Blue Devils round out perfect season against Northern Bedford
Shawn Wolfe lets go of a long pass in the Devils’ win over Northern Bedford.
November 1, 2017
The Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils finished off a perfect season Friday against previously one-loss Northern Bedford, squeaking out a 14-7 victory on the road.
It was a defensive battle, as neither team topped 220 total yards on offense.
The Blue Devils came out with a quick touchdown on a 1-yard Shawn Wolfe touchdown run in the first. However the next score wouldn’t come until halfway through the third when Eric Morder scored on a 16-yard touchdown run. Northern Bedford scored their only touchdown on a 49-yard touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter.
The Northern Bedford offense gained a mere 51-yards on the ground, while most of their yards came from quarterback Andrew Foor, who had 162-yards through the air.
Senior Chris Wertman explained why the BA defense was so successful on Friday night.
“It was all preparation. Our coaches showed us a lot of film and told us what play they would be running out of the different sets,” he said.
Bellwood-Antis gained 87 fewer yards on the ground than their season average and 44 fewer yards receiving than the average.
Thor Scmittle was the leading rusher with 105-yards on the ground and the leading tackler with 7 total tackles.
Senior lineman Jack Showalter spoke on why he thought the offense struggled.
“Northern Bedford loaded the box and brought the heat,” he said. “They were athletic and really wanted it.”
The BA offense was lucky the defensive line played the game that it did, only allowing 51-yards on 25 carries. The secondary played well when it had to, allowing 15 catches for 160-yards but only one touchdown and an interception.
With the win the Blue Devils football program completed a perfect season at the junior high, junior varsity, and varsity level for the first time in BA history.
Though the Junior High and Junior Varsity teams may be done, the varsity team will begin the District 6 2A playoffs this week as the second seed against No. 7 Westmont Hilltop at Memorial Stadium this Friday night.
