Osceola Mills gave Bellwood-Antis quite a struggle early on Oct. 3, 1952, before the Blue Devils (4-0) came from behind to post an 18-6 win at Osceola Mills Memorial Stadium for B-A coach Earl Strohm.
The Indians of Osceola Mills tallied first on a 12-yard run from scrimmage for the first touchdown of the ballgame. This was also the first six-pointer anybody had scored against the Blue Devil defense, which had shut out Tyrone (19-0), Moshannon (38-0) Joint and Huntingdon (6-0) to start the season.
From that point however, it became “the Chub Dillen Show.” Chub circled right end for a 10-yard touchdown in the second period to knot the score at 6-6 and scored on a two-yarder in the third quarter. Finally in the fourth quarter, behind some beautiful blocking from his teammates, Dillen dashed 18 yards for his third TD of the contest for an 18-6 victory.
Although the two teams were tied in first downs with 10 each, Bellwood-Antis outgained Osceola Mills 208-113 in rushing and completed one pass to Osceola’s none.
Don Garman, the only B-A starter back from the undefeated 1951 team, was lost for the season a week earlier fracturing his wrist in the Huntingdon game.
This was the 30th straight regular season win for Bellwood-Antis, going back to a loss to a 14-0 loss to Dubois, coached by former B-A coaching legend Duke Burkholder, in the middle of the 1949 season. Strohm took over for Burkholder in 1949 after serving as Duke’s assistant in 1947 and 1948 and posted a 38-4 mark over four years at Bellwood.
Bellwood-Antis whipped Moshannon Valley 23-6 on Oct. 3, 1986 on a Bellwood Memorial Stadium field that was very wet at gametime ended and up with a downpour by game’s end.
Despite the wet field and rainy conditions, sophomore quarterback Todd Hirt completed six of eight passes for 95 yards, including a 14-yard TD pass to Shawn Bailey.
Hirt connected with Bailey for a 57-yard blast that set up the Blue Devils first score, a two-yard run by senior tailback Jack Dorminy, who led all runners with 172 yards on 15 carries.
The B-A defense limited Moshannon Valley to just 36 yards rushing and 50 passing. In addition, Galen McCloskey recovered a fumble and Chris Moore, Bob Schmittle, and Chet Gallagher.
After a bad snap on an attempted punt cost Moshannon a safety, B-A took just two plays to score following the free kick. Dorminy picked up 18 yards on the first play and then got loose for the 57-yard TD. Bailey, who kicked the PAT after the first score took a direct snap and ran for the two-point conversion and a 17-0 lead
In the third quarter, with just about everybody getting in the act, B-A moved 63 yards to score. Hirt tossed a four-yard TD pass to Bailey for the TD.
Undefeated Penns Valley pushed over two fourth-quarter scores on Oct. 4, 1991, to spoil the Blue Devils’ Homecoming with a 14-0 decision over Bellwood-Antis.
The night was clear and cold and for three quarters, it looked like the Blue Devils of coach John Hayes, might send Queen Mindy Baker and the B-A Homecoming crowd home with a victory over the undefeated Rams.
Offensive highlights were few and far between for Bellwood-Antis, who looked at times as if they should have stayed at home and mailed in the results. That is, if they could have found the correct zipcode.
Karl Montanaro bulled for 20 yards on the first play after the Blue Devils found themselves beginning a second-quarter series at their own one-yard line. Jamie Bollinger turned a quarterback option upfield for a gain of 30 yards to the PV-34, the deepest penetration of the night for B-A. That was about it as far as highlights went however.
The B-A defense was another story on that night, shutting out the high-powered Rams for three quarters and holding them 90 yards below their per-game average with only 130 yards rushing.
Penns Valley did finally manage to put points on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. The Rams marched 61 yards, beginning in the third quarter before scoring the TD two minutes into the final stanza, then putting together a 62 yard drive for their final TD.
Bellwood-Antis would finish 6-4 for coach Hayes in 1991, the first time since 1981 that the Blue Devils lost more than three games.
