Bellwood-Antis (3-2) shut out Saxton-Liberty 39-0 on Oct. 7, 1944 to get over the .500 mark for the first time in the season for head coach Lemont “Duke” Burkholder.
In a rainy Saturday afternoon game that kicked off at 2:30 p.m., at Bellwood, the Blue Devils had little trouble swimming through the Saxton-Liberty Wildcats.
The first score came on a line buck by sophomore Ronnie Raugh. The key play in the march was a 28-yard pass play by Kenny Woodhall that carried to the SL-8. Raugh booted the PAT for a 7-0 lead.
Raugh added the second Bellwood-Antis TD as well, grabbing a 47-yard pass from Woodhall for the score.
After an exchange of punts, Bellwood-Antis intercepted a Wildcat pass and Woodhall connected with Art Claar for a 37-yard TD pass and a 20-0 lead.
Woodhall intercepted a pass in the third quarter and returned the pick 37 yards for a score.
In the final quarter, Woodhall intercepted yet another pass and ran it back 20 yards, before tossing a lateral to Raymond Strunk, who carried the ball another 20 yards for a TD.
Woodhall picked off his third and the team’s fourth interception later in the quarter, and Strunk crashed over for a six-yard TD for the final score on the rain-soaked afternoon.
The Blue Devils would win five of the last six games and tie an Altoona Catholic team that set a school record for points, 0-0 in their only non-win to finish 7-2-1 for Burkholder.
Bellwood-Antis buried Saxton-Liberty High School 35-0, on Oct. 7, 1950 for the first of what would be 11 straight wins during the 1950 season for head coach Earl Strohm and assistants Wallace Fields and George Guyer.
Playing at Bellwood Memorial Stadium, the Blue Devils were led by senior running back Delbert “Mike” Hoffer, who would be named to the First Team All-State squad at the end of the season.
Hoffer opened the scoring by ripping off right end for 10 yards to cap the first scoring drive, after setting up the drive with a 30-yard run.
Then in the second quarter, Hoffer raced 51 yards for a touchdown and would add a 60-yard score in the third quarter.
Don Roth bucked over for a three-yard TD in the third quarter. Hoffer had taken the second half kickoff and was a step from breaking it for a 90-yard TD, but had to settle for a 40-yard return.
Don Nearhoof smashed in for a one-yard score for the only tally of the fourth quarter. Burley Ken DeRemer booted perfect placements after each of the five TDs.
Hoffer and Roth both rushed for over 100 yards in the game. With only partial stats available, Hoffer ran for 141 yards and Roth added 108. The Blue Devils outrushed the Wildcats 248-58 and doubled up Saxton-Liberty in first downs, 16-8.
Saxton-Liberty was coached by future Tyrone coach John Chuckran, who would be the head coach at Tyrone from 1954-57.
On Oct. 7, 1988, Bellwood-Antis made Moshannon Valley their sixth straight victim with a 27-8 win.
The Blue Devils of head coach John Hayes, would go on to establish a school record 12 straight wins and their first District title before falling to Wilmington in a first round PIAA playoff tilt.
Playing at Bellwood Memorial Stadium, the Blue Devils jumped out to a 20-0 advantage at halftime and allowed the Black Knights just one score, on a long 80-yard run, in the third quarter.
After forcing Mo Valley to punt on the first series of the game, Bellwood-Antis marched 45 yards in 10 plays for their opening score. Jason Lamertino notched the touchdown on a eight-yard run and a 6-0 lead.
B-A forced another punt and Lamertino raced 58 yards with an apparent score, but a clipping penalty negated that. The Blue Devils took a little longer, but were not to be denied however. Beginning from their own-28, Bellwood-Antis marched 72 yards for their second tally. Tobias Nagle, who led all runners with 173 yards on 15 carries, bolted 43 yards on the first play. Alternating calls with Scott Mirabella, to move the ball into the Red Zone, Nagle covered the final 12 yards for the score. Lamertina added the PAT kick and with two minutes to play in the first quarter, B-A led 13-0.
Nagle picked off a Mo Valley pass and B-A quarterback Todd Hirt went to work. Starting slowly with a one-yard completion to Mirabella, Hirt then found Nagle for 13 yards before spotting Jerry Snyder all alone for a 47-yard TD pass.
The teams then traded second-half scores. The big strong Knights, with a definite size advantage seemed to keep the Blue Devils bogged down, but Hirt pass completions for 18, 12 and nine yards drove Bellwood-Antis into position and a 34-yard Nagle TD run iced the victory. Hirt was eight of 14 for 120 yards overall with one TD and no interceptions.
Paul Dipko became the FIRST runner to gain 100 yards against the 1988 B-A defense when he galloped 80 yards for the Black Knights’ only score of the game. In the Blue Devils first five games of the 1988 season, no individual or TEAM had rushed for 100 yards.
