This
Date in Blue Devil Football
•
November 13th •
By
BOB MILLER
Daily Herald Sports Editor
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On November 13, 1999,
Bellwood-Antis rushed past a previously undefeated Windber team 36-20
in the District 5/6-A playoffs at Windber for coach John Hayes.
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With only back-to-back losses to Double-A schools Tyrone and Penns Valley,
Bellwood-Antis won for the ninth straight time. B-A fell behind 7-0, but
rallied to take a 21-7 lead into the halftime intermission.
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Joel Focht got the Blue Devils moving with a 25-yard punt return to the
W-27 after the B-A defense stuffed the Ramblers, with the help of an eight-yard
quarterback sack by Tom Kovac. Joe Bagley slammed in for the one-yard
TD to slice the Windber lead to 7-6.
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Scoring on back-to-back series in the second quarter, Bellwood-Antis took
a lead they would keep. First Matt Garner, who led all runners with 186
yards on 22 carries opened the series with an 18-yard scamper. Travis
Martin found Steve Cogan for 27 yards on a pass and Garner motored 11
more. Dave Miller, who finished with 137 yards on 21 totes scored the
six-yard TD and Martin and Cogan teamed up for the two-point PAT pass
and a 14-7 lead.
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The Blue Devil defense stopped Windber at the BA-1, and the offense turned
that into a 99-yard march for another score.
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Miller gave B-A some breathing room with 11 yards in two plays and later
added 14 more to the BA-28. Garner covered the final 72 yards in one play,
racing down the left sideline and dragging a would-be tackler into the
end zone with him for the score.
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After Windber closed the score to 21-14 in the third quarter, Garner ran
the kickoff 39 yards out to the BA-45, then scooted 16 more to open the
series. Miller matched that with 16 yards of his own and capped the seven
play drive with the seven-yard TD. Martin passed to Garner for the two-point
conversion, with Matt making a leaping catch in the corner of the end
zone for a 29-14 advantage.
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Each team would score once more. Miller ended the Ramblers next drive
with a pass interception that he returned 29 yards for a TD, his second
pick for a score in two weeks of playoffs.
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On November 13, 1965,
Bellwood-Antis turned the ball over to junior running back John Graham
against Northern Bedford and Graham responded with a total of six touchdowns
in a 53-7 rout over the Panthers.
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Denny Campbell passed to senior classmate Jim Decker for a 36-yard score
to open the scoring and Campbell rushed for the PAT.
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Later in the first period, junior Jim Bloomfield blocked a Northern punt
and Graham scored a 13-yard TD to notch his first score.
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Lightning struck quickly then as Jack Russin scooped up a Panther fumble
on the ensuing kickoff and raced 33 yards for the third of four opening
quarter tallies.
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Bloomfield blocked his second punt of the quarter and fell on the ball
at the NB-6. On the first call from scrimmage, Graham bolted in for the
TD and Campbell ran for the PAT.
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In the second quarter, Graham went around right end for 16 yards and a
TD and then tossed a 13-yard pass to Dave Campbell for another score.
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After a B-A fumble recovery set up the final score of the half, Graham
galloped 39 yards for the score, and a Campbell to Decker pass added the
extra point.
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B-A scored one final time in the fourth quarter when Graham threw a six-yard
touchdown pass to senior Drew Hunter and followed that up by rushing for
the PAT. Graham ran 13 times for 125 yards and completed five of six passes
for another 106 yards for head coach Chet Dillen.
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Playing in his last high school game, Roy Pickens stole the show in a
31-7 Bellwood-Antis victory over Beaverdale on November 13, 1948
for head coach Duke Burkholder.
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Pickens, a senior halfback, returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for
a touchdown practically before the chilled fans had a chance to sit down.
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Beaverdale came back to score a TD and add the extra point to take a 7-6
lead.
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In the second quarter, Len Hummel ran back a partially blocked punt to
the Beavers’ 20 yard line. From that point, Pickens faked a handoff
to Gene “Mouse” Moore, and circled left end for a 20-yard score
and a 12-7 B-A lead. The third quarter produced a single score when Moore
took a short pass from Pickens and turned it into a 20-yard TD. Pickens
added PAT.
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Pickens stopped a Beaverdale threat with a sensational interception at
the BA-3, and the Blue Devils turned around and drove 97 yards for a back-breaking
score. Consecutive passes from Pickens to Ira Hummel for gains of 20 and
45 yards took the ball to the Beavers-5. Pickens then crashed off guard
on a spinner play for the five yards and his third TD of the night.
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Finally, Moore made an acrobatic grab of an almost uncatchable pass from
Pickens for the final score of the evening.
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Pickens was the first of just two backs at Bellwood-Antis to compile 1,000
yards rushing and 1,000 yards passing.
