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By Joe Sager
For the Mirror
NEW WILMINGTON -- In a battle of small-school powers, Northern Bedford nearly completed a furious comeback against Wilmington, but a 44-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left Friday as time expired in a 21-19 non-conference loss at Wilmington Greyhounds Stadium.
The defeat snapped the Panthers' 28-game regular-season winning streak.
Players of the game: Northern Bedford quarterback Vaughn Schleinkofer completed 22 of 28 passes for 332 yards and a touchdown. Panthers wide receiver Aaron Bowers had a monster game with 12 catches for 185 yards.
Play of the game: Northern Bedford worked its way to Wilmington's 27 with 1.7 seconds to play, but Alex Kochara's 44-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right as time expired.
Unsung hero: Wilmington freshman receiver Rowan Miller had two catches, but both were huge -- one for the team's first touchdown and a second on a 29-yard desperation pass to get the team away from the Panthers' goal line.
Most vital statistic: Northern Bedford was unable to overcome an early 14-0 deficit and managed to rush for only 29 total yards.
Wilmington coach Brandon Phillian: "Northern Bedford County is a great team. They finished No. 2 in the state last year for a reason. They are exceptionally, exceptionally well coached by Coach Black and his staff. It was a battle. All the guys played a role. Everybody contributed.''
Wilmington kick returner/running back Cael Kettering: "It means a lot that everybody blocked well for me and gave me a chance to show what I can do on the kickoff return for a touchdown. It gave us a lot of momentum.''
Northern Bedford coach Garry Black quote: "It was a constant battle back from the start. We were confident in some of the things we could do, but didn't get off the bus like we would have liked to in the first quarter. It was playing behind that 8-ball all night.''
Schleinkofer: "It came down to the end. We were in it the whole time. We have another big game next week.''
Notable: It was the first-ever meeting between the District 10 Greyhounds and District 5 Panthers, two rural schools that are regularly factors in the PIAA playoffs. … Northern Bedford's 14-game regular-season road winning streak was snapped as well. … The team is 49-13 over its last 62 games. ... This was Wilmington's first regular season game against a D-5 opponent. The Greyhounds are 3-0 against D-5 in state playoff action, owning three victories over perennial powerhouse Chestnut Ridge. ... Northern Bedford is 1-1 against Mercer County area teams in the playoffs. The Panthers fell to Farrell, 34-19, in the PIAA Class 1A playoffs at Slippery Rock High School in 2017. Three years ago, Northern Bedford downed Reynolds in the PIAA Class 1A tournament, 35-22, at Greenville High School. … Wilmington fumbled the ball four times in the wet conditions and lost two of them.
Records: Wilmington (2-1), Northern Bedford (2-1)
Next week: Wilmington visits Kennedy Catholic next Saturday. Northern Bedford welcomes Everett Friday night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Northern Bedford 0 7 0 12 - 19
Wilmington 7 7 0 7 -- 21
First Quarter
W--Miller 9 pass from Vass-Gal (Tervo kick), 7:49.
Second Quarter
W–Kettering 12 run (Tervo kick), 11:53.
N--Schleinkofer 1 run (Kochara kick), 5:44.
Fourth Quarter
N--Bowers 64 pass from Schleinkofer (kick blocked), 7:48.
W--Kettering 70 kickoff return (Tervo kick), 7:35.
N--Clark 1 run (Clark run failed), 2:08
TEAM STATISTICS NB W
First downs 18 14
Total yards 401 241
Rushes-yards 23-29 32-189
Yards passing 332 52
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 22-28-0 3-3-0
Punts-avg. 2-16 3-33
Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-2
Penalties-yards 4-40 6-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Northern Bedford, Clark 11-23, Pittman 2-20, Snider 2-12, Suter 1-3, Schleinkofer 7-(minus-29). Wilmington, Mistretta 12-76, J. Miller 11-61, Kettering 8-45, Vass-Gal 7.
PASSING--Northern Bedford, Schleinkofer 22-28-0-332. Wilmington, Vass-Gal 2-2-0-38, Zehetner, 1-1-0-17.
RECEIVING--Northern Bedford, Bowers 12-185, Horsh 5-58, Clark 3-45, Pittman 2-44. Wilmington, R. Miller. 2-33, Mistretta 1-14