Blue Devils dominate the second half
Blue Devils overwhelm Valley in the second half
Jarrett Taneyhill and the Blue Devils overcame a slow start to squash the Hornets.
September 28, 2015
The Blue Devil football team got off to a slow start for the second week in a row when they traveled to Juniata Valley on Friday night. Bellwood-Antis was unable to get the ball into the end zone at all in the first half, settling for only a field goal and a 7-3 deficit.
The paltry offense of the first half ave no clue of the fireworks that would follow. In the second half, the Devils and Hornets put on a scoring clinic, but when it was all said and done B-A had too many options.
The Devils won their second consecutive game, topping Juniata Valley 38-27 in Alexandria.
The Blue Devils came out flat and allowed the Hornets to easily score halfway through the first quarter. Juniata Valley scored on a 46-yard pass from quarterback Kris Harker to Kellen Glenny.
The Blue Devils, who were unable to get their entire offense rolling after a long run up the middle by Jacob McCaulley, had to settle for a 22 yard field goal by Brendan Kowalski.
Senior Jacob McCaulley said, “Kowalski’s kick gave our defense the momentum that we needed to stop Juniata Valley in the second quarter.”
By the second quarter the Blue Devils seemed like they were ready to play, keeping Juniata Valley away from the end zone. The Juniata Valley defense also did its job in the second quarter, likewise keeping B-A out f the end zone to set a 7-3 tie at the half.
“We made some mistakes early in the first half and we were able to fix them in the second half,” said McCaulley. “Jarrett made some good passes that helped us.”
The Blue Devils regrouped and fixed their problems at halftime, coming out almost unstoppable in the second half.
We made some mistakes early in the first half and we were able to fix them in the second half
— Jacob McCaulley
Bellwood-Antis got the ball first and didn’t settle for another field goal.
Senior Devin Burr got the ball down the field on a 46 yard pass from Taneyhill, getting tackled at the one yard line. From there Jacob McCaulley would run the ball in for the touchdown putting Bellwood ahead 10-7.
The Hornets were unable to score on their next drive giving the Blue Devils the ball back while they were hungry to score. The Blue Devils scored again on that possession, this time on a two yard run by Jacob McCaulley with a failed extra point attempt, to make it 16-7.
Juniata Valley, which had no momentum up until this point in the game, was able to get something rolling with two and a half minutes left in the third quarter. The Hornets went down the field and scored on a 16 yard run from Noah Hess making the score 14-16.
The Hornets touchdown had no effect on the Blue Devils, especially Taneyhill, who continued to complete almost every pass. With a minute and 20 seconds left in the third quarter Taneyhill threw a 22 yard pass to Brendan Kowalski, who was able to make the catch after bobbling the ball. The catch set Bellwood-Antis up for another touchdown, this one on a 35 yard run by Duke Brunner. To get the point back from the missed PAT by Kowalski the Blue Devils went for a two point conversion and converted it on a pass to senior Zachary Taylor.
Senior Zachary Taylor said, “Jarrett was very accurate on Friday night. The offense gave him all day to make his throws.”
The Blue Devil touchdown made the ending score in the third quarter 24-14.
The Blue Devils were able to hold Juniata Valley on their next drive, keeping their ten point lead. When the B-A got the ball for the first time in the fourth quarter they drove down the field, allowing Jake Burch to score on a one-yard run.
Juniata Valley got the ball and went down the field in a little over two minutes to score on a 36 yard run by Seth Derugen. The Hornets went for a two point conversion, but were unable to complete the pass. This made the score 31-20 with six minutes and fourteen seconds left in the fourth quarter.
The two teams wouldn’t end their scoring there. They would each score another touchdown, Bellwood’s on a 10 yard run by Duke Brunner and Juniata Valley’s on a 40 yard pass Brent Troutman.
The Blue Devils improved their record to 2-2 with their win over Juniata Valley. Bellwood-Antis will be back in action this Friday when the travel to Mount Union.
