But the Marauders and their coach Justin Wheeler know that’s the culmination of a process that can only be completed by winning all six postseason games that they play, including the upcoming District 6 championship game.

BG punched a berth into the District 6 Class 1A championship game by mercy-ruling Homer-Center, 42-0 in a semifinal-round matchup Saturday evening at Tiger Stadium.

BG, which is the top seed in the District 6 Class 1A field, will meet second-seeded Juniata Valley this Friday night in the district championship game at Mansion Park.

This marks the 11th appearance for BG in a district championship game since 2012, and the Marauders have won eight district titles over that period.

Photo for the Mirror by Jeremy Boland BG's Evan Schimminger gains yardage against Homer-Center.

“Homer-Center does a good job of mixing the run and pass, and this was a good test for us going into the district championship game against Juniata Valley, which also has a very balanced offense,” BG coach Justin Wheeler said. “Our (regular-season Laurel Highlands Athletic) Conference schedule prepares us for these games, and the ultimate goal every year is to win a state championship.

“But in order to do that, we know that we have to win all the playoff games leading up to that, including the district championship, and I’m real proud of the effort that our guys gave tonight to give us a chance to win another District 6 title.”

The Marauders (10-2) started both the first and third quarters quickly. BG built a 21-0 lead in the first 7:40 on touchdown runs of four and two yards by senior Jake Kissell and a 5-yard scoring run by freshman back Keegan Hewitt.

The Marauders added two quick touchdowns at the start of the third quarter when Kissell scored on a 1-yard run following a 62-yard kickoff return by the coach’s son, sophomore Justin Wheeler, and Hewitt ran 28 yards for a score after an interception by senior Tyson Lestochi.

“We’ve been banged up a little bit, but I thought that we started the first quarter great, and after we made some adjustments at halftime, we also had another big start to the third quarter,” Coach Wheeler said. “Overall, I thought that we played really well tonight.”

Hewitt, who added a 25-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, rushed for 114 yards on 11 carries, including 90 yards in the second half.

Kissell wound up with 75 yards rushing on nine carries and also caught four passes totaling 90 yards.

“We knew that we needed to set the tone to start the game, and that’s what we did,” Kissell said.

Kissell appreciates the chance to play in another district championship game this Friday night.

“It’s a great feeling, and what we expect at BG,” Kissell said. “It’s only one piece of the puzzle, but it feels great to be back in the District 6 championship game. We’re all locked in, and we’ll be ready to go on Friday.”

Plays of the game: Tough to pinpoint just one on a night when BG made several chunk plays both on the ground and in the air. A 50-yard completed pass from quarterback Justin Wheeler to Kissell set the stage for BG’s second touchdown of the game in the first quarter, after junior Evan Schimminger swept left end for 32 yards to pave the way for the Marauders’ score on their opening drive.

Players of the game: Kissell and Hewitt shared this distinction while scoring three touchdowns apiece. Kissell sparked the Marauders as they built a 35-0 lead and invoked the mercy rule and a running clock in the third quarter on Hewitt’s second touchdown run of the game. Hewitt had a big second half, eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark. “We told him that he’s a freshman until the playoffs – now he’s no longer a freshman,” Coach Wheeler said of Hewitt. “He’s already an impressive talent who gives our offense another dimension, and we’re excited to have him on this team for three more years.”

Unsung heroes: BG’s defense pitched a shutout for the second straight week. The Marauders opened the playoffs with a 38-0 win over Purchase Line on Oct. 31. “We game-planned a lot this week, and we just knew that we couldn’t let (Homer-Center) get any momentum tonight, because they’re a tough team,” BG junior defensive end Rocco Cacciotti said. “We wanted to come out strong and stay strong for the entire game.”

Most vital statistics: While rolling up 417 total yards, including 318 on the ground, BG was extremely efficient offensively. The Marauders put together scoring drives of four plays in 54 seconds, two plays in 16 seconds, and four plays in 70 seconds in the first quarter, then added TD drives of three plays in 46 seconds and three plays in 52 seconds in the third quarter.

Homer-Center coach Greg Page: “BG is really good, and we knew that coming into this game. Give them all the credit tonight. They came at us and got ahead 21-0 at the start of the game. They were ready to play. They’re very physical, and we didn’t match that (physicality) tonight.”

Notable: Junior Deegan Fedoruk caught four passes totaling 48 yards, and also made an interception on defense for fourth-seeded Homer-Center, which wrapped up its season with an 8-4 record … Quarterback Wheeler, who suffered an arm injury midway through the season that limited him for several weeks, appears to be fully healthy now. He competed five of eight passes for 99 yards on Saturday … Junior Xavier Rogers made the last extra-point kick of the game.

Records: Homer-Center (8-4); Bishop Guilfoyle (10-2).

Next week: Homer-Center’s season is complete. Bishop Guilfoyle meets Juniata Valley in the District 6 Class 1A championship game Friday night at Mansion Park.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Homer-Center 0 0 0 0–0

Bishop Guilfoyle 21 0 14 7–42

First Quarter

BG–Kissell 4 run (Boland kick), 9:01.

BG–Kissell 2 run (Boland kick), 7:08.

BG–Hewitt 5 run (Boland kick), 4:20.

Third Quarter

BG–Kissell 1 run (Boland kick), 11:04.

BG–Hewitt 28 run (Boland kick), 7:50.

Fourth Quarter

BG–Hewitt 25 run (Rogers kick), 8:47.

TEAM STATISTICS HC BG

First downs 11 18

Total yards 148 417

Rushes-yards 30-57 33-318

Yards passing 91 99

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 11-22-1 6-9-1

Punts/avg. 5-35.2 0-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 5-55 8-75

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Homer-Center, Deyarmin 8-26, Bell 2-26, Arone 12-13, Cobaugh 4-3, Harper 1-3, Turk 3-(minus 14). Bishop Guilfoyle, Hewitt 11-114, Kissell 9-75, Schimminger 2-65, Lawson 3-37, Wheeler 4-15, Shellenberger 4-12.

PASSING–Homer Center, Arone 10-19-1-86, Turk 1-3-0-5. Bishop Guilfoyle, Wheeler 5-8-1-99, Shellenberger 1-1-0-0.

RECEIVING–Homer-Center, Fedoruk 4-48, Cobaugh 3-5, McAnulty 2-22, Fisher 1-11, Griffith 1-5. Bishop Guilfoyle, Kissell 4-90, Gioiosa 1-9, Kowalski 1-0.