GAME NINE B-A Blue Devils: 33 Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders: 13 Saturday, October 29, 2005 • Mansion Park • Altoona, PA
By Bob Miller | Daily Herald Sports Editor
The Defense rests. The Blue Devil defense was most of the story at Mansion Park on Saturday night. Bellwood-Antis (8-1) never allowed the Bishop Guilfoyle offense to get anything going in a 33-13 B-A win, the Blue Devils eighth straight triumph. The Marauders finished the ballgame with 28 carries for a minus 29 yards net total on the ground and a bullying B-A defensive line made life miserable for BG quarterbacks Tom Seasoltz and Lance Phillips, making them spend most of the evening running for their lives and intercepting four passes.
— Bishop Guilfoyle was held without a first down rushing, getting five through the air and three more through penalties, in a penalty-filled second half. After no penalties for either team through the first quarter and a half, the two squads combined for 14 through the rest of the contest, including nine for 81 yards for the Blue Devils.
— The Bishop Guilfoyle defense against the pass was a tough act to crack. Coming in to the contest, the Marauders had allowed an average of only 47 yards passing per game. Bellwood-Antis quarterback Kyle Drost, averaging over 100 yards per game, was held to two completions and 36 yards, and intercepted Drost for a 71-yard touchdown to give BG an early 7-0 lead.
— That was one of very few Marauder moments in the game however. While the B-A defense was keeping BG from getting anything started, the Bellwood-Antis offensive line of Josh Peters, Tony DelGrosso ,L. J. Seidel, Brian Dougherty, Adam Martin and Anthony Jenkins was controlling the line of scrimmage. The Blue Devils rushed for 286 yards against a BG defense that had been giving up an average of 160 per game, with junior tailback Josh Kleinfelter netting 210 yards and four TDs on 33 carries.
— After a slow start, the Blue Devils began their third offensive series at the BA-27. Kleinfelter got loose on a nearside sweep down the left sideline for 64 yards and then three plays later bulled the final yard for the touchdown. Evan Celmo tied the score 7-7, with his PAT kick.
— On the following series, B-A defensive back Brandon Eger intercepted a pass that had been tipped and returned it 13 yards to the BA-49. After an incomplete pass, Kleinfelter picked up six to the Marauders-45. One play later, Kleinfelter got the ball on a quick opener, spun 360 degrees upon contact, and dashed 45 yards for his second score of the evening. Celmo’s PAT gave Bellwood-Antis a 14-0 lead at the half.
— In the second half, the Blue Devils continued to play a hard, pressure defense and the big B-A line began to have it their own way on most plays. Devon Clapper picked up the third interception for Bellwood-Antis, then turned around and ran the pick 53 yards down to the BG-17.
— Kleinfelter had his number called three straight times for gains of eight, four and then followed left tackle Brain Dougherty into the end zone for the five-yard TD. After booting all 38 of this first 38 PAT kicks, Evan Celmo missed his first to keep the B-A lead at 20-7.
— Early in the fourth quarter, the B-A defense snuffed out an attempted reverse to Sean McConnell for an 11 yard loss and Anthony Jenkins and Tyler Narehood dropped Seasoltz for no-gain on a third and 21 play to force a punt from the BG-8.
— Justin Manning ran the kick back nine yards to the BG-33 to set up the Blue Devils in good field position. With the help of a pair of 15-yard BG penalties, Bellwood-Antis drove the distance in six plays, with Kleinfelter accounting for the final seven yards and his fourth score of the game and 25th of the season. Only Don “Booker” Moore (28 in 1985) and Chris McCartney (26 in 1990) have scored more in Blue Devil history.
— Bishop Guilfoyle came back one series later to narrow The B-A advantage to 26-13. Taking over at quarterback, Lance Phillips delivered a pair of strikes to cover all the yardage in a quick two-play, 67-yard scoring drive. Phillips hit Ryan Craig down the right sideline for a 35-yard gain, then came back to Librizzi all alone in the middle of the field for a 29-yard TD pass. Seasoltz was nailed by Dan Kovac in the backfield when the Marauders attempted a fake-kick, two-point conversion.
— On their next offensive series, after holding Bellwood-Antis to a three and out, BG was knocked back by the B-A defense that made a statement that the game was over, unlike after their last score.
— “Our defense really played well. We had just the one letdown,” said Bellwood-Antis coach John Hayes. “I think they thought the game was over. Their quarterback made a couple plays and got the ball down the field. Other than that, our defense played super. They kind of controlled the tempo. We were able to move the ball and overall the kids overcame a lot. It was like a war zone out there. I think the penalty totals kind of were indicative of that. I’m glad we won and got out of there relatively injury-free. That was important.”
— Bellwood-Antis put one more score on the board with the junior varsity backfield in the game. Devon Clapper raced around the right end for 39 yards to the BG-11. One play later, Brandon Eger went the other way around the right side for the 11-yard score, with Kovac making a devastating block on a defender to clear the way for Eger. Troy Brunner booted the PAT to cap the scoring.
Blue Devil Notes: Kleinfelter rushed for 128 yards in the opening quarter and had 182 yards at halftime… Josh has now rushed for 1,599 yards on 223 carries and needs 55 yards to pass Don Moore whose 1,653 yards in 1985 is the top season rushing figure at Bellwood-Antis… Kleinfelter takes over the B-A career rushing record with a total with 3,219 yards passing Chris McCartney’s total (1988-90) of 3,179 yards… the B-A defense made 16 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for a total of minus 73 yards… Evan Hughes, Troy Brunner and Dalaun Carroll each had a quarterback sack for the Blue Devils and Tyler Narehood and Dan Kovac shared one… The junior varsity football game between Bellwood-Antis and Bishop Guilfoyle scheduled for Monday night at Bellwood has been canceled… Bellwood-Antis will host Juniata Valley on Saturday at Bellwood Memorial Stadium in the first round of the District 6-A playoffs. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
