By Todd Irwin

sports@altoonamirror.com

FLINTON — For one half, Glendale hung with undefeated Northern Bedford despite some dropped passes and not being able to convert on fourth downs on senior night at Dr. Roy F. Baker Field.

But then the Black Panthers roared to life in the second half.

After holding a five-point lead at halftime, Northern Bedford scored on its first three possessions of the second half as a surprising rain fell to beat the Vikings, 34-8, on Friday night.

“We just didn’t come out and play like we needed to (in the first half),” Northern Bedford coach Garry Black said. “It’s not just us. Number 52 for them (Landen McGarvey) was causing an absolute nightmare for us (pressuring quarterback Eion Snider). He’s a really good player. They were making plays and we didn’t.

“We just had a little talk at the half about some things. I’m hopeful that our guys understand what’s at stake. I think they understand. We responded and I’m excited to get into our second season.”

The Black Panthers finished 10-0 in the regular season for the second year in a row.

“That’s awesome,” Black said. “That’s back-to-back seasons. That’s never happened. I think it’s the fifth time we’ve gone undefeated at Northern Bedford, so it’s special. No matter what, we have an undefeated season and an ICC championship in the regular season.”

Play of the game: Snider hit wide receiver Ben Gable along the Glendale sideline, and he stayed inbounds down the field for a 51-yard score.

Player of the game: Snider completed 14 of 21 passes for 224 yards, two touchdown passes and a touchdown run

Receiver of the game: Gable caught eight passes for 129 yards and the TD.

“Ben is a tough kid,” Black said. “Ben just really grew up this year. Coach (Tim) Janocko (retired Clearfield coach), who I respect the heck out of and is helping out (at Glendale), came over here and said ‘Man, that 84 is a player.’ I’ll make sure to tell him that because that’s high praise.”

Unsung heroes: The Northern offensive and defensive line.

Most vital statistics: The Northern Bedford defense stopped the Vikings three times on fourth down in the first half — all three times on fourth-and-1.

“They were struggling with our pressure,” Black said. “We brought some inside pressure and played a little soft on the edge and tried to flush them. The kids just executed what we asked them to do.”

Glendale coach Dave “Spank” Trexler on his team, which finished 3-7: “I’m just so proud of the kids’ effort. You play a team like Northern Bedford and where they’re headed at 9-0, and it would have been easy to roll over. But their approach has been getting better each week.”

Records: Northern Bedford (10-0), Glendale (3-7).

Next week: Top-seeded Northern Bedford will host a District 5 Class 1A semifinal next Friday or Saturday against Meyersdale. Glendale’s season is over.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Northern Bedford 7 6 21 0 –34

Glendale 0 8 0 0 — 8

First Quarter

NB–Johnson 30 run (Kochara kick), 3:45

Second Quarter

G–Skebeck 1 run (Potutschnig pass from Skebeck), 8:53

NB–E. Snider 9 run (kick failed), 3:22

Third Quarter

NB–Gable 15 run (Kochara kick), 6:47

NB–Pittman 34 pass from E. Snider (Johnson pass from E. Snider), 5:19

NB–Gable 51 pass from E. Snider (kick failed), 2:06

TEAM STATISTICS NB G

First downs 20 9

Total yards 406 231

Rushes-yards 36-156 36-80

Yards passing 250 151

Passing (comp.-att.-int) 15-23-1 10-28-0

Punts-avg. 1-28 4-36.0

Fumbles-lost 5-2 1-0

Penalties-yards 6-45 6-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Northern Bedford, Johnson 15-100, Gable 4-23, E. Snider 8-16, Pittman 1-11, Detterline 2-10, N. Snider 2-7, Clark 3-2, TEAM 1-(-13). Glendale, Potutschnig 8-45, Sutton 8-40, Misiura 1-13, Meyers 3-8, Lukehart 3-2, Brink 1-1, Skebeck 12-(-29).

PASSING–Northern Bedford, E. Snider 14-21-1-224, Schleinkofer 1-2-0-26. Glendale, Skebeck 10-28-0-151.

RECEIVING–Northern Bedford, Gable 8-129, Johnson 3-51, Pittman 2-36, N. Snider 1-26, Donaldson 1-18. Glendale, Potutschnig 5-74, Misiura 2-54, Lukehart 2-14, Dreibelbis 1-9.