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Central can’t keep up with BEA

Photo for the Mirror by J.D. Cavrich Central’s Zach Imler makes a long gain after catching a screen pass against Bald Eagle Area.

ROARING SPRING — The Bald Eagle Area Eagles are flying high.

The Eagles soared to their fifth victory in as many games by beating Central, 54-28, Friday night in a Mountain League game at the Roaring Spring Athletic Field.

Central led by one point (21-20) at halftime, but Bald Eagle Area, improving to 3-0 in the league, pulled away by scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half.

Junior quarterback Jaden Jones ignited the Eagles, throwing for five touchdowns and running for a pair of scores. Jones completed 17 of 26 passes for 231 yards. He has thrown 18 TDs in five games.

“He is a pretty dynamic player,” BEA coach Jesse Nagle said. “They say he is too small, but he has a great arm and a heart of gold. He is a great quarterback.”

Central coach Dave Baker was impressed with the 5-foot-11, 145-pound BEA quarterback, too.

“He is real quick throwing the ball,” Baker said. “His receivers are good, too. They have a real good team.”

Kaden Bittinger grabbed a pair of touchdown passes while Nick Turner, Gage McClenahan and Kael Gardner had a TD catch apiece. Trey Foster added BEA’s final points with a 34-yard TD run with 1:57 left in the game.

Central’s Ben Kurtz opened the scoring with a 3-yard run and a pair of touchdown runs by quarterback Noah Muthler and PAT from Austin Keith staked the Scarlet Dragons to a 21-20 lead at halftime.

BEA went 50 yards in six plays on its first possession of the second half and never looked back. Jones hit McClenahan with a 22-yard TD pass at the 10:32 mark of the third quarter and the rout was on.

Jones threw TD passes to Bittinger and Gardner and ran for another score to push BEA’s advantage to 48-21 before Central responded.

“We didn’t play that well in the first half,” Nagle said. “We made some adjustments both offensely and defensely for the second half and we started to make some plays.”

Muthler connected with Zach Parks on a 27-yard TD pass with 7:03 left in the game to stop the bleeding. Muthler ran for two touchdowns and threw a TD pass to lead Central, which dropped its fourth straight game since a season-opening victory over Northern Bedford.

The Scarlet Dragons are 1-4 overall, 0-4 in the league.

“We gave them just too many chances in the second half,” Baker said. “They made some quick plays, and we couldn’t stop them.”

Muthler missed last week’s game against Penns Valley because he was in concussion protocol. Baker was happy to have his quarterback back on the field.

“I’m glad he was back,” Baker said. “I thought he played a good game.”

Next Friday night Central hosts Philipsburg-Osceola, while BEA entertains Tyrone.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bald Eagle Area 6 14 15 19 — 54

Central 7 14 0 7 — 28

First Quarter

C–Kurtz 3 run (Keith kick), 5:15.

BEA–Jones 1 run (run failed), 1:47.

Second Quarter

BEA–Bittinger 11 pass from Jones (Bittinger pass from Jones), 10:23.

C–Muthler 4 run (kick failed), 7:19.

BEA–Turner 34 pass from Jones (pass failed), 2:28.

C–Muthler 1 run (McConahy pass from Kitt), 1:16.

Third Quarter

BEA–McClenahan 15 pass from Jones (Roberts run), 10:32.

BEA–Bittinger 41 pass from Jones (Vancise kick), 4:00.

Fourth Quarter

BEA–Gardner 6 pass from Jones (Vancise kick), 10:39.

BEA–Jones 1 run (run failed), 8:29.

C–Parks 27 pass from Muthler (Keith kick), 7:03.

BEA–Foster 34 run (run failed), 1:57.

TEAM STATISTICS BEA C

First downs 22 17

Total yards 495 267

Rushes-yards 42-264 30-101

Yards passing 231 166

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 17-26-1 13-28-4

Punts-avg. 2-36 3-35

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 6-50 1-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Bald Eagle Area, Jones 14-84, Roberts 9-53, McClenahan 10-50, Foster 1-34, Snyder 4-32, Hoover 1-8, Wible 1-5, team 2-(-2). Central, Muthler 9-33, Kurtz 10-29, Imler 5-23, Marko 2-10, Jeffries 2-4, Quarello 3-2.

PASSING–Bald Eagle Area, Jones 17-26-1-231. Central, Muthler 11-25-4-152, Kitt 2-3-0-14.

RECEIVING–Bald Eagle Area, Bittinger 4-80, Roberts 3-42, Reese 4-35, McClenahan 3-29, Gardner 1-7, Snyder 1-5. Central, Parks 3-92, McConahy 2-29, Imler1-24, Albright 3-18, Kitt 2-12, Walters 2-1.

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