This
Date in Blue Devil Football
•
September 27th •
By
BOB MILLER
Daily Herald Sports Editor
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Bellwood-Antis crushed Mount Union 34-7 on September. 27, 1985
at Bellwood Memorial Stadium.
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For most of the 18 minutes, it seemed as if the Blue Devils were the 1-3
team and Mount Union 4-0. Mental mistakes proved very costly early for
the Blue Devils of head coach John Hayes.
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B-A was able to manage just 30 yards of total offense in that first quarter
and a half, but finally did awaken to post their fifth straight win of
the season.
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Don “Booker” Moore, who finished the night with over 200 yards
rushing for the second straight ballgame was the workhorse toting the
ball 35 times for 235 yards, all but 19 in the last three quarters.
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Bellwood-Antis did get into the endzone at the 5:58 mark of the second
quarter with quarterback Don park going in for the score on a one-yard
sneak and Shawn Bailey’s PAT kick knotted the score at seven-all.
The big plays were a 27-yard jaunt by Moore and a nine-yard pick-up by
Bob Noye.
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The second half was more vintage Bellwood-Antis as Moore ran wild and
scored twice from the one- and the six-yard lines. Adam Claar slammed
in from the one for the other TD, completed a pass for 11 yards and added
one 2-pt. PAT. Shawn Bailey booted two PATs overall.
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Bellwood-Antis shut out Williamsburg 41-0 at Bellwood Memorial Stadium
on September 27, 1963.
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The potent Bellwood-Antis offense smashed the Blue Pirates, rushing for
just under 200 yards and passed for 140 more for coach Chet Dillen.
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The Blue Devils drove 63 yards for their first score. Bill Cherry dashed
27 yards for the key play and then scored the TD on a 14-yard run.
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In the second quarter, John Hirt scored on defense for B-A returning an
interception 20 yards for a TD. The second tally of the quarter followed
on a Walter Rhoades to Ron Edmiston 48-yard pass play. Rhoades rushed
for the PAT.
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On their first series of the second half, Cherry capped a 62-yard drive
that took just six plays, by smashing two yards for the score. Rhoades
passed to Warren Wilson for the extra point.
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Bellwood-Antis scored twice more in the final quarter. Rhoades took a
19-yard jaunt for the first score of the period and Cherry rushed for
the PAT. Wilson scored the final six-pointer, gathering in a pass from
Cherry on a play that overall covered 80 yards. The same duo then connected
for the PAT.
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Cherry carried 15 times for 97 yards and Rhoades had 107 yards on 17 carries.
B-A would go undefeated in 1963 (10-0) for the first time since 1954.
Cherry led Blair County in scoring with 148 points and rushed for 1,218
yards, while Rhoades finished second in scoring in the county and rushed
for 1,195 yards.
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Bellwood-Antis was a member of two conferences in 1946, the Inter-County
Conference, Eastern Division and the Western Conference, Class B.
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On September 27, 1946,
Bellwood-Antis scored a pair of early touchdowns on the way to a 20-0
victory over Jersey Shore.
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The two early scores took the starch out of The Bulldogs, who were members
of the Susquehanna League.
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Lemont “Duke” Burkholder was the head coach in 1946, which would
be the first undefeated season for Bellwood-Antis. Lewis Myers, back from
the Navy, was Duke’s assistant as well as head basketball coach,
and Jim Campbell, who left school to join the Navy after playing halfback
for the Blue Devils in 1943 and 1944 and had been team captain in ’44
ran the equipment room, while completing requirements to finish high school.
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In a game originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28, at Jersey Shore,
but moved up a day to Sept. 27, the B-A defense turned in their third
straight shutout after Tyrone had scored a single TD in a 26-6 Bellwood-Antis
win in the season opener. Bellwood-Antis would count 10 straight shutouts
and an 11-0 mark before the 1946 season ended.
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On the second play from scrimmage, Tommy Conrad recovered a Jersey Shore
fumble at the Shore-25. Sophomore Roy Pickens skirted left end for 15
yards, Paul Garrahan picked up eight more and Ron Raugh broke through
right tackle for the two-yard touchdown. Raugh also added the extra point
kick.
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The B-A defense stuffed Jersey Shore for zero yards on three plays, with
Charlie Barr making one tackle and Billy Campbell two.
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Ken Woodhall fielded the punt and lateraled the ball to Pickens, who returned
it to the BA-40. Another quick drive resulted in points. Raugh tossed
a pass to Woodhall for nine yards and then scooted for 10 more two plays
later. Woodhall, who local sports writers and coaches had been calling
the best passer in the state as early as his freshman year at B-A, capped
the drive with a 34-yard TD pass to senior end Dick Thomas. Woodhall has
several B-A passing records and would have more if we had accurate records
from those years.
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In the third quarter, B-A put the final tally on the board. Woodhall,
a complete player, who could pass, run, play defense, return kicks and
punt with the best Bellwood-Antis athletes and was the equal of any in
the state in the 1940s, ran a punt back 25 yards to the JS-35. Raugh completed
a pair of passes to Pickens and had his number called six times for all
the remaining yardage, including the two-yard TD and then kicked the PAT.
Editor’s note: In an oddity, all three years in this edition of This Week in Blue Devil Football went undefeated. Each had their special coaches and special players. Each should be given a lot of consideration for the “greatest B-A football team ever.” Eras change and it’s always hard to compare different teams so far apart from each other and it’s practically impossible for any one person to see all of them in action. Just think about these Blue Devil teams when comparing past, present and future “Best Lists.”
