Bellwood-Antis knocks off rival Tyrone

BELLWOOD - In John Hayes' very successful 30-year tenure as the school's head football coach, Bellwood-Antis has largely been known for a smash-mouth running offense.

This season, Hayes is seeking a balance between the run and throw, and thanks to Nate Plummer, the Blue Devils achieved that balance nicely Friday night.

Making his first varsity start, Plummer completed seven of 12 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown, and set up two second-half B-A scoring drives with big-play throws, as the host Blue Devils defeated archrival Tyrone, 31-16 in an entertaining season-opener at Memorial Field.

"Any strong football team has got to show some diversity on offense, and we did some things tonight that I thought would work,'' Hayes said. "Nate Plummer is a good, smart, competitive field general, our line did a good job blocking, the receivers caught the ball, and the results were great.''

Ahead 15-10 at the outset of the second half, Plummer and the Blue Devils engineered a 57-yard drive that reached the end zone in just three plays.

Plummer hit junior tight end Jared Minori over the middle for a 34-yard gain to the Tyrone 23, and junior running back Tyler Beech raced to the end zone from 20 yards away two plays later, helping B-A to a 22-10 lead.

With Bellwood clinging to a 22-16 advantage in the fourth quarter, Plummer hit junior Danny Noye on a 47-yard pass play down the right sideline that set up Plummer's eventual 30-yard field goal and a 25-16 B-A lead with 7:49 left.

On Bellwood's next possession, Plummer hit Nick DeGol with a 20-yard, third-down pass to the Tyrone 2, setting up Plummer's 2-yard TD run with 2:16 left that applied the dagger to the Golden Eagles' hopes.

Plummer, a senior, said that the passing game was an important part of Bellwood's game plan Friday.

"We brought out the passing game tonight [to complement] our running game, and we all stuck together as one,'' Plummer said. "None of those plays could have happened without the excellent play of our offensive line.''

Tyrone put forth a competitive effort as well, but 11 penalties that totaled 85 yards, along with two turnovers on interceptions, hurt the Golden Eagles.

"I thought our kids played hard tonight, but we made too many mistakes, and as a coach, that's my fault,'' Tyrone coach John Franco said. "I thought Bellwood played a great game. They were well-prepared, and they outplayed us. It was a good football game.''

Senior halfback Zach McCaulley scored a pair of first-half touchdowns for Bellwood, racing 36 yards on a scintillating first-quarter run and hauling in Plummer's 33-yard scoring pass in the second quarter.

Senior Levi Reihart and sophomore Steve Franco split the quarterbacking duties for Tyrone, and both registered solid efforts.

Reihart rushed for 95 yards on 15 carries and hit senior wideout Eric Desch with a 22-yard second-quarter touchdown pass. Desch caught seven passes for 102 yards and also threw a 47-yard pass to sophomore Nick Patton that set up Desch's touchdown catch.

Steve Franco - John's son- engineered an impressive 80-yard Tyrone scoring drive in the third quarter by running for 24 yards and completing three passes for 47 yards, the last a 5-yard scoring toss to Shane Walker.

Several players from both teams were hobbled by cramps, particularly Reihart and Steve Franco in the second half.

"I've never seen anything like that,'' John Franco said.

Game notes: Nick DeGol and Luke Evans made interceptions on defense for Bellwood, which visits Everett next Friday night ... Jared Templeton kicked a 25-yard field goal for Tyrone, which hosts Huntingdon Friday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone0 10 6 0 - 16

Bellwood-Antis8 7 7 9 - 31

First quarter

BA-Z. McCaulley 36 run (Campbell pass from Evans), 6:48.

Second quarter

T-Templeton 25 FG, 11:47.

T-Desch 22 pass from Reihart (Templeton kick), 7:51.

BA-Z. McCaulley 33 pass from Plummer (Plummer kick), 0:42.

Third quarter

BA-Beech 20 run (Plummer kick), 10:55.

T-Walker 5 pass from S. Franco (kick failed), 5:38.

Fourth quarter

BA-Plummer 30 FG, 7:49.

BA-Plummer 2 run (kick failed), 2:16.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Tyrone-Reihart 15-95, Getz 12-41, S. Franco 1-24, Gault 4-8, Walker 1-2, Chronister 2-(-3). Bellwood-Antis-Z. McCaulley 16-75, Shaw 2-32, Beech 4-30, Taylor 4-14, Plummer 7-13, DeGol 2-6, Noye 2-5.

PASSING: Tyrone-S. Franco 5-9-0-68, Reihart 5-13-2-55, Desch 1-1-0-47, Chronister 1-1-0-14. Bellwood-Antis-Plummer 7-12-1-171.

RECEIVING: Tyrone-Desch 7-102, Patton 1-47, Walker 2-13, Gault 1-8, Wagner 1-14. Bellwood-Antis-.

INTERCEPTIONS: Tyrone-none. Bellwood-Antis-DeGol, Evans.

TEAM STATISTICSTBA

First downs1618

Rushes-yards35-16737-175

Passing (comp.-att.-int.)12-24-27-12-1

Yards passing184171

Total yards351346

Fumbles-lost0-03-1

Penalties-yards11-855-55

Punts-avg.4-37.82-35.5