GAME SEVEN B-A Blue Devils: 41 Glendale Vikings: 25 Friday, October 16, 2009 • Memorial Field • Bellwood, Pennsylvania
By Bob Miller | Daily Herald Sports Editor
— Although the weather was cold and wet, the action on the gridiron at Bellwood Memorial Stadium was hot and heavy. — Before all was said and done, Bellwood-Antis (7-0) had prevailed 41-25 over a determined Glendale squad that never gave up, but was simply outmanned by the Blue Devils. — A year ago, Bellwood-Antis jumped out to what seemed like a nice lead and was going to build upon it. Instead, Glendale took advantage of mistakes and penalties and the Blue Devils escaped with a 21-14 win. — Friday night seemed like the same thing was about to happen. — Bellwood-Antis displayed enough offense, led by Zack McCaulley rushing for 228 yards and three touchdowns and Nate Plummer throwing three first-half TD passes. Special teams set up a couple of scores, and the defense did a reasonably good job. — The trouble once again was penalties and mistakes. Glendale was stuffed by the Blue Devil defense on the first series of the game, only to have a horse collar penalty give Glendale a first down and new life. — The Vikings marched 67 yards for the initial touchdown of the game, a 30 yard pass from junior quarterback Tyler Jenny to senior wide our Bobby Ivory. Jenny added the extra point kick, the only PAT the Vikings were successful on all night, for an early 7-0 lead. — That wouldn’t last long. — Ben McCaulley returned a short kickoff seven yards to the BA-37 for the Blue Devils. The rest was all Zack McCaulley. McCaulley burst over the right side for 11 yards on the first play and every play in the seven-play march, including the 16-yard touchdown. Travis Taylor tied the game with his PAT kick. — The B-A defense stopped Glendale without a first down, and special teams kicked in when Nick DeGol returned the Glendale punt 42 yards to the Viking-20. Zack McCaulley picked up two yards, and on third and eight, Plummer found Jared Minori for the 18-yard TD pass. — The second quarter saw Bellwood-Antis put two more scores on the board. First, the Blue Devils took advantage of a Glendale punt that traveled only 12 yards to start from the G-24. McCaulley ground out one yard and DeGol two more before Plummer connected with McCaulley for the 21-yard TD. Then, B-A started from their own-34 and marched 66 yards in a dozen plays, with Plummer passing to DeGol for the final 12 yards. Zach McCaulley alertly hauled in a tipped pass from Plummer for the two-point conversion and a 27-7 lead at halftime. — The Blue Devils then opened the second half with Danny Noye finding a lane and taking the kickoff 47 yards to the Vikings-35. Ben McCaulley burst eight yards on the first carry, DeGol raced for 11 later and Zack McCaulley covered the final six yards for the touchdown. Taylor’s PAT kick gave the Blue Devils a 34-7 lead and the fans and media were hoping for another score and the Mercy Rule to kick in. — Unfortunately for the home team, Glendale was never informed of that plan. — “They (Glendale) are the definition of a never-die team. They never stopped, they were down 20 points and they never stopped,” explained Zack McCaulley, whose previous high was 175 yards against West Branch last year as a junior. “As far as running the football, the O-line manned up and made holes, and I just was lucky enough to get the opportunity to run through them.” — Glendale made the middle portion of the third quarter their own, scoring 18 points in just four minutes and 48 seconds. — First, going exclusively from the shotgun in the second half, Jenny tossed an eight yard TD pass to Ivory after Codi McClellan had gotten outside and dashed 51 yards to the BA-14. Then on the following series, Plummer lost the handle on a snap from center and Dustin Shaffer recovered for Glendale at the BA-36. With the help of a 15-yard B-A penalty, Glendale scored when Jenny went around the left side, then cut back across the middle for a 13-yard touchdown run. — DeGol gave the Blue Devils good field position by running the following kick 37 yards to the G-46, but Plummer was intercepted by Ivory who went down the left sideline for a 73 yard touchdown on the pick. — Suddenly, the big B-A lead had been sliced to 34-25. — “There was a lot of emotion tonight, we got to wear the special uniforms (blue jerseys with gold numerals and blue pants),” said McCaulley. “Especially since it was Glendale—they played us hard last year. We knew they were going to come in and play us real tough. Overall, it was a real good night and we got the ‘W.’ ” — Travis Taylor got the ball to near midfield with a 12-yard return on the kick and McCaulley motored 32 yards for a Blue Devil touchdown that slowed the Glendale momentum. Taylor’s PAT capped the scoring for the night, with neither team scoring in the fourth quarter. — “One of the scores was an interception return, and we had had things on offense. We fumbled the ball that ended a drive,” said Bellwood-Antis coach John Hayes. “So, we put some points on the board, but we certainly made enough mistakes on both sides of the football to bring some caution to our celebration of a victory. Their kids played hard. They came out the second half, and it would have been easy when we scored for them to hang it up, but they stayed in there. They got some opportunities and they made the most of them. Once that happens, it seems they just compound themselves and at that point we were pressing a little bit. We remembered last year a little bit and everybody tightened up and that’s when mistakes keep coming.”
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