This
Date in Blue Devil Football
•
October 8th •
By
BOB MILLER
Daily Herald Sports Editor
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On October 8, 1993,
Bellwood-Antis (6-0) crushed Penns Valley 41-12 for their sixth straight
win of the year.
—
Missy Hunter was crowned Homecoming Queen and the new athletic facility,
adjacent to the football field was officially opened.
—
B-A coach John
Hayes admonished at midweek in his report to The Daily Herald the
Blue Devils needed to get off to a quicker start than in the two games
prior to Homecoming, and his squad took the coachÕs advice to heart.
—
On just the second play from scrimmage, tailback Comanche Garcia took
a pitch from quarterback Chris Walker and went left, got to the sideline
and sailed down the field for a 36-yard touchdown. Pete Stetter added
the PAT kick for a quick 7-0 lead.
—
Jeremy Cherry, who seemed to have his number called on nearly every tackle
over the first three quarters,, set up the score with a fumble recovery
at the PV-40, one of three give-a-ways recovered by the Blue Devils.
—
Following a Penns Valley punt, B-A marched 7 yards for their second opening-quarter
score. Shawn Ross, who led all runners with 102 yards on 17 carries ripped
off gains of 15, 11 and seven yards. Walker tossed a 19-yard completion
to senior slotback Justin McCall and Ross bulled the final yard for the
TD.
—
Midway through the second quarter, McCall returned a punt 28 yards to
the PV-19 and Garcia, who rushed for an even 100 yards on 10 carries,
capped the short march with the seven-yard TD. On the PAT try, the ball
was snapped to holder Barry Wertz who went over the right side for a two-point
conversion and a 22-0 lead at halftime.
—
Jason Kirkpatrick brought the second-half kick back 27 yards to midfield
and in seven plays, the Blue Devils were in the end zone again. Ross had
his number called three times to pick up the final 11 yards, including
the one-yard TD, his 11th on the season.
—
Chris Gummo recovered a Ram fumble at the PV-34 to set up the second score
of the third quarter. Darren Werner romped for 16 yards on the first call
and McCall picked up seven more and Ross five, before Walker lead Don
Stephens perfectly in the end zone for six-yard TD pass.
—
Barry Wertz ran a quarterback keeper for the final score by the B-A reserves.
Jeremy Cherry sacked the PV quarterback to force a punt. Anthony DeGennaro
returned the punt 23 yards to the PV-24 to set up the tally.
—
By 1965, Saxton-Liberty had merged with Robertsdale to form the Tussey
Mountain School District. On October 8, 1965,
Bellwood-Antis won their fourth straight game of the year for coach Chet
Dillen, knocking off Tussey Mountain 52-7 after a close 13-6 win over
a scrappy Williamsburg team a week earlier.
—
John Graham led the touchdown parade with two TDs and three extra points,
rushing for 98 yards, and in the absence of senior quarterback Denny Campbell,
passed for 90 more, including a 38-yard TD strike to senior end Gary Claar.
—
Jack Russin, only a sophomore, moved into the starting lineup to take
Graham’s usual spot at running back and piled up 123 yards and two
touchdowns on 14 carries. Russin dashed around left end and raced 60 yards
for his first score, then came back to crash one-yard for his second tally.
—
Gary Claar scored twice first picking an errant Tussey Mountain snap from
center out of the air and rambling 43 yards for a score, then grabbing
the TD pass from Graham.
—
Junior Gerry Snyder also got into the scoring act when Claar blocked a
Titan punt and Snyder fell on it in the endzone for a TD. Junior Bruce
Garman scored the final six-pointer for the Blue Devils, closing out a
drive for three yards away and Dave Ditzler rushed for the PAT. Dave Campbell
had two pass receptions for 52 yards.
—
Bellwood-Antis picked up its second victory in as many weeks to improve
to 3-2 for new head coach Andy Daskovich on October 8, 1955,
defeating Saxton-Liberty 25-6 in a game played at Saxton.
—
The Blue Devils drove to the SL-1 early in the game, but the Wildcats
held B-A without a score in the first road trip after starting the 1955
season with four home games at Bellwood Memorial Stadium.
—
B-A forced a punt however, and this time couldnÕt be denied. Bellwood-Antis
quarterback Barry Cory unleashed a pass to end Max Kneidinger, who scampered
42 yards for the TD. Cory’s PAT rush gave the Blue Devils a 7-0 lead
in the opening quarter.
—
In the second period, Cory sliced off tackle and raced 66 yards for the
Blue Devils second score. Late in the same quarter, a Joe Hand to Cory
pass was good for 24 yards to set up another six-pointer. Kneidinger took
the ball on an end-around play for an 11-yard gain and the touchdown.
—
Bellwood-Antis scored their final tally after halftime. Kneidinger’s
number was called again on the end-around, and Max responded by motoring
72 yards for his third TD of the evening.
—
Saxton-Liberty put their only score on the board late in the contest to
round out the scoring.
—
Daskovich took over in 1955 after Elwood Petchel had coached the Blue
Devils to consecutive 10-0 seasons in 1953
and 1954,
never losing in the only two years he spent at Bellwood. Daskovich would
coach for three seasons at Bellwood-Antis compiling an overall 5-21-1
mark with a 4-5-1 record in 1955, the best of the three seasons. Daskovich
was a Homer City High School and Indiana State Teachers College graduate,
who taught at Baltimore County school from 1950-52 and at Redbank Valley
from 1952-55, where he served as assistant football coach. John Callis
was his assistant at Bellwood-Antis and George Guyer coached the junior
varsity.
