BG run game moving on without Garner
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic's high school football team has been fueled by one of the best players in the state the past few seasons in Keegan Myrick.
Myrick has graduated, but the blow of his loss was expected to be softened by the return of Haiden Garner, who was expected to be in the race for PIAA Class 1A Player of the Year honors.
But Garner suffered an injury late in the offseason and tried to play through it -- and even managed to score three touchdowns in the Marauders' opening game -- before he suffered setback recently.
"To not even get a full game (healthy) is very difficult," Bishop Guilfoyle coach Justin Wheeler said. "It was another Evan-Chadbourn-type injury where you have all this hype for your senior year, and you're going to be one of the best players in the state, but he's handled it better than I would have or better than really anybody. It's been amazing that he's been able to come with a positive attitude and do what he can to help the team. He's been battling each week, but he re-injured it last week so he decided to have surgery and shut down the season."
Chadbourn was returning from a state championship team when he was injured in the offseason before his senior year in 2016. Chadbourn was able to return from his injury in the PIAA semifinals and scored a touchdown in a 17-0 victory over Clairton in the final before he went on to play college football at Lehigh.
Wheeler is hoping Garner gets a similar opportunity in the college game.
"He is such an amazing person," Wheeler said. "I have been around some great athletes, and I have coached a bunch of them. He's near the top of that group, and when you know the kids who have been in the program the last 10 years, that says a lot. He has worked about as hard as anybody I've seen to give himself a chance to have a great senior season and go on to college football."
Garner was presented the game ball after a 17-16 win over Forest Hills on Saturday that evened the Marauders' record at 2-2.
"We were in need of the win," Wheeler said. "We have played well enough to win a couple games that didn't go our way, and we have played bad enough to lose a couple games that we did lose. At the end of the day, a win helps a lot. It helps with confidence and morale. Hopefully it translates into another positive week this week."
Cooper Rother got loose on a few long runs in the second half of that victory, something Wheeler would like to see continue Saturday against Somerset.
"We know we can't win without running the ball, and that was a big focus this past week at practice," Wheeler said. "We're going to work on the run the next five weeks and hope when we get to the playoffs, we have a team that's more balanced. We loved what Cooper (Rother) did in the second half, and we're hoping he gets some confidence out of that."
The Eagles' biggest threat is their mobile quarterback.
"The (Ethan) Hemminger kid is a do-it-all type of kid that we've faced with (Forest Hills' Damon) Crawley and (Penn Cambria's) Garrett Harrold a little bit," Wheeler said. "He has a good supporting cast as well, but when you watch him on film, you see that he's really good. I saw him live last Friday, and I know he's good. If they get him in space, we have to do a good job at tackling."
Rush the Fort
Xander Bainey rushed for more yards against Bellefonte than any Hollidaysburg ball carrier had totaled in the previous three games combined.
To find success Friday at Tiger Stadium when the Golden Tigers host Maryland power Fort Hill, Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said that will need to continue.