Bellwood-Antis traveled to Allport to battle West Branch in what could be the Blue Devils final junior varsity contest of the season. The Warriors fought back from a 14-7 deficit to take a 26-14 triumph away from Bellwood-Antis, who played all but their first offensive series without their leading rusher, Mark Rogers.
Rogers broke loose on the first series of the game for B-A for a 20-yard scamper following the kickoff by West Branch. West Branch had taken the opening kick and quickly marched 51 yards for a score and a 7-0 lead.
After Matt Sneath had ground out eight yards on two carries, Rogers picked up a first down on a four-yard run, then broke over the middle and rambled for 23 yards and another first down. The Blue Devils lost two yards, before Rogers went for eight and Sneath picked up the first down at the WB-11 with a six-yard burst. Travis Ehredt got six yards and Rogers went around the right end for the five-yard score. Unfortunately Rogers, who racked up 60 yards in five carries during that first drive, was hurt on the play and never returned suffering a possible broken fibula, the small bone in his left leg just below the knee. Rogers went to the hospital to get checked out.
Still trailing 7-6, Bellwood-Antis got a quarterback sack from Derek Reimer two series later and after a short Warrior punt took over at the West Branch 26.
Following a pass incompletion and five-yard penalty, sophomore quarterback Zach Tomchick lofted a perfect pass just over the defender’s hands to a waiting Aaron Geis who made the catch for a 31-yard touchdown pass. Matt Sneath got the call on the successful 2pt. PAT run to push the score to 14-7 with Bellwood-Antis in the lead.
At this point, West Branch quarterback Nate Owens stepped up. Owens picked up a crucial first down on the next offensive series for the Warriors with a 17-yard gain, then passed to Tim Tice for a 16-yard TD catch. Kevin Hubler’s PAT knotted the score at 14-14.
Bellwood-Antis got several big plays in the second half, but couldn’t sustain anything long enough to mount a scoring drive. Tomchick had a scramble for 19 yards. Travis Ehredt got loose for a pickup of 13, but the Blue Devil Jayvees couldn’t move consistently.
The fourth quarter was all Owens for West Branch. He connected with varsity starter Zachary McDowell for a 68-yard pass play that may have been the biggest single play of the game. The Warriors took over at their own 27 after stopping Bellwood-Antis short on a fourth and eight call. Owens went back into the pocket and fired downfield to McDowell, behind the B-A secondary, who took it to the BA-five. Three plays later, Owens went behind his center for the one-yard TD.
Bellwood-Antis tried to come back, but West Branch took over and moved down field again for an insurance score. On consecutive plays, Owens picked up 17 yards, Tice went for 11 and finally Owens went up the middle again for 34 yards and his second TD of the night, in addition to throwing for a score.
The Blue Devil Jayvees still refused to give up, with Tomchick completing a 14-yard pass to Elliot Geist and another for nine yards to John McFalls, but West Branch stormed through to nail Tomchick behind the line of scrimmage twice in a row and took over on downs to end the game.
“A lot of our kids are just sophomores with little or no experience,” explained B-A coach Randy Miller. “They are good athletes with a lot of heart, they just need more experience.”
Matt Sneath rushed 19 times for 77 yards for the Blue Devils and Zach Tomchick completed five of 11 passes for 59 yards
Bellwood-Antis was supposed to play Mount Union next week of the season, but the Trojans canceled their Jayvee season because they have only about 20 players on their varsity. Then varsity coach and Athletic Director John Hayes arranged a second game with Everett’s junior varsity. Now they have backed out because of injuries and illness cutting their numbers way down. If Hayes can’t set something up this week, the Blue Devil junior varsity has played their final game of the 2002 season.
