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Bedford shows depth in victory

EBENSBURG – If you love offense and huge individual performances then Ebensburg was the place to be Friday night as Bedford and Central Cambria each racked up over 400 total yards in the Bisons 47-36 shootout victory over the Red Devils.

Bedford (2-0) established itself early with a strong running game, despite the absence of leading rusher Jeremiah Bingham who was out with an injury.

In his place junior August Cook enjoyed a breakout performance. Cook scored the game’s first touchdown midway through the first quarter, cashing in from 17 yards out. It was the first of three touchdowns on the night as Cook finished with 240 yards on the ground.

“August is a tremendous athlete who is getting his chance now. He was great tonight. Obviously the offensive line was doing a good job giving him room,” Bedford coach Kevin Steele said.

Central Cambria (0-2) turned the tide early in the second quarter. Aided by two Bedford turnovers, the Red Devils scored three touchdowns in less than five minutes to open up a 21-7 lead. The first came at the 11-minute mark when sophomore David O’Saben capped off an eight-play drive with a three-yard touchdown plunge.

Senior quarterback Will Seymour provided the next two through the air as he connected on touchdown passes of nine and 38 yards, respectively, to Timothy Davis and Trace McBreen.

“We got some momentum going early in the second quarter but unfortunately we couldn’t sustain it in the second half,” Central Cambria coach Bill Corrente said.

Bedford responded swiftly as Zach Shaffer made the first of his numerous big plays on the night, returning a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to bring the Bisons back within seven. Bedford would add a six-yard touchdown run by quarterback Austin Montgomery four minutes later to knot the score at 21.

The excitement in the second quarter didn’t end there however, as each team would score in the final two minutes to put a cap on a 48-point quarter. Seymour connected with Davis from 14 yards out to put the Red Devils up a score, but Cook answered less than 15 seconds later as he broke free for a 65-yard touchdown run. After a blocked extra point the Red Devils went to halftime up 28-27.

“The second quarter was crazy, big plays being made everywhere by both teams. I was happy with the way we answered after falling down two scores. We put ourselves in a bad position with the turnovers, but big plays helped us get out of the hole,” Steele said.

A Cook 1-yard touchdown plunge late in the third quarter gave the Bisons a 33-28 lead entering the final frame and from there Shaffer took over.

The electric junior made the game’s two biggest plays less than two minutes apart to break open a close game in the fourth. Protecting its five-point lead with just over five minutes remaining, the Bisons were facing a third-and-13 when Shaffer took a pitch, broke two tackles in the backfield and raced 54 yards for his second touchdown of the game.

Just over a minute later, Shaffer picked off a Seymour pass and raced 81 yards for the return touchdown, giving him three scores in three different ways and putting the game out of reach.

“I have to first give credit to my blockers. On the kickoff return and the interception return we had guys laying people out with blocks. I was happy to make some big plays tonight but it was really a team effort,” Shaffer said.

Seymour added a late touchdown pass from 24 yards out to Davis to close the scoring.

Seymour finished the night with 330 yards passing and four touchdowns to go along with 60 yards rushing, and an interception and fumble recovery on defense. Davis finished with 215 yards receiving and three scores himself.

Bedford puts its 2-0 record on the line against another unbeaten team in Somerset next week.

“We are excited to be 2-0 and we know we face a great team in Somerset next week. We have to build off this performance, correct the turnovers and continue to get better,” said Steele.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bedford7 20 6 14-47

Central Cambria0 28 0 8 -36

First quarter

B-Cook 17 run (Montgomery kick), 2:34

Second quarter

CC-O’Saben 3 run (kick faiked), 11:10

CC-Davis 9 pass from Seymour (McBreen pass from Seymour), 8:54

CC-McBreen 38 pass from Seymour (Crimmins kick), 6:44

B-Shaffer 93 KO return (Montgomery kick), 6:30

B-Montgomery 6 run (Montgomery kick), 2:49

CC-Davis 14 pass from Seymour (Crimmins kick), 1:06

B-Cook 65 run (kick blocked), 0:53

Third quarter

B-Cook 1 run (pass failed), 3:23

Fourth quarter

B-Shaffer 54 run (Montgomery kick), 5:15

B-Shaffer 81 Int return (Montgomery kick), 3:53

CC-Davis 24 pass from Seymour (O’Saben run), 1:58

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Bedford-Cook 19-240, Shaffer 3-89, Montgomery 12-30, Lazorka 1-2, TEAM 2-(-2). Central Cambria-Seymour 10-60, Kirsch 8-9, Zearing 1-8, O’Saben 1-3, Sisco 1-1, Adams 2-(-1).

PASSING: Bedford-Montgomery 5-10-2-69. Central Cambria-Seymour 23-38-1-330, Adams 0-1-0-0

RECEIVING: Bedford-Kline 2-20, Shaffer 1-29, Downs 1-15, Cook 1-5. Central Cambria-Davis 11-215, Adams 6-41, Zearing 3-13, McBreen 2-44, Gillen 1-17.

INTERCEPTIONS: Bedford-Shaffer. Central Cambria-Seymour, Zearing.

TEAM STATISTICSB CC

First downs1615

Rushes-yards37-35923-80

Pass (comp.-att.-int.)5-10-223-39-1

Yards passing69330

Total yards428410

Fumbles-lost3-21-0

Penalties-yards8-679-91

Punts-avg.2-35.57-28.7

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