GAME TWELVE — District 6A FINAL Bishop Carroll Huskies: 27 B-A Blue Devils: 10 Saturday, November 19, 2005 • Mansion Park • Altoona, PA
By Bob Miller | Daily Herald Sports Editor
Bishop Carroll refused to allow Bellwood-Antis to upset their plans two years in a row. Or, actually, senior quarterback Brock Lauer rose to the occasion, leading the Huskies 74 yards down the field for a touchdown with nine and a half minutes to play in the fourth quarter on the way to a 27-10 win over Bellwood-Antis that was much closer than the final score.
— B-A running back Josh Kleinfelter carried the ball 20 times for 91 yards, breaking the 2,000-yard mark with 0:57 remaining in the game. Kleinfelter finished his junior season with 301 carries in 2005 for a B-A record 2,023 yards.
— With Bishop Carroll leading just 14-10, first Lauer completed a 15-yard pass to senior wingback Luke Jensen, then pulled the ball down and rambled 51 yards to the BA8 before being stopped. Two plays later Dave Brown burst five yards for the TD and a 21-10 advantage.
— With time running down, Bellwood-Antis tried to get something going with a reverse on the following kickoff, but fumbled and Bishop Carroll recovered at the BA-18. Six plays later, Lauer scored his second touchdown of the game from two yards out to ice the game 27-10.
— “Their quarterback made some pretty big plays at inopportune times for us,” said Blue Devil head coach John Hayes.
— Bellwood-Antis kicked off to begin the contest and forced BC to punt, getting big stops from Tony DelGrosso and Adam Martin on second down and Evan Hughes and Jon Davila on third down.
— The Blue Devils started at their own 31, then drove 69 yards to take the early lead. The Bishop Carroll defense stopped a Kyle Drost to Jon Davila pass for a minus one yard on the first play, but junior tailback Josh Kleinfelter slipped through the line for six yards and Drost found Devon Clapper for six more and a first down. Kleinfelter had his number called three straight times for 15 yards and a first down at the BC-43. Two plays later Drost located Clapper for a 40-yard touchdown and Evan Celmo booted his 43rd PAT of the season for a 7-0 B-A lead.
— Carroll came right back. After being forced to punt without a first down on their first possession, the Huskies marched 67 yards to tie the score on a one-yard Lauer run over the left side. Lauer rushed for 85 yards on nine carries. Senior runningback Paul Forcellini had three carries in the march for 20 yards and Jensen took a pitch from Lauer for 26 yards. Lauer also hit big senior tight end Jeff Minnemyer (6-7, 257) for an 11-yard pass play to move the sticks.
— Bellwood-Antis attempted to respond, moving from their own 32 to the Huskies 25 before they ran out of steam against a super-quick Bishop Carroll defense that would limit the B-A attack to just 93 net yards on the ground, far short of their average of 240 over their first 11 ballgames.
— Drost, who finished the night 13-of-24 for 171 yards with one TD and three interceptions, connected with Kleinfelter for 11 and Dan Kovac for 14-yard completions during the series.
— A series later, Kleinfelter recovered his first of two fumbles on the night (B-A recovered a total of three) at the BC-38.
— Kleinfelter moved the sticks with 10 yards on three carries and Drost and Kovac combined for a gain of 17. Evan Celmo booted a 20-yard field goal to move Bellwood-Antis into a 10-7 lead with 4:26 to play in the first half.
— Lauer drove Bishop Carroll 65 yards on the following series to take a 14-10 advantage they would hold until Lauer’s antics clinched the victory in the fourth and final quarter. Forcellini, who carried 19 times for 85 yards, got 14 yards on two rushes and Lauer hit Forcellini for 28 yards and Jensen 22 yards for the TD on back-to-back cross-field pas plays. Pat Hegeman booted PATs after both first-half scores.
— Neither club was able to sustain anything in the third quarter. Bishop Carroll had two punts and a lost fumble, while the Blue Devils had a interception and a pair of punts as the defenses dominated. Blue Devil junior David Burns recovered the BC fumble, and Lauer had the pick for Carroll.
— Bellwood-Antis tried to move for more points with two series after the Huskies second fourth-quarter TD. On the first, B-A marched from their own-35 to the BC-21 before Lauer intercepted Drost to thwart that threat. Drost completed a 22-yard pass to senior tight end Troy Brunner and Kovac completed his first pass of the season on a trick end-around pass to Clapper for 30 yards.
— On the final series of the game with time running down, Kleinfelter burst for pickups of nine and 16 yards to surpass the two millennium mark, but time ran out before the Blue Devils were able to get the ball into the end zone.
— “We didn’t lose this game because of lack of effort,” explained Hayes. “These kids played hard until the last play. With good teams, one of us had to end up on the short end. It was their night.
— “This group of seniors was instrumental in turning our program back in the right direction two years ago. They made it great to be a part of. Hopefully this will carry over. I told the younger players they need to remember how they feel right now.”
Blue Devil Notes: Bishop Carroll has now won six district titles in the last eight years… Bellwood-Antis loses just seven seniors and will have the entire starting backfield return, except for Drost. B-A will return five starters on offense and seven on defense… Kleinfelter set B-A records for TDs (30) and points scored (180), carries, rushing yardage and total offense (2,218) in a season in 2005. Josh has over 4,000 yards in career total offense… Kovac set records for TDs in a season (9) and career (11), receiving yardage in a career (876) and finished with 573 yards, second to Jason Lamertina (581) in a season. Dan is second in career catches with 37 to Lamertina’s 42… Drost finished the season 68-for-138 for 1,264 yards, 11 interceptions and 11 touchdowns. The senior QB is fourth in season completions, third (tie) in TD passes in a season, third in 100-yard career passing games with nine, third in passing yardage in a season, third in completions (tie with 68) in a season, fourth (tie with 92) in career completions, and fifth in career passing yards (1,689). Junior Evan Celmo ties Dan Graham’s season mark of four field goals and career mark of seven field goals… The 2005 Blue Devils are in the top 10 in all three Bellwood-Antis team totals: third in passing yardage (1,360), ninth in rushing yardage (2,732), and seventh in total offense (4,093) as well as fifth in scoring with 394 points… Bishop Carroll will play District 3 champ Steelton-Highspire at Hershey Park Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m.
