Osceola Mills came into the football game against Bellwood-Antis on Sept. 23, 1950 a week after the Indians defeated Tyrone 7-0 for the first win in the history of the Osceola Mills/Tyrone series.
Before a paid crowd of 2,510, believed to be the largest in Osceola Mills history, Bellwood-Antis scored a 20-0 shutout win for their third straight triumph of the season for head coach Earl Strohm.
The Blue Devils first score came on pass and lateral play, in which B-A fullback Ken Deremer passed to end senior end Dick Keller, who then tapped the ball out to Don Roth a senior, who had transferred into the district from New York state, for the final seven yards and a TD.
Early in the second quarter, Gene Houser took the ball on a reverse and scampered 21 yards for the second Bellwood-Antis score. DeRemer booted PAT kicks after each of the first two scores.
The third touchdown came on a short line plunge by Roth, later in the second quarter.
In a game billed by the Daily Herald as the top clash in the area, the only Indian scoring threat came in the fourth quarter. Osceola Mills drove to the BA-22, but were halted there by the B-A defense.
The Indians were hampered by the absence of star Don Fulmar, who injured his shoulder in the Tyrone win and his replacement Ben Miller, who had two broken bones in his hand.
The Blue Devils outgained Osceola 246-91 rushing and 61-0 in passing yardage.
Bellwood-Antis scored a touchdown in each quarter and added extra points on the final three to shut out Juniata Valley 27-0 on Sept. 23, 1961 for second-year head coach Chet Dillen. This was just the Blue Devils’ third shut out in their last 53 games, going back to the middle of the 1955 campaign. In the 12 seasons prior to that (1942-1954), Bellwood-Antis had recorded 64 shutouts, an average of a little better than five per year.
The game was a matchup of opposites-Bellwood-Antis stayed almost exclusively on the ground, firing up just two passes, while the Hornets filled the air with nearly two-dozen passes.
Following a Juniata Valley punt the rolled dead at the BA-14, the Blue Devils drove 86 yards to put the first score on the board. Fred Svoboda raced the final 24 yards for the TD for a 6-0 lead.
In the second quarter, a Hornet punt again put Bellwood-Antis deep in their own territory, this time at the B-A-19. Rick Benner scooted 35 yards to the JV-26 as the opening quarter ended. Five plays later, Johnny Moffa capped the drive by going around right end for the eight-yard score. Moffa also rushed for the extra point and a 13-0 advantage at the half.
Svoboda gave his teammates a jump-start in the third quarter, by returning the second-half kick 40 yards back to midfield. Covering the distance in 10 plays, the Blue Devils Moffa went around the right side again for his second touchdown, a seven-yard jaunt and then added the PAT rush.
Juniata Valley was able to move the ball with their air offense, but the B-A defense wouldn’t allow them to get too close. Sophomore defensive back Walter Rhoades, who would later total a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons, intercepted a Valley pass to stop one threat at the BA-10. Then senior speedster Jim “Whitey” Forshey pickoff another Hornet pass and returned it 91 yards for the Blue Devils final touchdown of the contest. Moffa got his third PAT rush to cap the scoring.
On Sept. 23, 1983, Bellwood-Antis turned back a determined Williamsburg squad 27-0, for the Blue Devils third straight win after a season-opening 9-6 loss to Penns Valley.
Entertaining a Blair County rival for the third straight week, the B-A offense lulled the Blue Pirate defense to sleep with four straight Don Stiffler runs, then turned the offense over to quarterback Bob Gill, who found fullback Mark Baney open out of the backfield for a 32-yard pass play to the W-Burg-20. Two plays later, Stiffler went the final 17 yards for a score.
On the next series, the Bellwood-Antis defense forced Williamsburg to punt. Defensive tackle Roger Wigman crashed through to block the punt and teammate and current B-A assistant junior high coach Art Partner picked up the pigskin and bolted unmolested into the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown.
Williamsburg tried to get back into the game, but Christian Appleman, later a Penn State basketball start, who threw for 162 yards in the game was sacked for an 18-yard loss to stall the drive.
Just before halftime, the Blue Devils sprang Stiffler loose and the talented, but oft-injured tailback sprinted 53 yards for his second score. Steve Miller booted his second PAT kick for a 20-0 halftime margin.
Stiffler, who led all rushers with 149 yards and two TDs on 14 carries, also had a 46-yard TD romp nullified on a penalty.
Bob Gill scored the final six-pointer to cap a 60-yard fourth-quarter march with a one-yard TD and Miller added the placement
