GAME TWO
B-A Blue Devils: 27
Penns Valley Rams:0
Friday, September 10, 2004 • Bellwood-Antis Memorial Field • Bellwood, Pennsylvania
By Bob Miller | Daily Herald Sports Editor
Bellwood-Antis head coach John Hayes summed up the state of B-A football after his Blue Devils had mashed Penns Valley 27-0 for their first win of the year at Bellwood Memorial Stadium.
— “We probably are not as bad as we looked last week,” said the veteran B-A coach, “and we are probably not as good as we looked out there tonight.”
— Indeed, although the Blue Devil defense never let Penns Valley get close to scoring, Bellwood-Antis was able to generate just a 6-0 lead at halftime.
— After rushing for 419 yards and totaling 454 yards in all and 46 points against Bald Eagle Area last week in their opener, Penns Valley was limited to just 74 yards rushing and 172 yards total offense and no points by a swarming B-A defense led by Brandon and Dwayne Cherry, L. J. Seidel, Tony DelGrosso, Derrick Hoffer and company, with much of that total being added after the Blue Devils had opened up a big lead and was virtually meaningless.
— “What a difference a week makes,” exclaimed Hayes. “Last week at this time, we were pretty dejected from being knocked around pretty good. Tonight our kids rebounded, overcame some adversity including some injuries that required patching up our lineup a bit. The effort that we made was certainly the key to our success, both offensively and defensively.”
— The B-A defense forced Penns Valley to punt the first five times the Rams handled the football and on their final series of the first half, senior defensive back Derrick Hoffer stopped the drive with an interception. Actually, one play prior to the Hoffer pick, Aaron Geis intercepted a Penns Valley pass and returned the ball 63 yards for an apparent touchdown, only to have a roughing-the-passer penalty nullify the Blue Devils’ TD.
— Penns Valley was in Bellwood-Antis territory for exactly one play the entire first half, and never got inside the BA-30 until the beginning of the fourth quarter.
— Bellwood-Antis used a big screen pass from senior quarterback Zach Tomchick to sophomore tailback Josh Kleinfelter on a third-down-and-10 call for a 45-yard touchdown for the only score of the first half with just over two minutes to play in the opening quarter. Kleinfelter, who rushed 20 times for 120 yards overall, opened the series with a 12-yard burst, but Bellwood-Antis gained no yards on the next two plays to set up the TD pass.
— After the Blue Devils’ Hoffer returned the second half kick 13 yards, lightning struck for the home team. Kleinfelter had his number called twice for 15 yards and a first down, then senior fullback Travis Ehredt bulled up the middle, cut right and outran everybody for a 51-yard score. Sophomore place-kicker Evan Celmo booted the extra point to give the Blue Devils a 13-0 lead.
— Penns Valley was forced to punt on their first series and Bellwood-Antis was quickly in motion again for the second of three second-half TDs.
— Kleinfelter and Ehredt took turns running the football with B-A driving 42 yards in 10 plays that included pass completions from Tomchick to Devon Clapper for seven yards and to Hoffer for 15 yards, both for first downs. Ian Crist carried the final five yards on two carries, including the three-yard TD.
— The Blue Devils began in Penns Valley territory for the second straight possession on the next series, going 45 yards for their final score midway through the fourth quarter. Kleinfelter zipped off a 17-yard gain to start the march and Ehredt scored from the one, going in standing up for his second TD of the night. Celmo booted successful PATs after each of the final three six-pointers.
— “The most important thing after a week like we had, is that you want to come back and win,” explained Hayes. “If that doesnÕt happen then boy, that third week becomes even more difficult. This was very important for us tonight to turn things around and get on the positive side. Now the problems that we have, we can work from a different, positive aspect. We can go after number two, instead of trying to come off our backs.”
— Evan Leitch, who rambled for 180 yards against BEA, was the Rams leading rusher with 54 yards on 16 carries against the Blue Devil defense. Freshman quarterback Matt Johnson completed five of 12 passes for 76 yards in a relief role after starting QB Preston Shawver was held to two-of five for 22 yards. Each Ram quarterback was intercepted once.
— Ehredt carried eight times for 73 yards for Bellwood-Antis to compliment Kleinfelter who in addition to his rushing total, also caught two passes for 61 yards to tally 181 yards of total offense on the evening. Tomchick connected on five of 11 passes for 96 yards with one interception and one TD pass.
— Hoffer and Devon Clapper had interceptions for the Blue Devils and Brandon Pruznak recovered a Ram fumble.
— Bellwood-Antis (1-1) is home again at Bellwood Memorial Stadium next Friday when they host Bald Eagle Area at 7 p.m.
Comentarios