Bellwood-Antis was a member of two conferences in 1946, the Inter-County Conference, Eastern Division and the Western Conference, Class B.
On September 27, 1946, Bellwood-Antis scored a pair of early touchdowns on the way to a 20-0 victory over Jersey Shore.
The two early scores took the starch out of The Bulldogs, who were members of the Susquehanna League.
Lemont “Duke” Burkholder was the head coach in 1946, which would be the first undefeated season for Bellwood-Antis. Lewis Myers, back from the Navy, was Duke’s assistant as well as head basketball coach, and Jim Campbell, who left school to join the Navy after playing halfback for the Blue Devils in 1943 and 1944 and had been team captain in ‘44 ran the equipment room, while completing requirements to finish high school.
In a game originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28, at Jersey Shore, but moved up a day to Sept. 27, the B-A defense turned in their third straight shutout after Tyrone had scored a single TD in a 26-6 Bellwood-Antis win in the season opener. Bellwood-Antis would count 10 straight shutouts and an 11-0 mark before the 1946 season ended.
On the second play from scrimmage, Tommy Conrad recovered a Jersey Shore fumble at the Shore-25. Sophomore Roy Pickens skirted left end for 15 yards, Paul Garrahan picked up eight more and Ron Raugh broke through right tackle for the two-yard touchdown. Raugh also added the extra point kick.
The B-A defense stuffed Jersey Shore for zero yards on three plays, with Charlie Barr making one tackle and Billy Campbell two.
Ken Woodhall fielded the punt and lateraled the ball to Pickens, who returned it to the BA-40. Another quick drive resulted in points. Raugh tossed a pass to Woodhall for nine yards and then scooted for 10 more two plays later. Woodhall, who local sports writers and coaches had been calling the best passer in the state as early as his freshman year at B-A, capped the drive with a 34-yard TD pass to senior end Dick Thomas. Woodhall has several B-A passing records and would have more if we had accurate records from those years.
In the third quarter, B-A put the final tally on the board. Woodhall, a complete player, who could pass, run, play defense, return kicks and punt with the best Bellwood-Antis athletes and was the equal of any in the state in the 1940s, ran a punt back 25 yards to the JS-35. Raugh completed a pair of passes to Pickens and had his number called six times for all the remaining yardage, including the two-yard TD and then kicked the PAT.
Bellwood-Antis shut out Williamsburg 41-0 at Bellwood Memorial Stadium on Sept. 27, 1963.
The potent Bellwood-Antis offense smashed the Blue Pirates, rushing for just under 200 yards and passed for 140 more for coach Chet Dillen.
The Blue Devils drove 63 yards for their first score. Bill Cherry dashed 27 yards for the key play and then scored the TD on a 14-yard run.
In the second quarter, John Hirt scored on defense for B-A returning an interception 20 yards for a TD. The second tally of the quarter followed on a Walter Rhoades to Ron Edmiston 48-yard pass play. Rhoades rushed for the PAT.
On their first series of the second half, Cherry capped a 62-yard drive that took just six plays, by smashing two yards for the score. Rhoades passed to Warren Wilson for the extra point.
Bellwood-Antis scored twice more in the final quarter. Rhoades took a 19-yards jaunt for the first score of the period and Cherry rushed for the PAT. Wilson scored the final six-pointer, gathering in a pass from Cherry on a play that overall covered 80 yards. The same duo then connected for the PAT.
Cherry carried 15 times for 97 yards and Rhoades had 107 yards on 17 carries. B-A would go undefeated in 1963 (10-0) for the first time since 1954. Cherry led Blair County in scoring with 148 points and rushed for 1,218 yards, while Rhoades finished second in scoring in the county and rushed for 1,195 yards.
Bellwood-Antis crushed Mount Union 34-7 on Sept. 27, 1985 at Bellwood Memorial Stadium.
For most of the 18 minutes, it seemed as if the Blue Devils were the 1-3 team and Mount Union 4-0. Mental mistakes proved very costly early for the Blue Devils of head coach John Hayes.
B-A was able to manage just 30 yards of total offense in that first quarter and a half, but finally did awaken to post their fifth straight win of the season.
Don “Booker” Moore, who finished the night with over 200 yards rushing for the second straight ballgame was the workhorse toting the ball 35 times for 235 yards, all but 19 in the last three quarters.
Bellwood-Antis did get into the endzone at the 5:58 mark of the second quarter with quarterback Don park going in for the score on a one-yard sneak and Shawn Bailey’s PAT kick knotted the score at seven-all. The big plays were a 27-yard jaunt by Moore and a nine-yard pick-up by Bob Noye.
The second half was more vintage Bellwood-Antis as More ran wild and scored twice from the one- and the six-yard lines. Adam Claar slammed in from the one for the other TD, completed a pass for 11 yards and added one 2-pt. PAT. Shawn Bailey booted two PATs overall.
• Editor’s note: In an oddity, all three years in this edition of This Week in Blue Devil Football went undefeated. Each had their special coaches and special players. Each should be given a lot of consideration for the “greatest B-A football team ever.” Eras change and it’s always hard to compare different teams so far apart from each other and it’s practically impossible for any one person to see all of them in action. Just think about these Blue Devil teams when comparing past, present and future “Best Lists.”
