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Bedford at Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic
Where: Mansion Park
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Records: Bedford is 6-3 overall and in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference; Bishop Guilfoyle is 7-2 overall and in the conference.
Coaches: Kevin Steele is 119-79 in 17 seasons, including 93-52 in 13 seasons at Bedford. Justin Wheeler is 124-28 in 11 seasons at Bishop Guilfoyle.
Last meeting: Bedford won, 28-10 last October 29 in Bedford.
By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic and Bedford both wrap up their regular seasons Friday night with a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference matchup that is intriguing for a number of reasons.
The game itself, which is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Mansion Park, will feature two of the conference's best teams squaring off against one another.
Guilfoyle is 7-2 overall and in the conference, while Bedford is 6-3 and 6-3.
But Friday's outcome could also be very important in the seedings for the upcoming District 6 Class 2A football playoffs for Bishop Guilfoyle.
If third-seeded BG wins Friday's game, and Bellwood-Antis upends second-seeded Penns Valley Friday, the Marauders would jump into the second position in the district's Class 2A seedings. That would guarantee BG the Mansion Park venue for their first playoff game, and, if they win that, also for their second playoff game, leading up to the District 6 Class 2A championship game, which will also be played at Mansion Park.
Unbeaten Richland is the top seed in District 6 Class 2A field.
"This is a pretty big game,'' Bishop Guilfoyle coach Justin Wheeler said of the Bedford matchup. "If we get the number 2 seed, we would be home for both the first and second round of the playoffs, if we win both of those games.
"The third and fourth seeds will get one home game, then they could be on the road, depending on how the other games go,'' Wheeler added. "Getting the home field is a huge motivator for our team.''
BG senior offense guard-defensive tackle Sante Bambocci agreed.
"It's obviously really important if we get two playoff games at Mansion Park, before the district championship game is also played there,'' Bambocci said. "This is a must-win game for us to pick up momentum going into the playoffs.''
Both Bishop Guilfoyle and Bedford are coming off lopsided victories last week. BG routed Bishop McCort-Bishop Carroll, 56-3 at Johnstown's Sargent's Stadium at the Point, while Bedford ripped Johnstown, 60-8.
"We played pretty well in all three aspects of the game last week,'' Wheeler said. "We had a special teams touchdown and seven offensive touchdowns. Our defense, except for two or three plays, also played really well and caused several turnovers.''
Prior to last week's rout of Johnstown, Bedford had lost three straight heartbreakers - on the road to Penn Cambria and Richland and at home in overtime to Central -- by a combined total of only 12 points.
"Obviously it was nice to get back on the winning side of things last week, but for the most part, our kids played well in each of the games that we lost,'' Bedford coach Kevin Steele said. "It was a question of a play here or a play there in those games that caused us not to get the job done and to be on the wrong side of the scoreboard.''
The same could be said of BG in its two hard-fought losses to Central (21-20) and Penn Cambria (39-34), which adds to the suspense of Friday's matchup between two teams that could both very well have entered this game with unbeaten records.
"Both of our losses came down to a few points, and turnovers and penalties were the difference in both games,'' Wheeler said. "There's a lot of parity among the top four or five teams in our conference, and Bedford and us are definitely among those teams.''
Senior quarterback Karson Kiesewetter provides a potent dual passing and running threat for BG. Kiesewetter has completed 98 of 145 passes for 1,426 yards and 14 touchdowns, while rushing for 973 yards on 132 carries and 19 scores.
Senior running back Cooper Rother has rushed for 460 yards on 81 carries and eight touchdowns, and he's also the Marauders' leading receiver with 29 catches for 389 yards and three TDs.
Kiesewetter has done an outstanding job of distributing the ball this season. Along with Rother, seniors Dominic Yanoshak and Anthony Cioffari have 20 receptions apiece - including four TDs for Cioffari and two for Yanoshak - while junior Ryan Hagg has 14 catches, three for touchdowns.
Therefore, keying on Kiesewetter alone would be a mistake against BG, according to Steele.
"Obviously, he's a threat both running and throwing the ball, so we have to be aware of where he's at on the field at all times,'' Steele said of Kiesewetter. "But we can't just be focusing on one player because that will get you into trouble quickly.
"Rother is a very good player, and they have several other good players as well, so we just have to do our jobs, play disciplined football, and not lose track of our assignments on defense,'' Steele added.
Bedford has a powerful run-heavy offense led by senior fullback Ethan Weber, who has rushed for 1,211 yards on 115 carries and 14 touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Kevin Ressler has rushed for 755 yards on 86 carries and eight touchdowns for Bedford, while also completing 40 of 77 passes for 591 yards and seven TDs.
Senior speedster Max Washington has rushed for 257 yards on 43 tries and four touchdowns, and is also the team's leading pass receiver with 15 catches for 198 yards and two touchdowns.
"You've got to be extremely disciplined defensively against the style of offense that they run,'' Wheeler said. "They've got a big fullback (Weber) who is big, fast and is the complete package, and they've got speed on the perimeter in the passing and rushing game (with Washington). Those two kids are about as good as you'll find around.''
Both Wheeler and Steele expect a great game Friday.
"We'll definitely have our work cut out for us this week,'' Wheeler said.
Steele feels the same way about playing BG.
"They obviously have a good team, and they've had a good year,'' Steele said. "They've lost some tough games, and we have as well, so we certainly expect a tough matchup on Friday night.''