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B-A vs. Westmont (Ali Wagner)

The Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils season was cut short Friday night by the Westmont hilltoppers.

The No. 2 Blue Devils fell to No. 7 Westmont 29-28 thanks to a late score and two-point PAT.

Bellwood-Antis led the Hilltoppers 21-7 midway through the third.

The fourth quarter was all Hilltoppers though; they scored two unanswered to tie up the game.

That was followed by a Thor Schmittle 19-yard touchdown run to put the Devils back up 28-21 with 2:22 to play. The Hilltoppers then marched down the field and punched in a 1-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds to go.

Westmont Hilltop decided rather than tie the game with the extra point they would go for the win on the 2-point conversion. The 2-point conversion run was stopped by Senior Ian McFarland, but was called back due to a facemask penalty called on McFarland.

The second attempt succeeded for the Hilltoppers, putting the team up 29-28 with 16 seconds to play.

There were a lot of controversial calls against the Blue Devils, which stacked up to 7 penalties for 39-yards. Senior Jack Showalter was called for a late hit when he believes he simply fell out of bounds onto someone he was in the process of tackling.

This Blue Devil football team is a tight knit group, a “band of brothers” according to Thor Schmittle, especially this year’s seniors who had a “Last Supper” Thursday night before Friday night’s game.

Held at the Showalter house, all of the Seniors came together to celebrate their years together on the gridiron and think about old memories. They didn’t anticipate it being their final meal as teammates.

Even though the Blue Devils fell in the first round, it was still a great season.

Senior Chris Wertman reflected on this season’s successes.

“We were the eleventh team in school history to have an undefeated season and we beat Tyrone for the first time in five years with only four returning starters,” he said.

Senior Thor Schmittle, this year’s leader in rushing with more than 1,000 yards, had a final message.

“Thank you to everyone who supported us this season. It’s greatly appreciated and felt by every person on the team. Good luck to next year’s team. You guys are going to do big things.”