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By Kevin Petrochko
For the Mirror
ALEXANDRIA -- Juniors Evan Brady and RJ Tallion of Windber contributed two touchdowns each on Friday night as the Ramblers shut out Juniata Valley, 56-0, at AR Simkins Memorial Field.
Ramblers coach Matt Grohal appreciated his players' efforts, especially after their two previous games.
"After the last two weeks, the way we played football, we certainly didn't expect to come down here and go against a 7-2 football team and just play the way we want to play," Grohal said. "Our guys really answered the call."
With 6:57 left in the first quarter, Tallion racked up a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Ramblers a 7-0 lead.
Then, with 6:03 left in the half, Tallion took the ball 30 yards for the score to increase their lead to 14-0.
"I was just trying to keep my feet, and see where the holes were," Tallion said. "Try to keep my feet moving."
Tallion was happy to see his teammate, Brady, have two scores on the night.
"He's very good," Tallion said. "He catches the ball well and runs the ball well."
Grohal was pleased with the efforts of his juniors in the victory.
"Evan Brady has had a phenomenal year," he said. "He's got over 50 catches and for us that's unheard of."
Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser took the blame for how his team performed in its regular-season finale.
"I just didn't have the kids prepared to match their physicality," Musser said. "Prepared for the physicality they were going to play with tonight."
Play of the game: With 6:03 left in the first half, Tallion racked up a 30-yard touchdown run to give the Ramblers a 14-0 lead by halftime.
Player of the game: Tallion finished the night with ten carries for 88 yards.
Unsung hero: Brady ran for two touchdowns.
Most vital statistic: The Ramblers racked up 247 yards on the ground.
Grohal: "We played great offense, great defense, and great special teams. That's the way you want to head into the playoffs."
Musser: "We're a very young team. We're at a point where we're all varsity football players now and we got to continue to play football."
Tallion: "I think we played good. The line did good."
Notable: Juniata Valley committed seven penalties for 50 yards.
Records: Juniata Valley (7-3) Windber (6-3)
Next week: Windber and Juniata Valley will advance to the District 5 and 6 Class 1A playoffs, respectively --with their opponents and times to be announced some time on Sunday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Windber 14 14 21 7 — 56
Juniata Valley 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter
W -- Tallion 1 run (Costa kick) 6:57
W--Richards 25 run (Costa kick) 1:59
Second Quarter
W--Tallion 30 run (Costa kick) 6:03
W--Chicarell 33 yard run (Costa kick) 2:41
Third Quarter
W--Brady 5 pass from Barkley (Costa kick) 11:00
W--Oleska 1 run (Costa kick) 3:02
W -- Brady 20 pass from Barkley (Costa kick) 0:27
Fourth Quarter
W -- Mash 15 run (Costa kick) 5:21
TEAM STATISTICS W JV
First downs 13 12
Total yards 372 199
Rushes-yards 22-247 21-61
Yards passing 125 138
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 10-28-0 15-37-0
Punts-avg. 2-10 3-29.6
Fumbles-lost 0 1
Penalties-yards 3-35 7-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Windber, Woodruff 2-29, Strick 1-6, Oleska 4-11, Mash 1-15, Chicarell 2-30, Tallion 10-88, Brady 1-28, Richards 2-40. Juniata Valley, Uplinger 2-21, Prough 8-29, Brantner 2-3, Clarke 3-1, Rand 1 (-25), Weirich 1 (-8), Neri 7-37, Strick 1-3.
PASSING -- Windber, Kolson 1-1-0-15, Barkley 9-13-0-110. Juniata Valley, Rand 13-30-0-115, Neri 2-7-0-23.
RECEIVING--Windber, Brady 4-43. Tallion 1-8, Oleska 1-11, Chicarell 1-6. Juniata Valley, Weirich 2-15, Uplinger 3-21, Norris 1-29, Prough 1-5, Brantner 3-60.