Tweet

The Bellwood-Antis football season has officially come to a close after a playoff loss to the Richland Rams last Friday night at Memorial Stadium in the District VI AA semifinals.

You can link to a photo slide show from the game here.

Richland’s two main weapons in quarterback Kellan Stahl and wide receiver Griffin LaRue took no hesitation to take the reigns with seven touchdowns between the two, LaRue receiving four of them from Stahl and Stahl running for two. Stahl amounted a total of 471 passing yards on the night and LaRue had 195 receiving.

“We knew Richland was a very talented team going in, but we also had a lot of confidence in our team too,” explained head coach Nick Lovrich. “The Richland quarterback’s play Friday night was one of the best performances I have seen from a high school quarterback.”

The duo set the tone early with a 41-yard pass for a touchdown within the first two minutes of the game. B-A answered on the next drive with a catch from tight end Cooper Keen but a blocked extra point left Richland with the lead. The Rams put up three more scores in the half before fullback Cooper Guyer scored for the Devils and a two-point conversion before halftime to make the score 28-14.

After a seemingly close first half with B-A behind by only two touchdowns, Richland ran away with the lead with 4 more touchdowns that the Devils couldn’t answer to make the final 54-14.

Looking back on the season, coach Lovrich takes away a lot of positives.

“There is always disappointment when a season ends, but when you sit back and look at the things we accomplished as a team, you feel pretty good. We were able to overcome adversity during the season and still put up some good performances.  Football is so much more than just a game; it teaches you humility, perseverance, teamwork, and dedication.  I think our players as a whole improved as football players and individuals. I’m sure that our players made some great memories this season that they will remember the rest of their lives.”

The Blue Devils will be losing many key starters next year from the senior class, offensive and defensive, so blue and gold are looking to rebuild around some new faces.

“Our senior class was a very good one; we had a lot of guys who were two and three year starters and played a lot of football for us during their career.  Every single one of those 14 seniors made an impact on our program and they will all be missed. As for next year, we do have some players coming back who were big time contributors.  We know that our guys will work hard in the offseason so we will be looking to keep improving. “

The Devils end their season on a 10-2 record and are getting ready for the next season.