Jones

MEYERSDALE — With about 12 minutes remaining until the start of Friday night’s District 5 Class 1A playoff matchup between Northern Bedford and Meyersdale, the lights in the stadium went out.

The delay lasted 30 minutes which pushed the start time to 7:30 p.m. for the semifinal battle.

Unfortunately, for the fourth-seeded Black Panthers, the top-seeded Red Raiders came out firing the ball all over the field.

Just as the stadium lights eventually came back on once the problem was located, Meyersdale made sure to quickly turn the lights out on NBC’s hopes of advancing to yet another district title game as the hosts handed the Panthers a 28-6 season-ending loss.

“They (Meyersdale) came out firing, and it was like a repeat of Glendale last week,” Northern Bedford coach Garry Black said. “We couldn’t cover anything. They didn’t run the ball, but we just just struggled covering.”

Play of the game: Leading 14-6, Meyersdale got the ball back after Northern got on the board, and on the first play from scrimmage, Red Raider quarterback Lance Jones found Caden Snyder for a 63-yard gain where NBC’s Zach Bowers finally brough him down at the NB 1. Spencer Whitfield powered his way aross the goal line two plays later to put Meyersdale up 21-6.

Jones: “On Monday, we watched film and we saw Glendale spread out (against Northern Bedford last week). We decided we were going to come out and do the same thing. Our receivers replicated it, and our line gave me enough time to deliver teh ball.”

Player of the game: Jones was 12-of-16 for 217 yards passing in the opening half. The senior hit Matthew Hainsworth on a 9-yard touchdown strike at 7:47 of the opening quarter to give Meyersdale the early 7-0 edge.

The signal caller called his own number on an 8-yard run on the next possession, and then capped off the scoring with a 9-yard scamper around the left side to set the final with 26.5 seconds remaining in the opening half.

Jones’ first pass of the night went for 9 yards, while his second was an 11-yarder to Snyder that allowed him to break the Meyersdale all-time career passing yards mark.

Meyersdale coach Ryan Donaldson: “Everything kind of clicked that first series, that first drive. That’s what we expect out of Lance, our receivers and our line. We couldn’t have asked for a much better start.”

Unsung heroes: The Meyersdale defense. When the two teams met in Meyersdale back on Oct. 3, a 19-18 Red Raider victory, NBC’s Ben Clark ran for 173 yards.

However, the adjustments made by the defensive unit this time around only allowed Clark to gain 45 yards on 18 attempts, while the Panthers as a team only managed 51 yards on the ground after 225 the first meeting.

Black: “That was our goal — we were going to try and run and play physical football. I told them (Northern Bedford) that they’ve grown up since the first time they played tackle football in third grade playing Power-I. I put it in the hands of the guys that like to get grimy, and let’s go play a grimy game of football. Kudos to Meyersdale because they stepped up and stopped every attempt we had. We just couldn’t get anything going.”

Most vital statistic: Northern Bedford totaled 68 total yards in the first half, while Meyersdale amassed 270. Neither team scored in the second half as NBC held a slight 53-49 edge in yards.

Black: “It was big play after big play. They got us down too quick, and there was nothing we could do to come back.”

Notable: After Meyersdale scored to make it 14-0, Carter Love returned the ensuing kickoff 52 yards for Northern Bedford down to the Red Raider 32. After Clark was held to no gain on three straight runs, quarterback Trace Baker found Bowers as the junior wideout went up between two defenders, came down and spun away for a potential tackle and ran the rest of the way for a 32 yard score. … Spencer Whitfield accounted for the other touchdown for Meyersdale as he crossed the goal line on a 1-yard run just 57 seconds into the second quarter to make it 21-6. … Bowers had an interception for Northern.

Records: Northern Bedford (2-9); Meyersdale (10-1).

Next week: Northern Bedford’s season is complete. Meyersdale will play No. 2 Conemaugh Township, a 41-28 winner over Windber, next Friday at a site and time to be determined, for the district title.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Northern Bedford 6 0 0 0 — 6

Meyersdale 14 14 0 0 — 28

First Quarter

M–Hainsworth 9 pass from Jones (Fisher kick), 7:47.

M–Jones 8 run (Fisher kick), 2:04.

NB–Bowers 32 pass from Baker (kick blocked), 24.6

Second Quarter

M–Whitfield 1 run (Fisher kick), 11:03.

M–Jones 9 run (Fisher kick), 26.5

TEAM STATISTICS  NB M

First downs  9 15

Total yards  121 319

Rushes-yards 28-51 33-102

Yards passing 70 217

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 7-16-1 12-20-1

Punts-avg.   3-24.7 3-30.7

Fumbles-lost  1-1 2-0

Penalties-yards 6-41 5-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Northern Bedford, Clark 18-45, Baker 8-2, Snider 2-4. Meyersdale, Jones 11-34, Whitfield 11-21, Sines 3-17, Baer 4-23, Cook 1-(-1), Reese 1-2, Minkus 1-5, Johnston 1-1.

PASSING–Northern Bedford, Baker 7-16-1-70. Meyersdale, Jones 12-20-1-217

RECEIVING–Northern Bedford, Bowers 2-37, Clark 1-(-3), Br. Cottle 2-10, Feathers 2-26. Meyersdale, Hainsworth 3-36, Ca. Snyder 4-94, Vogt 2-49, Whitfield 1-0, Bolyard 1-34, Sines 1-4.