BELLWOOD — Wins and losses have been coming in pairs this season for Bellwood-Antis.
After winning the opener, the Blue Devils dropped two, won two and then lost another pair.
BA’s back on the upswing now, winning its last two, the latest coming on the strength of a stifling defensive performance.
Led by Colin Gibbons’ three interceptions, Bellwood shut out Bellefonte, 22-0, Friday at John R. Hayes Field at Memorial Stadium to move back above .500 at 5-4 with one week left in the regular season.
“Colin Gibbons having three interceptions is pretty special. Getting that hat trick for a defensive back,” B-A coach Nick Lovrich said.
Players of the game: After making an interception of a ball thrown up for grabs to close out the first half, Gibbons picked off Bellefonte QB Quinn Park in the third quarter, falling on his back near the sidelines then ended Bellefonte’s best scoring opportunity with an interception in the back corner of the end zone in the fourth quarter.
“The one in the end zone is more from experience. I’ve played a lot of cornerback and know when a double-move is coming. I just beat him to the ball,” Gibbons said.
Chase Plummer played a strong game as well. On back-to-back plays in the first half, he had a tackle for loss followed by a pass breakup in the flat that he nearly picked off with a clear path to the end zone. Plummer also tackled Park in the end zone for a safety to close out the scoring.
Bellefonte held standout running back Alex McCartney to 62 yards on 20 carries, forcing the team to look elsewhere for a spark.
“Other guys stepped up for us. Chase had a good game. Bradyn Partner played well. It was a whole team effort. It takes all 11 guys every play. It takes all 47 guys all week in practice to make Friday a good night for us,” Lovrich said.
Play of the game: On the first play of the second quarter, the Bellefonte defense bit on a Partner pump fake, and the junior QB hit Jeffrey Waite in stride near the goal line for a 37-yard score for a 7-0 lead.
“Jeffrey’s got good breakaway speed. I pumped faked and the guy came up on it. I saw he was open and threw it. I trusted my guy and he got it,” Partner said.
Unsung hero(es): Waite had three receptions for 61 yards. Two of the catches resulted in first downs allowing Bellwood to maintain possession along with the 37-yard TD. Lineman Jayce Quick had a 10-yard sack in the second quarter, putting Bellefonte in a third-and-long situation it couldn’t overcome.
Most vital statistic: Bellwood’s defense gave up just 78 yards and had five takeaways.
Bellefonte coach Tony Confer: “We had a lot of execution issues. In defense of our kids, we’ve had a lot of adversity the past few weeks and even going back further than that with injuries and not having players where they need to be. Our defense has kept us in games. Offensively, being shorthanded, we just haven’t been able to put things together at times.”
Notable: The defensive performance would have been even more impressive except for some penalties. Half of Bellefonte’s 10 first downs came via penalty. The team as a whole was flagged seven times for 85 yards. The game started 10 minutes late because the Bellefonte buses got caught in a traffic delay caused by a wreck on I-99.
Records: Bellefonte (3-6); Bellwood (5-4).
Next week: Bellefonte hosts Johnstown. Bellwood faces Forest Hills at home.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellefonte 0 0 0 0 — 0
Bellwood 0 14 0 8 — 22
Second Quarter
BA–Waite 37 pass from Partner (Smearman kick), 11:53.
BA–Partner 1 run (Smearman kick), 2:05.
Fourth Quarter
BA–Plummer 8 run (kick failed), 9:28.
BA–Plummer tackled Park in end zone for a safety, 4:46.
TEAM STATISTICS B BA
First downs 10 9
Total yards 78 242
Rushes-yards 33-24 40-123
Yards passing 54 119
Passing (comp.-att.-int) 8-17-3-54 5-8-0-119
Punts-avg. 2-37 4-35.5
Fumbles-lost 4-2 2-1
Penalties-yards 5-28 7-85
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Bellefonte, Park 17-31, Long, 4-7, As. Howell 1-0, Gall 4-10, Al. Howell 2-4, TEAM 3-(-28). Bellwood, McCartney 20-62, Plummer 9-42, Partner 7-17, Gibbons 1-5, TEAM 3-(-3).
PASSING–Bellefonte, Park 8-16-3-54, Al. Howell 0-1-0-0. Bellwood, Partner 5-8-0-119.
RECEIVING–Bellefonte, As. Howell 3-37, Ammerman 1-1, Long 1-5, Langille 2-12, Crawford 1-(-1). Bellwood, Waite 3-61, Gibbons 1-0, Shawley 1-58.