91 yards on 11 carries, Daly added 74 on
four carries, Kustaborder had 65 on 11 carries and Houser had 55 yards
on three totes.
—
Defense keyed the Bellwood-Antis 27-6 win over the visiting Mount Union
Trojans on September 7, 1990.
—
The B-A offense put two touchdowns on the board in each of the first two
quarters and the Blue Devil defense was one play short of completely dominating
the Mount Union offense. Take out one long touchdown play and Mount Union
ran just 10 offensive plays, not counting punts in the entire first half.
—
B-A slotback Bo Lardieri set up the first Blue Devil score, dashing 29
yards on the first play from scrimmage. Chris McCartney, who is the all-time
B-A leader in rushing yards and total offense, ran the ball twice for
six and nine yards, the second, his first of three TDs in the game. Jamie
Gummo added the PAT and with three minutes played, B-A led 7-0.
—
B-A went into their bag of tricks for head coach John Hayes. Mike McFarland
recovered a deliberate on-sides kick at the BA-48 to get the ball back.
McCartney climaxed the 52-yard drive with a six-pointer from one yard
out and Gummo tacked on the PAT.
—
Bellwood-Antis forced a Mount Union punt and the Blue Devils got the ball
at their own 22. Lardieri took a handoff on an inside reverse and took
off like he had been shot out of a cannon, outrunning everybody for a
78-yard TD scamper. Gummo’s extra point kick increased the Bellwood-Antis
lead to 21-0 with just one play run off the second quarter clock.
—
Mount Union was forced to punt again, accumulating just four yards rushing
all night, giving the Blue Devils the ball at the MU-42. Using Ohio State
coach Woody Hayes’ (no relation to John) theory of three yards and
a cloud of dust, Bellwood-Antis ground out their final score of the evening.
Actually a sudden and very soaking shower made it impossible to see any
dust, but Woody would have been proud of the way the Blue Devils marched
down the field. Using 11 plays in which there were only two rushes and
one pass that covered more than four yards, McCartney slipped into the
endzone for his third score of the game from a yard away.
—
Mount Union’s only score came on the next series. The Trojans moved
back first with Andy Mock and Gerald Whitaker sacking the MU quarterback
on consecutive plays, before a short pass to the tight end resulted in
the B-A defense going for the interception and failing. When that failed,
the Mount Union receiver motored 82 yards for the score. a “muddle
huddle” attempt for two was stopped by the Blue Devils and neither
team scored in he second half.
—
Lardieri had 123 yards on just six carries and McCartney added 93 more
on 26 carries.
—
In this installment, we begin with a 10-7 loss to backyard neighbor Tyrone
on September 7, 1979.
One of the largest ever crowds at Bellwood Memorial Stadium in recent
years witnessed one of the better contests between Bellwood-Antis and
Tyrone.
—
Down 7-0 at the end of the first half, the Blue Devils charged back to
knot the score at 7-7 in the third quarter. Mike Rhoades rambled 57 yards
with the second-half kickoff to put an electrical charge into fans and
B-A football alike. With the ball all the way to the Tyrone-37, Don Erickson
got the first call and responded by bolting off tackle to pick up 23 yards
to the T-14. The only pass completion all game, from Butch Riggleman to
Jim Fowler on a fourth and six call went for eight yards and a first down
and set up Riggleman’s two-yard plunge on a quarterback sneak for
the touchdown. Dave DiRoma followed with a the PAT to tie the game.
—
The score would remain the same, until with the game clock running nearly
out, Tyrone began a long, time-consuming march from their own 13-yard
line for nearly four minutes of clock time to get the football to the
BA-15, with just eight ticks left. Todd Templeton, the Eagles six-foot-four,
205 pound fullback, who had scored Tyrone’s touchdown and extra point,
stepped back and boomed the 32-yard field goal that spelled victory for
Tyrone and doom for the Blue Devils.
—
Don Erickson gained 75 yards on nine carries to lead the Blue Devils.
Ron Hubler added 24 yards on nine carries and Mike Desch had 20 yards
on seven totes.
