Tigers get production from many in beating Lions
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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
As all-around team peformances go, Hollidaysburg football coach Homer DeLattre couldn't have expected anything more from his Golden Tigers in their 27-14 season-opening win over Altoona Friday night at Mansion Park.
Senior quarterback Maddox Bainey completed 15 of 22 passes for 206 yards and three first-half touchdown tosses -- two to senior wideout Gavin Bell of 9 and 19 yards and one of 35 yards to another senior wideout, Brady Steiner, as Hollidaysburg built a 21-14 halftime lead.
Bell wound up with six catches for 82 yards, and Steiner caught five passes for 78 yards.
Hollidaysburg's defense played a shut-down second half, keeping Altoona off the scoreboard and limiting the Mountain Lions to just 59 total second-half yards.
The Golden Tigers also got contributions from its special teams unit, as senior kicker Paul Wedel booted second-half field goals of 37 yards in the third quarter and 36 yards in the fourth, and Hollidaysburg senior Ty Szynal recovered a fumbled punt on special teams that paved the way for the Golden Tigers' go-ahead touchdown -- the 19-yard Maddox to Bell pass -- right before halftime.
"Rivalry-wise, both teams left it all on the field tonight,'' said DeLattre, whose Golden Tigers have now won five of the last seven meetings with Altoona. "This was an awesome high school football game played in a great atmosphere tonight.
"We got a lot of good performances tonight from a lot of different people, which is great,'' DeLattre added. "Maddox played a nice game, and we were able to find some (opportunities) with our passing game, and we were able to mix the run and the pass very well. Defensively, I thought we played extremely well, and our special teams played great -- with Paul kicking two field goals and us getting the fumble recovery that created a swing for us in the game.''
Bainey was happy with his team's performance and happy with his receiving corps.
"We just played very well on both sides of the ball,'' Bainey said. "We had a few mistakes here and there, but we played very well for the first game of the year. Gavin had a heck of a game, and Brady did very well, and so did all of our other receivers. Even if they weren't getting the ball thrown to them, they were still making some very good and very valuable blocks tonight.''
Altoona opened the scoring on a 27-yard pass from senior quarterback Mark Harrington to junior back Julian Hazelwood in the first quarter, before Hollidaysburg mounted a 74-yard first-quarter drive that ended when Bainey hit Bell over the middle with the 9-yard scoring pass.
With the score tied, 7-7, entering the second quarter, the two teams took turns making big plays. Bainey hit Steiner with the perfectly-thrown 35-yard touchdown pass to put Hollidaysburg ahead, 14-7, before the Mountain Lions responded when Harrington found senior Amar Emeigh-Ballos down the middle of the field on a seam route for a 72-yard touchdown play that pulled Altoona into a 14-14 tie.
After Szynal recovered the fumbled punt at the Altoona 14, Bainey found Bell behind an Altoona defender in the right-hand corner of the end zone and hit him with the 19-yard pass to give the Tigers the 21-14 lead at intermission.
"They made a couple of plays tonight, and you've got to give credit where credit is due,'' Altoona coach Vince Nedimyer Jr. said of the Golden Tigers. "It was an up-and-down, back and forth type of game, and our defense gave us a chance to win it, but we just have to move on from this to next week.''
Nedimyer's nephew, senior Mark Harrington, completed five passes for 112 yards and the two touchdowns, while rushing for 82 yards on 20 carries in his first varsity start at quarterback after playing the tight end and wideout positions a year ago.
"I made a couple of mistakes tonight, but our linemen deserve credit,'' Harrington said. "Our line played well on both sides of the ball.''
Plays of the game: All of the big plays happened in the second quarter as Hollidaysburg broke out of a tie and took the lead at halftime. Bainey's touchdown pass to Steiner proceeded the electrifying Harrington to Emeigh-Ballos scoring pass play, and Szynal's recovery on the fumbled punt set up the 19-yard scoring pass from Bainey to Bell.
Players of the game: Bainey, Bell and Steiner all shared this honor.
Unsung heroes: Hollidaysburg's defensive unit held Altoona scoreless in the second half, limiting the Mountain Lions to 59 total second-half yards.
Most vital statistic: Altoona turned the ball over five times, three on interceptions and two on fumbles, while Hollidaysburg did not commit a turnover.
Bell: "Maddox did an amazing job of throwing the ball, and put it right where it needed to be. This is an amazing win, especially for the seniors.''
Steiner: "We lost to Altoona in my sophomore year but beat them last year, and it feels great to get this final game against them before the other seniors and I graduate.''
Notable: Josh Banks recovered a fumble and made an interception for Hollidaysburg, while Bell and DeLattre also made interceptions on defense.
Records: Hollidaysburg (1-0), Altoona (0-1).
Next Friday night: Hollidaysburg travels to Allderdice; Altoona visits State College.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Hollidaysburg 7 14 3 3--27
Altoona 7 7 0 0--14
First quarter
A--Hazelwood 27 pass from Harrington (Chathams kick), 5:34.
H--Bell 9 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 1:40.
Second quarter
H--Steiner 35 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 3:21.
A--Emeigh-Ballos 72 pass from Harrington (Chathams kick), 3:03.
H--Bell 19 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 1:02.
Third quarter
H--Wedel 37 FG, 2:32.
Fourth quarter
H--Wedel 36 FG, 3:50.
TEAM STATISTICS H A
First downs 14 11
Total yards 294 210
Rushes-yards 31-88 33-98
Yards passing 206 112
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 15-22-0 5-16-3
Punts/avg. 4-39.8 4-36.5
Fumbles-lost 1-0 4-2
Penalties-yards 10-82 4-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Hollidaysburg, Baronner 20-73, White 4-14, Bell 1-3, Bainey 6-(-2). Altoona, Harrington 20-82, Hazelwood 4-20, Patterson 2-6, Dunkle 1-3, Emeigh-Ballos 6-(-13).
PASSING--Hollidaysburg, Bainey 15-22-0-206. Altoona, Harrington 5-16-3-112.
RECEIVING--Hollidaysburg, Bell 6-82, Steiner 5-78, Albarano 2-5, DeLattre 1-39, Baronner 1-2. Altoona, Hazelwood 2-25, Chisholm 2-15, Emeigh-Ballos 1-72.