Sports
November 7-13, 2013
Page 19
Eagles rout Rams in regular-season finale BEA tuned up for District VI quarterfinals By JUSTIN PACKER correspondent@centrecountygazette.com
WINGATE — Bald Eagle Area head coach Jack Tobias has a long memory. He and his squad of Eagles remember what happened at the close of last year. In two straight games BEA squared off against Ligonier Valley — one to end the regular season and one game in district playoffs — and both times the Rams handed BEA a loss. Tobias hasn’t forgotten. “Ligonier Valley whooped us twice last year,” he said. “We knew coming into the game we wanted some revenge. From the Bellefonte game on, we knew we had to win to make districts. It just so happened that this team stood in our way.” The Eagles dominated the Rams from the opening kick and got a stellar performance from Bryce Greene, Bryan Greene and the BEA defense to secure a 45-6 victory. In big moments, you want your big time players to have their hands on the ball. Enter Bryce Greene. The speedy receiver took control of the game from start to finish, ending with four touchdowns — including three receiving and a punt return touchdown. “It feels great,” Bryce Greene said. “For this group of seniors, this was our goal. It was an entire team effort tonight and I am so proud to be a part of this.” Greene absolutely dominated the second quarter, lighting up the scoreboard in the final five minutes of the half and spark-
ing the Eagles to victory. “He is just dynamic,” Tobias said. “He is able to change the game from anywhere on the field. Bryce has done it for us all season and tonight was just another example.” Pair Bryce Greene’s stellar performance with a ball-hogging defense and it is easy to see that the Eagles are ready for the post season. The BEA defense caused four fumbles, recovering all four — including one returned by Bryce’s brother Bryan Greene for a touchdown. The Eagle defense was so fierce, the Rams only accounted for 181 yards of total offense all night — including shutting down a dangerous ground attack of LV for 38 yards. “Coach (Ron) Hoover challenged his defense tonight,” Tobias said. “This Ligonier Valley team is dangerous and we knew we had to be solid. The defense really answered the challenge tonight.” “Those fumbles really hurt us,” Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel said. “BEA came into tonight ready to play. We were finding a little success, but then the drive would stall. It was tough to overcome that. We are shuffling positions right now and it hurt us tonight.” Bald Eagle started the game out in the Wildcat — a formation the Eagles used for the first time all season — racking up 59 yards on nine plays, capped by Bryan Greene’s 13-yard touchdown run. “We ran it in practice a lot and wanted to give it (the Wildcat) a test drive before districts,” Tobias said. “The guys were ex-
TIM WEIGHT/For The Gazette
BALD EAGLE AREA’S Bryan Greene (11) is dragged out of bounds by Ligonier Valley’s Jordan Jones during Friday night’s game in Wingate. The Eagles won, 45-6. cited for it and it looked smooth tonight. I was really impressed by the way the offensive line responded. They have been the anchor of this offense all year and tonight was a great example of it.”
The Rams answered right back, marching down the field on a 12-play drive, eating up 73 yards and ended with a Eagles, Page 20
Forest Hills throttles P-O, 34-7 By PAT ROTHDEUTSCH
sports@centrecountygazette.com
PHILIPSBURG — When Forest Hills leapfrogged two teams last week into the eighth — and final — District 6 Class AA playoff playoff position, its task for Week 10 became crystal clear: protect that spot with a victory at Philipsburg-Osceola. Mission accomplished. But, not without great difficulty against the inspired Mounties. Playing on Senior Night in its final game of the season, P-O gave the heavily-favored Rangers all they could handle before fading after three long Forest Hills scoring plays in the second half. The Rangers struggled against the Mountie defense when they lost their starting quarterback and leading rusher Joe Donoghue early in the game. They were only able to carve out a slim 14-7 halftime lead, but steady senior backup quarterback Tyler Shima stepped in and Forest Hills scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from the Mounties, 34-7. It wasn’t anything close to the way the Rangers had this game drawn up. Donoghue went down late in the first quarter and did not return, and after a long, second period drive by P-O, FH found itself in a dogfight with the 1-8 Mounties.
In a game that Forest Hills had to win to stay in playoff contention, Shima was able to stabilize the offense, and then senior running back Shareef Blough took over from there. Blough finished the night with 122 yards rushing and two offensive touchdowns on second-half runs of 35 and 29 yards, and then he put the game away with an electrifying 75-yard interception return that put it out of reach for P-O. “We had some key injuries to good players in the first half,” Forest Hills head coach Don Bailey said, “and we had to regroup in that second half. “Our seniors were not going to be denied. So they played their hearts out; they had everybody fired up. Our offensive line did a good job of blocking their front, and Shareef Blough had an awesome second half.” For Philipsburg-Osceola, it was a strong effort, led by a large group of seniors, that was stymied once again by the long play. “You have to make plays,” Mountie head coach Jeff Vroman said. “We didn’t make the plays, and they did. “We played hard. You can’t fault the effort.” Forest Hills struck first in the game. On its initial possession, P-O turned it over on its own 15-yard line after a high snap sailed over the head of quarterback Curtis
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MICHAEL CZAP/For The Gazette
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA’S Curtis Matsko (5) and Nick Gray (52) close in for a tackle during Friday night’s game with Forest Hills. The Mounties lost, 34-7. Matsko. Three plays later, Donoghue took it in from the one to make it, after a failed extra point, 6-0. The Rangers threatened to make this game an easy one after they forced
a Mountie punt and promptly marched 38 yards on just three plays for their second touchdown. Quinn Deflauro did the Forest Hills, Page 20
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