Tonight the Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils take on the Philipsburg-Osceola Mountaineers at home. The Devils are 4-1, coming off their biggest win of the year over the Tyrone Golden Eagles in the Backyard Brawl.
Hoping to stay hot, they will face off against the 2-3 Mountaineers in a Laurel Highlands Conference on Homecoming night.
Bellwood-Antis seems to have some key advantages over Philipsburg-Osceola that might give them the edge.
The rushing game, primarily led by Colin Gibbons and Bradyn Partner, has amounted to a whopping 1,097 yards so far. This is compared to the Mountaineers’ 843 yards, which is split between four of their running backs. Both backs had rushing touchdowns last week against Tyrone and Partner notched his second straight 100-yard game.
While both teams mostly look to the ground for yards, their passing games aren’t out of the question. Bellwood-Antis still has the upper hand with 599 yards coming from the air, while Philipsburg-Osceola is close behind with 484. Cayden Pellegrine does most of the catching for the Blue Devils, with 236 yards on the season. The Mountaineers mainly target wide-receiver Sam McDonald when it comes to throwing the ball, who has 377 yards.
Blue Devil quarterback Holden Schreier had a breakout game a week ago in the Backyard Brawl, completing 9 of 20 passes for 170 yards, including a 65-yard bomb to Ethan Shawley that proved to be the game-winner.
“Last week we had a great win over Tyrone, but we’re refocusing on Philipsburg right now,” said Bellwood-Antis head coach Nick Lovrich. “They’re the best team on our schedule because they’re the next team on our schedule. Our guys have been watching film and we plan to bring our A-game this Friday.”
This Blue Devil-Mountaineer matchup had Bellwood-Antis fans on their toes last year after the Devils pulled off a comeback win for their first of the season. Most fans didn’t expect that type of thriller this time. The Blue Devils have the odds in their favor.
However, with a game against Bishop Guilfoyle on the horizon next week, the challenge will be directing their focus solely on P-O and not looking ahead.
With both teams using all their tools to their advantage, this game is sure to live up to the hype.
