Marauders firing on all cylinders in easy win
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By Jon Fleck
For the Mirror
After getting off to a slow start last week, Bishop Guilfoyle Academy put extra emphasis on getting out of the gate faster. The Marauders did that and more Saturday night against Bellefonte.
BG put the ball in the end zone the first five times it had the ball plus once on defense in a 41-7 mercy-rule win at Mansion Park to remain undefeated. Hamilton Gates put on a show for the home fans with four touchdowns in the first half.
"We had the mindset all week in practice that we're not going three-and-out again to start the game. We just wanted to jump on them early. We came out and did that," Gates said.
After running for 47 yards on the second play from scrimmage, then scoring on a 14-yard run, Gates went up high and pulled down a pass at the goal line for a 10-yard touchdown. The senior wideout followed that up by taking a screen pass 52 yards to the house.
He finished it off by wrestling a deep pass away from a defender and racing to the end zone for a 74-yard TD in the final minute of the first half. For good measure, he also completed a jump pass to Jake Kissell on a two-point conversion.
"He makes me a good coach I'll tell you that," BG coach Justin Wheeler said. "I've been fortunate to be around a lot of great athletes the last 10-15 years at BG, and he's up there in that top group. Every time he touches the ball, everyone in the stadium holds their breath and watches because he can take it to the house at any moment."
Players of the game: Gates finished with five catches for 160 yards and ran the ball four times for 67 yards. Quarterback Chase Kissell had a strong game as well, completing 10-of-13 passes for 215 yards and the three touchdowns to Gates. He also returned an interception 72 yards for a defensive score.
Kissell on the pick-6: "I saw the back flaring out of the backfield, and I just made a play on the ball. I saw a seam up the sideline and took it. Ran out of gas a little. I was breathing heavy, but I made it the end zone."
Unsung hero(es): Defensive ends Connor McElheny and Jake Kissell played key roles in shutting down the Bellefonte rushing attack. McElheny recovered a fumble as well.
Wheeler: "We knew they like to run the ball, especially to the perimeter so we really stressed that to our d-ends. Connor McElheny was incredible running down jet sweeps and playing sideline to sideline. On the other side, Jake Kissell really picked it up in the second quarter. They really shined."
Vital statistics: In addition to the Kissell interception and McElheny's fumble recovery, Jesse Georgiana and Tyler Lestochi recovered fumbles as well, helping BG win the turnover battle, 4-1.
Bellefonte coach Tony Confer: "I'm not sure we got off the bus in the right frame of mind and stumbled early on. First two weeks, we won in the turnover department. (Saturday) obviously we didn't. When you play a team of that caliber, you can't make mistakes."
Records: Bellefonte (2-1), Bishop Guilfoyle (3-0).
Next week: Bellefonte visits Clearfield. BG plays at Huntingdon.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellefonte 0 0 0 7 —
Bishop Guifoyle 21 20 0 0 — 41
First Quarter
BG-Gates 14 run (kick failed), 8:17.
BG-Gates 10 pass from C. Kissell (J. Kissell from Gates), 3:46.
BG-Consiglio 13 run (Cacciotti kick), :00.
Second Quarter
BG-Gates 52 pass from C. Kissell (Boland kick), 9:47.
BG-C. Kissell 72 int return (kick failed), 4:55.
BG-Gates 74 pass from C. Kissell (Boland kick), :55.
Fourth Quarter
B-Ad. Howell 13 run (Gersenko kick), 11:48.
TEAM STATISTICS B BG
First downs 12 14
Total yards 188 346
Rushes-yards 38-121 22-131
Yards passing 67 215
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 8-11-1 10-13-0
Punts-avg. 2-35.0 0-0.0
Fumbles-lost 3-3 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-41 4-46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Bellefonte, Smith-Kirk 10-28, Ad. Howell 3-20, As. Howell 4-31, Gall 4-28, Halterman 8-(14), Park 1-32, Price 2-5, Jasseh 2-3, Crawford 2-1, Hazlett 1-(-2), Huntsinger1 (-3), TEAM 1-(-8). Bishop Guilfoyle, Gates 4-67, C Kissell 2-7, J. Kissell 2-3, Consiglio 2-16, Reilly 2-11, McCloskey 2-(-3), Gioiosa 2-17, Okonak 2-6, Wheeler 3-8, TEAM 1-(-1).
PASSING--Bellefonte, Halterman 7-9-1-55, Huntsinger 1-2-0-12 Bishop Guilfoyle, C. Kissell 10-13-0-215, Wheeler 0-0-0-0.
RECEIVING--Bellefonte, As. Howell 3-30, Gall 1-(-8), Gabrovsek 1-24, DuFour 1-12, Benner 2-9. Bishop Guilfoyle, Gates 5-160, Reilly 5-55.