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B-A gets big effort from smaller players

BELLWOOD – They are two of the smaller players on the Bellwood-Antis roster, but 5-foot-6, 135-pound junior quarterback Shawn Wolfe and 5-9, 150-pound senior wide receiver and cornerback Ian McFarland played big Friday night against Claysburg-Kimmel.

Wolfe threw for 103 yards and two touchdown passes to McFarland, and he ran for 93 yards and a score, while McFarland had three catches for 103 yards, the two scores and made two key first-quarter interceptions in leading the now 3-0 Blue Devils to a 42-20 win over the Bulldogs on a cool night at Memorial Stadium.

“We ran the ball fairly well, and Shawn threw the ball pretty well,” B-A coach John Hayes said. “He missed a couple guys, but he hit some big ones, and that certainly makes things easier. He’s a good runner. He’s a real weapon when he’s running the football.”

McFarland made his first interception on C-K’s first series, when 6-3, 215-pound senior quarterback Ty Hagen threw a long pass that the B-A defender picked off at his own 10.

“He made two big picks,” Hayes said. “One of the scores they had, he got pushed off a little bit, but that’s part of the game. (McFarland) is a good, tough, smart player. He does a good job offensively and defensively.”

The Blue Devils, who churned out 298 yards rushing and 401 total yards, went on a seven-play, 90-yard drive, including runs of 32 and 21 yards by Wolfe and 15 yards by Nick Watters. Thor Schmittle, who also ran for 93 yards on 13 carries, capped off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.

Following a fumble recovery by C-K’s Blayde Shawley at the B-A 22, the Bulldogs got as close as the B-A 9 on the ensuing possession. But on fourth-and-goal from the 12, Hagen threw a jump ball in the end zone that McFarland picked off.

“In hindsight, I maybe should have tried to kick a field goal,” said C-K coach Dan Foor, whose team had 321 total yards, “but we chose to go for it at that point in the game.”

The Devils then marched 80 yards on nine plays and capped off the drive with a Schmittle 4-yard touchdown run 57 seconds into the second quarter.

“Just getting points on the board is big,” Hayes said.

Another C-K fumble recovery – this one by defensive end Zack McCarty – gave the Bulldogs the ball at the B-A 19.

“We made more mistakes tonight than we could really afford to make in other games,” Hayes said. “We were able to answer offensively when we did make mistakes.”

The first of two McFarland pass breakups set up a fourth-and-24, but Hagen, who completed 9 of his 21 passes for 146 yards, threw the first of his two TD passes – this one to Tanner Hunt for 33 yards at the 5:50 mark.

But the Devils responded with a 54-yard, six-play drive that ended with Wolfe rolling to his left and throwing a 30-yard TD pass to McFarland with 2:35 left in the half. B-A led 21-7 at halftime.

“That was a sweep action,” Hayes said. “A lot of his runs came off of the same action. He puts a lot of pressure on that side of the defense. It was right on the spot. He was right on the money with a couple of them tonight.”

The B-A defense threw Hagen for a 2-yard loss on a fourth-down sneak on C-K’s first series of the second half. The Devils went 56 yards on nine plays, and they finished with a Wolfe 1-yard TD run on third-and-goal.

Hagen got the Bulldogs back to within a couple TDs when he connected with Hunt for a 49-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 8:58 left in the game.

“We knew he would be pretty good,” Hayes said of Hagen. “He’s tall, and he can stand back there and see the field. He put some touch on the ball. They have a good offense, and they’re well-balanced.”

That set off a flurry of scoring in the final quarter.

Wolfe hit McFarland for a 37-yard scoring strike with 5:39 left in the game on a series that was prolonged by a Schmittle 28-yard run on fourth-and-1.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Claysburg-Kimmel 0 7 0 13 –20

Bellwood-Antis 7 14 7 14 –42

First Quarter

BA–Schmittle 10 run (Schmoke kick), 7:50

Second Quarter

BA–Schmittle 4 run (Schmoke kick), 11:03

CK–Hunt 33 pass from Hagen (Deremer kick), 5:50

BA–McFarland 30 pass from Wolfe (Schmoke kick), 2:55

Third Quarter

BA–Wolfe 1 run (Schmoke kick), 2:31

Fourth Quarter

CK–Hunt 49 pass from Hagen (Deremer kick), 8:58

BA–McFarland 37 pass from Wolfe (Schmoke kick), 5:39

CK–Claycomb 7 run (kick failed), 2:57

BA–Watters 11 run (Schmoke kick), 2:32

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Claysburg-Kimmel–Claycomb 9-94, Harr 11-27, Shawley 7-20, Hagen 4-14, Brown 3-11, Helsel 2-9. Bellwood-Antis–Wolfe 12-93, Schmittle 13-93, Morder 12-69, Watters 7-21, Potter 1-17, Boyer 1-5.

PASSING: Claysburg-Kimmel–Hagen 9-21-3-146. Bellwood-Antis–Wolfe 3-7-0-103.

RECEIVING: Claysburg-Kimmel–Hunt 4-91, Shawley 2-32, Burket 2-19, Claycomb 1-4. Bellwood-Antis–McFarland 3-103.

INTERCEPTIONS: Claysburg-Kimmel–none. Bellwood-Antis–McFarland 2, Morder.

TEAM STATISTICS CK BA

First downs 12 20

Yards rushing 36-175 46-298

Passing (comp.-att.-int) 9-21-3 3-7-0

Passing yards 146 103

Total yards 321 401

Fumbles lost 1-0 4-2

Penalties-yards 8-84 6-29

Punts-avg. 2-40 2-29.5

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