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Maul’s catch seals victory for Cambria Heights

BEDFORD — Ryan Bearer, Cambria Heights’ primary passing quarterback this season, had completed just 10 throws through the Highlanders’ first eight games.

Bearer nearly doubled that number Friday, going 9-for-12, and none of them were bigger than his 12-yard connection to Damon Maul on third-and-11 with 2:36 to play that sealed a 13-7 victory.

“If I wouldn’t have caught that, we would have lost this game, I think,” Maul said. “No one gave us a shot in this game, and we played this game in memory of Coach Miller, who passed away last year. Our motto is 64 degrees. That means everything is perfect, and everything was perfect tonight.”

Seth Link’s 1-yard touchdown plunge gave Cambria Heights the lead with just more than 10 minutes to play in the game, but the extra point was blocked.

Bedford drove the ball to the Highlanders’ 23-yard line, but Steven Ressler’s fourth-down pass slipped through the hands of Miles Washington to give Cambria Heights the ball back with 6:16 to play.

The Bisons never got the ball back.

Cambria Heights drove the ball 71 yards to the Bedford 6-yard line before time ran out, but the drive nearly stalled around midfield before Maul’s catch.

“We didn’t want to give it back to them, because that’s a good offense,” Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said. “We felt they’d be selling out for the run. So we threw it out there to our senior and let him make a play. Maul did just that. He got just enough for the first down.”

Bedford ended up running just 15 plays in the second half.

“That’s Cambria Heights football,” Lewis said. “We like when we can control our destiny with the football. We’re power football. With 6 minutes left, we said, ‘let’s seal this game’ and run out the clock.”

The Highlanders closed the game out on the ground and finished with 199 yards on 46 carries, but their early success through the air surprised Bedford coach Kevin Steele.

“They had some more success throwing the ball than we expected them to,” Steele said. “But I think it comes down to our offense really struggling tonight. Cambria Heights controlled the trenches.”

The Highlanders took a 7-0 lead when Maul scooped up a blocked punt and returned it 20 yards for a score. The snap bounced back to Bisons punter Dylan Arnold, who bobbled it before kicking it into a pair of Cambria Heights players.

In the third quarter, another bad snap on a punt led to a 9-yarder from Arnold. Steele said the team has had no problems in that area prior to this week.

“The blocked punt was huge,” Steele said. “Then we forced a turnover in the second half, and they came up with a big defensive stand. I think those were the turning points of the game.”

Bedford tied the game with a 70-yard drive following Cambria Heights’ first score. Arnold capped it off with a 4-yard run, his 12th rushing touchdown of the season.

Arnold had 50 yards on the ground at halftime but only got four carries in the second half and finished with 74.

“I think we had around 10 offensive plays in the second half,” Steele said. “That’s just not going to put you in a position to win many football games.”

Cambria Heights, which will host Westmont Hilltop next week, kept its playoff hopes alive.

“We were 1-5 to start, and everyone counted us out,” Maul said. “We’re trying to shock the world right now.”

If the Highlanders are going to continue their second-half surge, they’ll need continued improvement from the passing game.

“Ryan Bearer is just a sophomore, and he’s getting better every week,” Lewis said. “We do like our weapons on the outside. Maul is a great receiver. Cody Gray does some good things for us and Zach Farabaugh as well. We were able to get the ball to them tonight, and after our receivers got the ball they did a nice job.”

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Cambria Heights 7 0 0 6 — 13

Bedford 0 7 0 0 — 7

First Quarter

CH–Maul 20 blocked punt return (Nelen kick), 2:24.

Second Quarter

B–Arnold 4 run (Arnold kick), 10:54.

Fourth Quarter

CH–Link 1 run (kick failed), 10:04.

TEAM STATISTICS CH B

First downs 17 10

Total yards 286 182

Rushes-yards 46-199 31-123

Yards passing 87 59

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 9-12-0 5-14-1

Punts-avg. 2-26 4-23

Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0

Penalties-yards 6-46 2-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Cambria Heights, Farabaugh 10-70, Trybus 15-61, Link 8-44, Stockley 6-20, Flis 2-14, Bearer 3-(-4), TEAM 2-(-4). Bedford, Arnold 14-74, Price 2-28, Washington 3-18, Ressler 11-5, TEAM 1-(-2).

PASSING–Cambria Heights, Bearer 9-12-0-87. Bedford, Ressler 5-12-1-59, Swaim 0-1-0-0, TEAM 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING–Cambria Heights, Maul 6-66, Gray 2-15, Farabaugh 1-6. Bedford, Price 4-46, Swaim 1-13.

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