“From the first play, right up to the very end, our kids played real well.” explained Bellwood-Antis coach John Hayes, following the Blue Devils 46-6 rout of Moshannon Valley. “Getting the defensive score early was a big momentum builder. It gets your kids excited. Obviously we picked up from that. The defense played well – we work hard at that and it’s nice to see it pay off.”
The defense set the tone immediately and the offense rolled over the Knights like the sleek locomotives that blazed through the Bellwood borough and Antis township on cold, crisp Autumn mornings, when the team was called the Mainline Express after the trains which were the fastest and strongest things imaginable at that time.
Bellwood-Antis won the toss and chose to kickoff to Moshannon Valley. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Neff threw a short pass to his right, on the first play, that B-A cornerback Devon Clapper tipped up and then caught himself for an interception, then raced 23 yards for a touchdown. Evan Celmo kicked the first of four PATs, and with just 15 seconds gone in the opening quarter, B-A led 7-0.
A series later, Chad Coho and Tyler Narehood collaborated on a tackle for no gain and Justin Miller stopped the Mo Valley runner for a five-yard loss on second down. With a third-and-15, Neff went back to pass. Jon Davila picked the pass off for the Blue Devils “D” and returned in 11 yards to the MV-29.
Bruno DeGol picked up a first down with a 15-yard blast to the MV-5, on a third-and-one, and then Josh Kleinfelter slipped five yards for a TD.
Moshannon Valley coached by Tyrone grad Murray Fetzer, mounted their best drive of the game against the B-A first-teamers, marching 30 yards in eight plays before the B-A defense forced a punt. Black Knight junior tailback Anthony Kruise carried on five plays for all 30 yards.
The Blue Devils took over on downs at their own-38. Senior quarterback Evan Hughes tossed a 19-yard completion to John Davila on the first call, then Kleinfelter, who rushed for 213 yards on just eight carries, got loose down the right sideline for 43 yards and the TD. Celmo’s PAT gave Bellwood-Antis a 20-0 first-quarter lead.
Kruise carried twice for 10 yards for Moshannon Valley, but Coho dropped Neff for a yard loss on the second play, to force the Knights to punt.
Kleinfelter (eight yards) and Davila (five yards) picked up a first down at midfield, where Hughes spotted Clapper behind the secondary all alone. Clapper let the ball slip through his fingers, but the Blue Devils drove for another score anyhow, Kleinfelter moved the sticks for another first down with a 10-yard scamper, then two plays later went through the left side and raced 28 yards for the TD. Celmo made it 27-0 with his perfect placement.
Mo Valley ran one play and then Justin Manning came up with the Blue Devils’ third interception, returning it 41 yards inside the MV-10. Bellwood-Antis lost five yards in two plays and turned the ball over to Moshannon Valley on a fumble at the MV-4.
The Knights junior tailback Shane Murarik flashed his speed out to the MV-20 for a gain of 16, but Mo Valley was stopped at their-25 and had to kick.
Bellwood-Antis took just one play from scrimmage. Kleinfelter went around the left side where he got a crunching block from teammate Alex Miller that cleared the way for a 61-yard score.
“Josh is just a super back,” said coach Fetzer. “You can see why he’s not just hype-he can back it up. He’s an excellent back. We knew coming in that he was going to be their main juggernaut to get things going and he did it.”
Two series later, with B-A reserves beginning to filter into the line-up, Manning scampered for 11 yards and then Brandon Humphreys, who ran eight times for 88 yards, scooted for 15, and then capped the 71-yard drive with a 27-yard TD and a 40-0 lead for the Blue Devils at halftime.
Bellwood-Antis began the second half by receiving the kick. Blaze Winterstein ran the short kick 14 yards to the BA-48 and for the final time in the game, Kleinfelter struck again. Josh motored through the right side of the line and was gone for a 52-yard score, his fifth of the game and 21st of the season. The PAT snap was high and Winterstein was tackled short of the end zone, but Bellwood-Antis was ahead 46-0.
“We were able to do pretty much what we wanted to do offensively,” said Hayes. “It was a good night. A lot of kids got to play. It’s a game we can ride home from and all feel pretty good.”
With the rest of the game played by reserves for the Blue Devils, Moshannon Valley marched for the final score of the game, going 80 yards in a dozen plays. Neff completed all five of his passes during the drive, including a 26-yard TD pass to Michael Zendek.
“We had a lot of kids get a lot of experience tonight,” said Fetzer, who also has Tom Miller and Michael and Patrick McNelis all from Tyrone, among his assistants. “We had six sophomores and three juniors, I think there were only one or two seniors playing at times. A lot of kids (underclassmen) were getting a lot of time out there. We had a young quarterback get a lot of time against a caliber team like John’s (Hayes). It can do nothing but help you down the road.”
Game Notes: Kleinfelter has now rushed for 1,253 yards this season and 4,896 in his B-A career along with 61 TDs….Mo Valley QB Tyler Neff didn’t throw a pass that wasn’t caught, throwing five completions and three interceptions in eight attempts….Celmo now has 96 PAT kicks at Bellwood-Antis….Evan Hughes has completed 10 of 14 passes in the last two games for a 71.4 completion percentage….Kleinfelter now has six 200-yard rushing games, and a 300-yard game, plus a 199-yard game, and a 198-yard game….Bellwood-Antis had 13 runners with at least one carry….Moshannon Valley hosts Chestnut Ridge next week, then will play Cambria Heights in Week 10….Bellwood-Antis will host Bishop Guilfoyle next Friday night….The scheduled junior varsity game on Monday between Bellwood-Antis and Moshannon Valley at Bellwood, will not be played at the request of Moshannon Valley.
Bellwood-Antis 46 Moshannon Valley 6
Bellwood-Antis 20 20 6 0- 46
Moshannon Valley 0 0 0 6 – 6
First Quarter
BA – Clapper 23 int. (Celmo kick). 11:45.
BA – Kleinfelter 5 run. (kick failed). 8:32.
BA – Kleinfelter 43 run. (Celmo kick). 4:16.
Second Quarter
BA – Kleinfelter 28 run. (Celmo kick). 11:01.
BA – Kleinfelter 61 run. (Celmo (kick). 5:59.
BA – Humphreys 27 run. (kick failed). 1:58.
Third Quarter
BA – Kleinfelter 52 run. (run failed). 11:46.
Fourth Quarter
MV – Zendek 26 pass from Neff. (run failed). 4:17.
Team
BA MV
First Downs 19 8
Yards Rushing 42-416 36-93
Pass Att.-Comp. 3-5 5-8
Pass Yards 42 55
Total Yards 458 148
Fumbles/Lost 4-2 1-0
Interceptions by 3 0
Penalties/Yards 3-19 3-19
Punts/Avg. 0-0 4-32
Rushing
Bellwood-Antis – Kleinfelter 8-213 (5 TDs), Davila 3-9, Manning 1-11, DeGol 8-34, Clapper 1- (-1), Hughes 1- (-4), A. Miller 2-1, Humphreys 8-88 (1 TD), Gray 1- (-2), Noye 2-5, Saylor 2-25, Reams 2-10, Pfahler 2-28, Team 1- (-1).
Moshannon Valley – Kruise 17-58, Murarik 12-29, Neff 6-8, Duttry 1-(-2).
Passing
Bellwood-Antis – Hughes 3-4, 42 yards, 0 Int., 0 TD, GRAY 0-1, 0 yards, 0 Int., 0 TDs.
Moshannon Valley – Neff 5-8, 55 yards, 3 Int., 1 TD.
Receiving
Bellwood-Antis – Davila 2-26, Geis 1-16.
Moshannon Valley – Zendek 3-34 (1 TD), Duttry 2-21.
