×

Juniata Valley knocks off Bishop Guilfoyle

Elliott Showalter, Gabe Brower and Quinn Zinoblie celebrate the win over BG. Photo by Ed Lee

“Small school. Big dreams.”

Those words were written on the sign Juniata Valley cheerleaders held to greet the Green Hornet football team as it raced onto Mansion Park for the District 6 Class 1A semifinal game with Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic Saturday afternoon.

And, the Hornets responded with a 9-3 victory over the Marauders.

It might not have been Juniata Valley’s biggest football win ever, but it has to rank among them.

True, Valley was seeded No. 2 and BG No. 3, but the Marauders destroyed the Hornets by 58 and 49 points in playoff games the last two seasons and appeared to be the hotter of the teams — BG mercy-ruled Homer-Center last week while JV nudged Claysburg-Kimmel by one point in the quarter-finals.

“The kids have said all along if we work hard, we’re going to be back in that position,” JV coach Bill Musser said, “and they’ve taken that position all year long.

“You can only play who is in front of you and you can’t worry who they are or what they are,” Musser continued. “All you can do is play football.”

The Hornets played, and played well, making the big plays when they had to make them.

BG’s West Virginia-bound kicker Kolton McGhee booted a 20-yard field goal with 1:54 left in the first quarter, but that turned out to be the Marauders’ only highlight of the day.

After Gabe Brower’s 17-yard punt return put the ball at the JV 49, the Hornets, behind the running of Jaxson Rand and Quinn Zinobile, took the lead. Zinobile scored from the 1 with 5:19 left in the half and, even though the PAT was blocked, Valley stayed on top the rest of the way.

Hunter Johnson turned in the biggest defensive play of the first half when he intercepted a pass and ran it back 39 yards to the BG 16 with just 15 seconds left. Jefferson Hill kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired, pushing Valley ahead, 9-3, at intermission.

There was no scoring in the second half, although BG had a big opportunity in the fourth. Following a punt, the Marauders set up shop on the Valley 43 with 7:16 to play. Behind the running of Keegan Myrick, BG converted two fourth-down plays while advancing to the Hornets’ 10.

Danny Carrieri hit Dominic Pulcinello with a pass near the goal-line but Zinobile, playing strong safety, prevented the completion with a jarring tackle with 1:15 left.

“He was exactly what we thought he’d be,” BG coach Justin Wheeler said of the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Zinobile, who was all over the field offensively and defensively. “He’s an amazing football player with a lot of talent on both sides of the ball.”

Carrieri slipped on the next play (third down) and lost about 10 yards. His Hail Mary pass on fourth down fell incomplete and Valley celebrated moments later.

“We needed to stop the run first, and I felt we did that,” Zinobile said. “I couldn’t be more proud of my teammates. When it came to the end, we knew we had to bat the ball down, and we did.”

“Definitely a tough loss,” Wheeler said. “I thought we had some chances to do some things, but give them credit … I told our guys they made one more play than we did, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters.”

It was a defensive struggle most of the day. BG had a few more offensive yards, but hurt itself with several penalties while JV was flagged only once.

BG finished with an 8-4 record.

“Anytime you’re playing in week 13 you’ve got to feel pretty good about the season,” Wheeler said. “We lost eight starters from last year and to win eight games in a tough conference (Laurel Highlands) … “I’m definitely proud of our guys.”

Game notes: Originally scheduled to be played in Alexandria, the game was moved to Mansion because of the weather. …Kudos to the Altoona Area School District for having the MP turf in great playing condition after this week’s snowstorm. … Incidentally, AASD is hosting five games at Mansion this weekend — two Saturday and three Sunday — because no one else reportedly offered its facilities.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop Guilfoyle 3 0 0 0 — 3

Juniata Valley 0 9 0 0 — 9

First Quarter

BG–McGhee 20 FG, 1:54.

Second Quarter

JV–Zinobile 1 run (kick failed), 5:19.

JV–Hill 21 FG, 0:00.

TEAM STATISTICS BG JV

First downs 11 11

Total yards 214 209

Rushes-yards 38-176 31-136

Yards passing 38 73

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 3-11-1 7-12-1

Punts-avg. 3-35 3-40

Fumbles-lost 1-0 0

Penalties-yards 7-55 1-5

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Bishop Guilfoyle, Myrick 23-103, Potopa 4-52, Carrieri 8-17, Liebal 3-4. Juniata Valley, Zinobile 16-81, Rand 12-43, Betres 2-10, Collins 1-2.

PASSING–Bishop Guilfoyle, Carrieri 3-11-1-38. Juniata Valley, Zinobile 7-11-0-73, Rand 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVING–Bishop Guilfoyle, Potopa 1-17, McCloskey 1-13, Pulcinello 1-8. Juniata Valley, Collins 3-54, Musser 2-(-2), Betres 1-11, Brower 1-11.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today