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(Christina Kowalski)

The Blue Devils were in need of a big win Friday night, and that’s exactly what they got. The Blue Devils went into the game with a 0-2 record, but came out with a 35-14 win over West Branch.

Though the Blue Devils  won, the game didn’t start out how they would have liked. Within the first five minutes  the West Branch Warriors drove down the field and scored on a three yard run by Vince McDowell. The 76-yard touchdown drive put Bellwood down and in the same position they had been in the previous two weeks.

The Blue Devils had to battle back if they wanted to get the win.

Junior Ethan McGee said, “We came out sluggish and let them score. After that we realized we needed to pick up the intensity.”

The Blue Devils answered on their first drive down the field when senior Jake Burch broke through Warrior defense on a 68 yard run for a touchdown. Burch wouldn’t end his night there. He went on to score another touchdown with two seconds left in the first quarter when he ran it eight yards.

West Branch was unable to score again in the first quarter and neither team was able to punch the ball into the end zone during the second quarter. The Blue Devils went into the half in unfamiliar territory leading West Branch 14-7.

Senior Zachary Taylor said, “In the first half we played badly, and at half time we needed to fix it. We weren’t finishing drives; it was just sloppy. In the second half we wanted to put it all together.”

The Blue Devils came out in the third quarter ready to play in front of the Homecoming crowd, scoring 21 points in the third quarter. Burch ran the ball into the end zone all three times, scoring all five touchdowns for B-A.

“The offensive line held their defense and allowed Jake to score,” said Taylor.

The Warriors couldn’t score in the third quarter, but they finally made in back into the end zone early in the fourth quarter. West Branch scored the final points of the game on a 50 yard pass from Kyle Myers to Justin Rothrock, making the final score 35-14.

Bellwood may have won the game, but they beat themselves multiple times throughout the game. The team was nailed with eight penalties for 65 yards.

Senior Jacob McCaulley said, “We made a few mistakes and got penalized on them. We felt like we didn’t have the home field advantage.”

Bellwood-Antis improved to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the Inter-County Conference. The Warriors fell to 1-2 and 1-1.

The Blue Devils will be back in action Friday night at 7 when they travel to Juniata Valley.