GAME SIX Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties: 14 B-A Blue Devils: 13 Friday, October 6, 2006 • Philipsburg, Pennsylvania
By Bob Miller | Daily Herald Sports Editor
— Philipsburg-Osceola knocked Tyrone from the ranks of the undefeated at Philipsburg’s Memorial Field two years ago by blocking a extra point kick attempt. On Friday night at the very same field, two years and one week later, the Mounties did exactly the same thing to once-beaten Bellwood-Antis.
— After Philpsburg-Osceola had taken a 14-7 lead midway through the third quarter of a hard-fought contest, Bellwood-Antis gained the momentum to score their second touchdown of the game, but the Mounties blocked the all-important PAT kick and never allowed the Blue Devils to get back in the game, to pull out a 14-13 victory.
— Blaze Winterstein put a personal touch on the Blue Devil defensive stop of Philipsburg with a third-down tackle for a minus four yards, and then sacked Mountie quarterback A. J. Czap on the next play for a loss of nine more yards.
— Bellwood-Antis took over following the Philipsburg-Osceola punt at their own 14 yard line and took just one play to strike paydirt. Blue Devil senior Josh Kleinfelter got open around the left side of the defense and raced 86 yards for the first score of the game at the 9:58 mark of the second quarter. Evan Celmo booted the PAT for a 7-0 advantage.
— Two series later, The Blue Devils tried a tailback pass with Kleinfelter throwing the ball to a wide open David Burns. The pass was just a little too long however. Philipsburg sacked B-A quarterback Evan Hughes for a 10-yards loss, and Celmo was short on a 45-yard field goal attempt.
— The Mounties took the momentum on that defensive stop and turned around to score on two quick plays. On the first play, big fullback Dimitri Sidorick, who led the Mounties with 107 yards on 18 carries bulled through the line and rumbled 37 yards into B-A territory. On the following call, Czap slipped through the left side of the line and galloped 43 yards for the TD. Mike Supko booted his first PAT of the year to knot the score 7-7, with just under three minutes to play in the first half.
— The Blue Devils started at their own-35 on the next series. Devon Clapper went 15 yards on a reverse on the first play and Hughes found Brandon Pruznak for a 29-yard pass play as the Blue devils marched to the PO-14. At that point, there was a misunderstanding by the B-A coaches. Head coach John Hayes and his staff believed it was third down with 15 seconds to play in the half and Bellwood-Antis having one more timeout. The Blue Devils did indeed have the timeout, but it was fourth down. An incomplete pass turned the ball over to Philipsburg-Osceola with no B-A score or attempt to score.
— Bellwood-Antis received the kick to begin the third quarter, but could manage only one yard gain in three plays and were forced to punt.
— The Blue Devil defense held the Mounties without a first down on the following series and Philipsburg had to punt as well. While blocking for the return, a Bellwood-Antis player accidentally had the ball touch his leg and Philpsburg-Osceola recovered at the BA-5. Czap lost five on the first play, but completed a seven-yard pass to Mike Rocco, and then scored on a three-yard bootleg play for his second TD of the game. Supko’s PAT kick gave the Mounties a 14-7 lead with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
— Clapper came up with a big play to return the kick off 27 yards to the BA-43. Kleinfelter picked up six and then Jon Davila added two yards, before Hughes picked up the first down with a five-yard completion to Alan Wertz. Kleinfelter got loose again, this time for 43 yards and a touchdown. With the score 14-13, Philipsburg-Osceola blocked Celmo’s PAT kick to hold onto the slim one-point advantage.
— The Mounties ran most of the remainder of the game off the clock with two time-consuming drives, using a 10-play march from their own-34 to the BA-23 taking the rest of the third quarter and part of the fourth, until Davila’s quarterback sack put an end to that one. Then after J. D. Mason intercepted Hughes first-play pass on the following series, Philipsburg-Osceola then went on an 11-play drive that carried the ball to the BA-4, where Bellwood-Antis took over with time for one last desperation play. Going to the books for a trick play, Mason intercepted wide receive Alan Wertz’s pass, his second pick of the game.
— “When they (games) are that close, there are a lot of ‘what ifs’,” said Bellwood-Antis coach John Hayes. “It goes back to the first half, I told the other guys (assistant coaches), somehow I though it was third down. I even asked if we had another timeout. I got the affirmative, from the official, we had another timeout, but it was fourth down. We had a real good shot for a field goal there. It wasn’t guaranteed, but I think that would have given us a spark at halftime. Coming out we didn’t come off the blocks very well on that first drive. That turnover down there, a five-yard drive, momentum like that was pivotal.
— “We answered back. I give our kids a lot of credit, they played hard to the end. The mistakes we made were not because of lack of effort or not being in the right place. Czap is quick, winning two games this year doing what he was able to do. Give them credit for being able to do some things. We just made some mistakes and they cost us dearly.”
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