The year 2000 might be remembered by some for Y2K, Destiny’s Child and the turn of a new millennium, but at Bellwood-Antis is was all about football, and the Blue Devils turned out one of their best teams that season.
Bellwood football came out with a bang. They shocked everyone with huge upset on the defending state champs, beating Tyrone 19-0. Their defense was electric and the run game was unstoppable..
It was great for Bellwood to beat Tyrone because the would end up going on to beat the next 11 opponents. Then they would end the season losing to Tyrone District 6/5 AA Championship 28-3 in one of the most highly anticipated, highly attended games in Mansion Park history.
Bellwood’s players had good games in the Backyard Brawl. Dave Miller had an a outstanding night with a game-high 16 carries for 103 rushing yards. Matt Garner also had a good game wit 25 carries for 99 yards, and he had a pick six. Chuck Benton completed 4 of 6 passes for 79 yards. In all, B-A had a total of 262 yards on offense.
That game catapulted the Devils to an undefeated regular season, and the waiting game was on to see if there would be a return date with Tyrone in the District 6 championship.
The Devils set many standards that season that still appear in the record books. Matt Garner had 1,263 rushing yards. The second leading rusher was Dave Miller with 1,220 rushing yards and 25 TD’s (witch was 3rd at the time). Chuck Benton thew for 1,652 passing yards (which is still second in school history) and he had 10 TD’s.
Chris Miller with 46 PTA’s on the seasons, which is 3rd at the time. The B-A team total of 474 points scored all year is still second all time.
The Devils also had a total of 3,171 rushing yards (still 5th all-time), and their total offence was 4,339 yards.
Despite missing out on the big title, they were ICC Champs and District 6 runner-up.
Most weeks that season the scores weren’t even close as the defense pitched eight shutouts. The second game at Penns Valley the Devils won 57-14. Week 3 they played Glendale at home and won 42-0. Week 4 they played Williamsburg at home, wining 42-7.
In Week 5 they played at BG and won 31-0. In Week 6 they played Mount Union at home and won 49-0. Week 7 they played West Branch at home and won 37-0. Week 8 they played at Mo Valley and won 42-0, and in Week 9 they played at Juniata Valley and won 69-0.
That led to a strong run in the playoffs. They played Marion Center in the quarters, winning 47-0. In the semis they played undefeated Bedford and won 34-28 in 2 OT’s in what might have been the District 6 game of the year that season.
