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This Date in Blue Devil Football
• October 17th •

By BOB MILLER
Daily Herald Sports Editor

— A Saturday contest against Northern Bedford at Roaring Spring Athletic Field provided a wake-up call for Bellwood-Antis on October 17, 1987. B-A started slowly, then poured 34 points across the goal line in a 34-20 win over the Panthers.
— Scott Boyer recovered a fumble to set the first score in motion and Bob Schmittle carried three times for 36 yards and Kevin Potts dashed the final eight yards to the one before senior fullback Joe Schmidt smashed in for the score.
— After Northern tied the score, B-A marched 70 yards to take the lead again. Todd Hirt tossed passes to Mike DelGrosso for two first downs and Schmittle had his number called four times for 25 yards, before Schmidt bounced off left tackle, slanted to the outside and ran 11 yards for his second TD of the night. Hirt passed to Schmittle for the two-points.
— On the following kickoff, Gordy Darnell jarred the ball loose and Charlie Burch fell on the football at the NB-25. Potts got loose for 22 on the first play and then scored the one-yard TD. Jim Decker booted the PAT.
— B-A scored the first two times they got the ball in the second half to put the game out of reach. First, a 23-yard run by Jason Lamertino highlighted an eight-play drive capped by a 16-yard TD pass from Hirt to DelGrosso and Decker kicked the PAT. Then after Northern scored, to close to within 28-20, Bellwood-Antis ran a double reverse on the kickoff with Scott Mirabella taking the ball 69 yards to the NB-11. Schmittle picked up five before Mirabella had his number called twice, including the TD and a 34-20 win for coach John Hayes.

— Bellwood-Antis (4-3) cranked up their most-productive offensive attack of the year at Houtzdale, trouncing Moshannon Valley 42-16 on October 17, 1969. The Blue Devils continued an uphill climb for head coach Chet Dillen with their fourth straight win, after an 0-3 start.
— Tim White shredded the Mo Valley defense for 136 yards rushing in 20 trips with the pigskin and quarterback Bo DelGrosso clicked on six of eight pass attempts for 101 yards for his second big game in a row. DelGrosso had completed nine of 16 for 172 yards through the air and added 113 yards rushing on 16 carries a week earlier in the Blue Devils 36-6 rout of previously undefeated Southern Huntingdon.
— Chris Edmondson opened the scoring by bolting 19 yards late in the first quarter, after a pass interception by Jay McCaulley had set up the score.
— A three touchdown salvo followed in the second quarter with White picking up the first one with a three-yard slant that capped a 71-yard march. Syrelle Shultz recovered a Mo Valley fumble at the MV-27 and DelGrosso slipped the last eight yards for the TD.
— The Blue Devil defense forced the Knights to punt on the following series and then the B-A offense quickly moved for another score. DelGrosso completed a 13 yard pass to Ron Roulic and a key first down toss to Jeff Wilson before White bulled four yards for the TD and Edmondson tacked on the two-point run on the point-after.
— Bellwood-Antis added a quick third-quarter score when DelGrosso connected with Edmondson for 15 yards and to Roulic for 24 more. White pounded the final nine yards for the TD and this time DelGrosso ran for the two-points.
— After Mo Valley scored, B-A put their final Td on the board with Edmondson grabbing a 31-yard TD pass from DelGrosso and White adding the two-point conversion.

— On October 17, 1953, Captain Jack Joint High School, of Mount Union, did what none of the Blue Devils’ first five opponents had been able to do-score. Undefeated Bellwood-Antis (6-0) gave up their first score of the season, but easily handled Captain Jack 37-6. With a third-quarter touchdown, the Trojans broke a string of 22 straight scoreless quarters by the B-A defense.
— Captain Jack must have had bad dreams of Albert “Chub” Dillen running amuck after the Saturday game at Mount Union. Dillen scored four times from scrimmage and kicked one extra point to reach the 100-point total in scoring in the Blue Devils’ first six games.
— Chub broke through the center of the line for eight yards and his first score. Then Max Kneidinger blocked a Captain Jack punt and Dillen smashed three yards for a TD.
— In the second quarter, Bellwood-Antis began from the BA-20 after a Mount Union punt sailed into the endzone. Dillen raced 80 yards off right tackle for the quick score on the first play for his third six-pointer of the game.
— Bob Bilka set up the next B-A score with a series of runs and then found Dean Campbell for a 30-yard touchdown pass.
— Dillen then scored for the fourth time, taking the ball through center for his second 80-yard score, giving Chub 171 yards rushing on his four TDs alone.
— Captain Jack then connected on a 46-yard touchdown pass for the season’s only score against the Blue Devil defense over the first six games of the year.
— Bellwood-Antis rounded out the scoring when Dick Hummel tallied on a three yard smash to set the score for coach Elwood Petchel, who as a diminutive scatback in his college days at Penn State had been called the “Flying Fragment.”

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