The Blue Devils have opened their season 5-1, their best start in three years, but this week they face the first team of a three game gauntlet to end the regular season.
The final stretch will be a true test of their ability to win.
Hoping to keep the win train rolling, they face the 6-0 Marauders at mansion Park in the only Saturday game of the season. They can kill two birds with one stone if they can win, knocking out the top 1A team in the state and securing a playoff spot in 2A.
In the coming weeks they will also face undefeated Penn Cambria and the defending 2A champs, Bald Eagle Area. Bellwood-Antis will look to take this series one step at a time.
“We believe we can play with even the toughest teams,” said Blue Devil head coach Nick Lovrich. “Our guys have confidence right now and we’ve been playing some pretty good football. We’re going out and playing our game.”
Bishop Guilfoyle is the Devils’ toughest matchup of the year so far. They average about 100 more passing yards per game and about 25 more tackles. The Marauders rely on their receivers and definitely utilize them well. Hamilton Gates has been leading their offense so far this year as a wide receiver. He has 705 receiving yards, which amounts to about half of the entire team combined.
But lately the Marauders have asserted their running game, with Taurean Consiglio running for 100 yards in two straight contests.
Bellwood-Antis, on the other hand, looks to capitalize using their run-game. Bradyn Partner and Colin Gibbons have led the way so far for the Devils. Splitting time in the backfield, Gibbons has 425 rushing yards and Partner has 404. The team has a total of 1,291 yards on the ground and hopes to expand that this week.
“We need to be physical with them every time we can,” said senior fullback Cayden Pellegrine. “We have to make them not want to play anymore and assert our will”
Fans can expect to see quite the quarterback matchup this week as well. Both signal-callers are coming off phenomenal passing games in their victories last week. Bellwood-Antis quarterback Holden Schreier threw for 216 yards against the Mountaineers on Friday. Bishop Guilfoyle quarterback Chase Kissell, who has thrown for more than 1,400 yards, accounted for 301 yards in the air in their triumph over Tyrone.
With the Blue Devils only suffering one loss all season, going up against the undefeated Marauders, their matchup with BG is sure to be a game you don’t want to miss.
