Bellwood-Antis hosted its senior night Friday evening against the Penn Cambria Panthers. The Panthers dominated on both sides of the ball. The Blue Devils offense could not get anything going leading to a 45-6 final.
BA fell to 5-3, while the Panthers managed to stay undefeated and advanced to 8-0.
The Panthers offense got right to work after opting to receive the kickoff. On the third play of the game, Brady Jones found Gavin Harrold in space for a 41-yard touchdown. Following a successful PAT, Penn Cambria went up 7-0.
Penn Cambria’s defense quickly turned the ball over on downs and forced BA to punt. The Panthers started with excellent field position causing them to quickly find the endzone again. Jones handed the ball off to Thomas Plunkett from 10-yards out creating a 14-0 score.
The second quarter began with the Blue Devils finding some rhythm on offense. Holden Schreier led a drive downfield setting up a 6-yard run by Cayden Pellegrine to put BA on the board. After a failed two point conversion, Bellwood-Antis trailed 14-6 with 10:14 left in the quarter.
This was the last of BA’s offense. The ensuing drive Jones handled business himself. Jones escaped from the pocket for a 7-yard gain. Two plays later, Jones scrambled through the defense for a 17-yard rush to the endzone.
“Penn Cambria is a very good football team. They were very physical which I think we struggled with a bit. There were little things that we thought we could do better… change some things. Now we have to make sure we work hard and bounce back this coming up week,” Coach Lovrich mentioned.
The Panthers defense added another stop continuing their momentum. Penn Cambria on the following drive handed the ball off to Harrold who weaved his way up the middle for a 29-yard score. This brought the game to the half with a 30-6 Penn Cambria advantage.
The third quarter started how the game left off. Penn Cambria was able to put together a series of passes to put their offense on BA’s 1. Plunkett finished the drive with his second touchdown of the game with 5:33 remaining in the third.
After a fumble, the Panthers regained possession. Jones connected with Marcus Eckenrode on a deep pass down to BA’s 15. Two snaps later, Jones hit Eckenrode for a 9-yard score. This put the mercy rule into effect, and the clock continued running.
This tallied the final score at 45-6. Penn Cambria put together 459 total yards of offense, while limiting the Blue Devils to 245 yards.
“The game is done and over with, and we can’t change it… but we can change how we prepare and get ready for Bald Eagle,” Pellegrine said.
The Blue Devils now travel to Bald Eagle Area Friday the 18th. The Eagles are 4-4 on the season with a +21 point differential. Bald Eagle is led by quarterback Carson Nagle and their pass heavy offensive game plan. This game has large playoff implications for both teams.
