Trending
THREE SPRINGS -- Three minutes into the third quarter, Glendale found itself only up five points to a winless Southern Huntingdon team.
The Vikings had dominated the line of scrimmage, and through a strong running duo and quarterback play, they had controlled the pace of the game as well.
With their backs against the wall against a Rocket team more than eager to get into the win column, Glendale responded exactly the way it needed to.
The Vikings reeled off three unanswered scores to turn the close contest into a blowout with a 40-22 win on Friday night at Southern Huntingdon Stadium.
"We faced some adversity in the game tonight -- we did some things to keep it closer than what it probably should have been," Glendale coach Spank Trexler said. "They (Glendale) found a way, and good teams do that."
Sequence of the game: Southern Huntingdon's Elijah Oswald intercepted Glendale quarterback Logan Skebeck and returned it 39-yards for a touchdown that made it 21-16 with 9:05 showing on the third quarter clock. The Vikings put together a seven-play, 64-yard drive that Jimmy Sutton capped off with a 14-yard TD run for the eventual winning points.
Trexler: "That (interception) was on me a little bit. I knew coming out that we were going to go to a different set. I made the mistake and put him (Skebeck) in a bad situation. The whole thing is that those things happen, and the way that we responded to it is the positive. As a coach, big picture, that's what you need to see."
Player of the game: Sutton carried the ball 12 times for 128 yards, caught two passes for 16 yards and picked off Rocket QB Aaden Cromwell in the second quarter. The interception led to a 14-yard play drive, which he crossed the end zone to make the score 21-8. The senior notched his third TD when he reached from 17 yards on a run that put Glendale up 33-16 at 10:29 of the fourth.
Unsung heroes: Sutton's rushing counterpart, Cameron Dreibelbis, who did most of his damage in the first half, rushed seven times for 110 yards, including the opening score of the night on a 42-yard burst less than two minutes in. The junior also caught two passes totaling 43 yards, including a 25-yarder from Skebeck to put the Vikes up 14-8 at 10:08 of the second stanza. Sebeck, the Glendale signal caller, completed 10-of-19 passes with one pick for 127 yards, including 93 in the first half. The junior also came up with an interception in the fourth.
Sutton: "The line made holes as big as trucks to run through. Then, you've got thunder and lightning, me and Cameron, in the backfield. It's hard to stop when we execute."
Most vital statistic: The two teams were whistled for a combined 21 penalties totaling 203 yards. Glendale had 13 for 126, while Southern Huntingdon got eight for 77.
Southern Huntingdon coach Aaron Batzel said: "We're young and I feel like we had our opportunites to stay in the game. But it just seemed like we would shoot ourselves in the foot in the least timely manner. That's growing pains when you have a young squad like us. It's frustraing as a coach, but we have to look at the silver lining in all of it -- I saw a lot of kids grow up tonight. It's not pretty on the scoreboard, but we put up points, we had stops on defense, we made plays. That's what I like seeing because last year we weren't making any kind of plays."
Notable: Myers put the final points on the board for Glendale with a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter. … With the Vikings playing their junior varsity players, Southern Huntingdon added the final markers of the night when Chase Gibbons crossed the goal line from 3 yards out. … Oswald hauled in an 11-yard pass from Cromwell at 4:18 of the first quarter to give the Rockets an 8-7 edge. … Cromwell, a freshman, ran 24 times for 72 yards, while also going 10-for-15 for 97 yards and two interceptions through the air.
Records: Glendale (4-1); Southern Huntingdon (0-5).
Batzel: "I want to see that win, but I told them as long we keep doing things the right way, keep our heads on, then that win is going to come sooner than later."
Next week: Glendale travels to Mount Union next Friday; Southern Huntingdon hosts Claysburg-Kimmel the same night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Glendale 7 14 6 13 -- 40
Southern Huntingdon 8 0 8 6 -- 22
First Quarter
G--Drebelbis 42 run (Krise kick), 10:28.
SH--Oswald 11 pass from Cromwell (Boden run), 4:18
Second Quarter
G--Drebelbis 25 pass from Skebeck (Krise kick), 10:04.
G--Sutton 14 run (Krise kick), 5:24.
Third Quarter
SH--Oswald 39 interception return (Cromwell run), 9:05.
G--Sutton 14 run (run failed), 5:31.
Fourth Quarter
G--Sutton 17 run (run failed), 10:29.
G--Myers 6 run (Krise kick), 7:42.
SH--Gibbons 3 run (pass failed), 0:40.
TEAM STATISTICS G SH
First downs 21 12
Total yards 403 190
Rushes-yards 34-276 38-93
Yards passing 127 97
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 10-19-1 10-15-2
Punts-avg. 1-13.0 4-30.3
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 13-126 8-77
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Glendale, Sutton 12-128, Dreibelbis 7-110, Myers 4-18, Skebeck 3-3, Seilhammer 2-9, Ammerman 5-9, TEAM 1-(-1). Southern Huntingdon, Grissinger 2-6, Cromwell 24-72, Gibbons 6-5, Boden 6-10.
PASSING--Glendale, Skebeck 10-19-1-127, Vennslosky 0-0-0-0. Southern Huntingdon, Crowwell 10-15-2-97.
RECEIVING--Glendale, Sutton 2-16, Dreibelbis 2-43, Kitko 4-37, Hoopsick-bell 2-31. Southern Huntingdon, Grissinger 4-23, Gibbons 2-32, Flood 3-31, Oswald 1-11.