Northern Bedford players enjoy practicing as much as playing
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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
Northern Bedford has bolted out to a perfect 8-0 overall record and a 7-0 mark in Inter-County Conference play this year, and, according to Black Panthers coach Garry Black, a key factor in his team's success has been the players' willingness to embrace the overall process.
Practices, offseason workouts, and time in the weight room have been given just as much attention by the players as the games themselves.
The dedication shown by the Northern Bedford players has been a big reason why the Black Panthers will carry an unbeaten record into Friday night's 7 p.m. game with ICC foe Juniata Valley at Panther Community Stadium.
"We have a good group of kids who work hard, they love football, and they love to play the game,'' Black said. "But I think that they enjoy the preparation as much as they enjoy the game itself, and I have found out that whenever you have good teams, that's how the players on the team are.
"They just love the whole process of what goes into becoming a good team.''
Northern Bedford returned many of its skill position players from last year's District 5 Class 1A championship team that won a first-round PIAA state playoff game before losing a close game to eventual state finalist Redbank Valley in the PIAA quarterfinals.
Led by junior quarterback Eion Snider, who has completed 72 of 123 passes for 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns, the Black Panthers have scored an average of 43 points per game this season.
Junior tailback Adam Johnson has rushed for 1,118 yards on 128 carries and 22 touchdowns, while catching 13 passes for 440 yards and four touchdowns for Northern. The Black Panthers' leading receiver, sophomore wideout Aaron Bowers, has 33 receptions for 496 yards and five touchdowns, while junior wideout Ben Gable has 17 catches for 254 yards and three scores.
"We had almost everybody back at the skill positions, and we were very comfortable there entering the season,'' Black said. "Eion Snider has become more of a complete quarterback for us this year. He's thrown only two interceptions all season. He's been very efficient, and he's been taking care of the ball.
"He's also one of the fastest kids on our team, so we've been trying to add his running ability into our offense more this year, too,'' Black added. "He's a tough kid and a good leader who the other kids on the team can kind of rally around.''
When it comes to speed, nobody is faster than Johnson.
"He's just a tremendous athlete,'' Black said of Johnson. "He's also on the school's track and field team, and last spring, you could see that he was getting faster and we were getting excited about that.
"He also kind of lives in the weight room -- that's his passion, and it shows up on the football field,'' Black added. "He's tough to bring down along with being fast, and a fast, physical kid makes for a good running back.''
Johnson said that the Black Panthers' success last year has inspired the team this season.
"We know how far that we made it last year and that gave us motivation for this season to keep going,'' Johnson said.
Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser, whose Green Hornets will attempt to rebound after being thrashed, 56-7 at Windber last Friday, knows that Northern Bedford will present another large challenge for his team.
"They're a well-coached team, and they're the true definition of a team,'' Musser said. "They have excellent team speed and the ability to get after you pretty much the whole way across the board.
"Offensively, they have an outstanding running game and a very sound passing game,'' Musser added. "Defensively, they will hit you, and they will bring pressure when they need to do so. They have a pretty solid team both offensively and defensively.''
Black said that Valley's run of success over the past several years has bolstered the confidence of the Hornets' players.
"What is really important is because of how things have gone over the last several years for them, their kids are always confident,'' Black said. "They're not going to show up afraid of us because we're undefeated -- it's not going to be that way at all.
"They're going to come here thinking that they're going to win this game,'' Black added. "They're a well-coached team, and they're very physical.''
After losing a hard-fought 7-6 defensive struggle to Northern Bedford last year, Juniata Valley may also have the revenge factor on its side for this Friday's game.
"Last year, they were undefeated and ranked in the state and we went to their place after losing three tough games. We played a good game against them, and we beat them,'' Johnson said. "I don't think they were too happy about that, and we will have a big target on our backs when we play them this season.
"I expect a very good game from them Friday night.''
Juniata Valley at Northern Bedford
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Northern Bedford High School's Panther Community Stadium.
Records: Juniata Valley is 5-3 overall and 5-2 in the Inter-County Conference; Northern Bedford is 8-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference.
Coaches: Bill Musser is 63-36 in his ninth season at Juniata Valley. Garry Black is 62-28 in his eighth season at Northern Bedford.
Last meeting: Northern Bedford defeated Juniata Valley, 7-6 last October in Alexandria.
Noteworthy: Friday's game will decide the Silver Division championship in the Inter-County Conference. Both teams enter the game with 4-0 records in division play.