The Bellwood-Antis football team dropped another game last Friday at Huntingdon, bringing the Devils’ record to 0-3.
Huntingdon dominated from the start and the game ended 41-16. A young Bellwood team that has struggled to score this year dug itself a deep hole against Huntingdon. The Blue Devils threw 3 interceptions and lost a fumble.
The Bearcats came out strong with a 33-yd passing touchdown caught by wide receiver Tyler Long on the first drive of the game. Bellwood then went three and out and gave the ball right back to Huntingdon. The Bearcats marched down the field and scored a rushing touchdown thanks to running back Ashton Steele.
The score was 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Blue Devils’ game plan of stopping the run and making Huntingdon pass the ball was working pretty well so far. The problem was that the Bearcats were able to pass the ball efficiently.
The second quarter didn’t start any better for Bellwood. Junior quarterback Holden Schreier threw a pick-6 on the first drive and the score was now 20-0.
“Huntingdon made a lot more plays than us. We have been making little mistakes that have been really hurting us. We have been working on cleaning them up and trying to do the common things uncommonly well. If we can clean those things up things will start looking up for us,” said Coach Lovrich.
Schreier bounced back and drove the offense 65 yards downfield and to score a touchdown. Senior wide receiver Dalton Poorman caught the 2-point conversion, but the drive was highlighted with a spectacular touchdown pass to the back right corner of the end zone, while under pressure. A cherry on top of the touchdown was that it was to Holden’s older brother, tight end Chance Schreier.
Also on the drive, sophomore wide receiver Colin Gibbons had a crucial third down catch that bounced off the defenders hands.
Gibbons has been a bright spots for the Blue Devils this season. He had 4 catches for 68 yards against the Bearcats, which brings his season totals to 10 catches for 153 yards. He has made some great catches and is Schreier’s security blanket when in trouble.
At the end of the half the Blue Devils almost returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown, but came up a few yards short.
At half time the score was 20-8 in favor of the Huntingdon Bearcats. Regardless of the score Bellwood had the momentum going into the locker room.
After the break, Huntingdon was able to put together some good run plays until Bearcats running back Evan Edmiston fumbled the ball and Bellwood sophomore Logan Ridgway jumped on it.
Unfortunately the Blue Devils once again were not able to capitalize and threw an interception to Bearcat Tyler Long on a fake punt. Long was creating problems for Bellwood all game as he had two interceptions and a receiving touchdown.
“We can start all working together every play to make plays work. We’ve been one block away or a throw away from some really big plays, and I’m confident that we can put it together moving forward,” said quarterback Holden Schreier.
Edmiston redeemed himself after the fumble with a rushing touchdown and made the score 27-8. Things didn’t get better at the end of the third quarter for Bellwood, as Holden Schreier threw his second interception of the game to Bearcat Chris Gibson. Gibson returned it to the 4-yard line.
The Bearcats grew their lead to 34-8 at the end of the third quarter with a short rushing touchdown. Bellwood’s game plan was no longer working in the second half as Huntingdon’s offense reverted back to rushing the ball and ended the game with 4 touchdowns on the ground.
The Bearcats didn’t slow down as Huntingdon’s Chris Gibson stripped the ball away from Bellwood and returned it to the 5-yard line. The Bearcats punched it in for another rushing touchdown to make the score 41-8.
Bellwood didn’t give up and scored a 45-yard rushing touchdown courtesy of freshman running back Alex McCartney. Senior running back Jordan Hescox got in on the action and ran in the 2-point conversion to make the score 41-16.
This game builds on McCartney’s amazing start to his freshman season. He totaled 132 yards on 28 carries against the Bearcats and now has 440 rushing yards on 6.1 yards per carry. He has also added 2 touchdowns through three games.
Bellwood will look to get their first win of the season next week against Central, a team that is undefeated and won every game this season by mercy rule.
