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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
MIFFLINBURG -- Hollidaysburg's football team had a lot to think about on its nearly two-hour drive to Mifflinburg on Friday, and a lot of it wasn't about the game.
The Golden Tigers, reeling from sophomore Spencer Davis' medical emergency at practice this week that hospitalized him, looked like a distracted team. Hollidaysburg threw three interceptions, including two on its first two offensive plays, and fumbled twice in the first quarter.
But the Tigers composed themselves and rallied past Mifflinburg in the first meeting between the schools, 37-29, to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 1999.
"Sometimes kids can overcome and be more resilient than adults," Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. "I saw how they were at practice yesterday and felt confident in them. I know we were shaky at the beginning of the game, but no one in the country had to deal with what we dealt with this week. They were resilient all game long. When bad things happened, we made plays. We overcame mistakes tonight just like real life overcoming adversity."
Junior Ethan Rhodes had a critical sack to eventually force a punt in a back-and-forth second quarter in which the teams combined for 36 points.
"It was definitely hard," Rhodes said. "On Thursday when we went into school, our football team went into the auditorium and sat down as a team and had a talk about it. We got in groups, and our seniors really took control of it. We talked about how we felt and whether we should play Friday or not. We all came to a team decision that is what Spencer would want us to do, and so tonight we came out and played for him."
Play of the game: After the back-and-forth second quarter, the scoring slowed down in the third until Gavin Bell took a punt return 65 yards for a touchdown to give Hollidaysburg its first two-score lead. Bell also had his team-leading sixth interception in the game and caught six passes for 53 yards.
Player of the game: Cole DeLattre caught five passes for 109 yards and had a spectacular 66-yard touchdown catch and run on which he eluded several players down the sideline. He also filled in at quarterback and ran the ball five times for 42 yards to set up a Paul Wedel 33-yard field goal.
Unsung hero: Wedel pinned Mifflinburg at its own 2 with 5:35 remaining and Hollidaysburg up eight on a 49-yard punt. Mifflinburg turned the ball over on downs at the 23 and never got it back.
Most vital statistic: Hollidaysburg made the Wildcats one dimensional. Chad Martin threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns, but Mifflinburg ran the ball 19 times for just 26 yards.
Martin: "It's tough, but I love it. We're a tough team. They were good, but we had them on the ropes. We're a better 0-5 team than most people think. I think next year and toward the end of this season, we're going to turn this program around."
Mifflinburg coach Cody Botts: "We have to find a way to finish games. We're better than our record indicates, but we have to be consistent and on schedule. Being 0-5 doesn't feel good, but we're close. If we can be consistent the whole way through, I feel good about our guys."
Rhodes: "We came out here and fought as hard as we could. It was a little rough start in the first quarter, but we turned it around after our coach talked to us, and we fought hard."
Notable: Jackson Griffith had eight catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns and also had two of Mifflinburg's four interceptions. ... It was Mifflinburg's homecoming, but the Wildcats followed the ceremony by reading a tribute to Davis and putting Hollidaysburg in their prayers. ... It was Mifflinburg's fourth one-score loss in five games. ... Hollidaysburg will try to get to 6-0 for the first time since 1989 next week.
Records: Hollidaysburg (5-0); Mifflinburg (0-5).
Next week: Mifflinburg is at Milton next Friday, and Hollidaysburg travels to Fort Hill, Md. the same night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Hollidaysburg 7 21 9 0 -- 37
Mifflinburg 6 15 0 8 -- 29
First Quarter
M--Donlin 20 interception return (kick failed), 9:32.
H--Bainey 17 run (Wedel kick), 7:29.
Second Quarter
H--Bainey 3 run (Wedel kick), 10:57.
M--Griffith 22 pass from Martin (Jackson Marr run), 8:16.
H--Steiner 21 pass from Bainey (kick failed), 6:44.
H--DeLattre 66 pass from Bainey (Szynal pass from Albarano), 1:38.
M--Murray 26 pass from Martin (Herrera kick), :43.
Third Quarter
H--Bell 65 punt return (kick blocked), 6:48.
H--Wedel 33 FG, 2:24.
Fourth Quarter
M--Griffith 25 pass from Martin (Jackson Marr pass from Martin), 9:02.
TEAM STATISTICS H M
First downs 23 15
Total yards 373 266
Rushes-yards 35-169 19-26
Yards passing 204 240
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 15-32-4 20-36-1
Punts-avg. 2-42.5 7-39.6
Fumbles-lost 2-0 5-0
Penalties-yards 9-100 9-80
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Hollidaysburg, Bainey 11-85, Baronner 14-49, DeLattre 5-42, Muth 3-3, TEAM 2-(-10). Mifflinburg, Murray 3-15, Susan 4-5, Martin 11-5, Jackson Marr 1-1.
PASSING--Hollidaysburg, Bainey 15-29-4-204, DeLattre 0-3-0-0. Mifflinburg, Martin 19-35-1-226, Reibsome 1-1-0-14.
RECEIVING--Hollidaysburg, Bell 6-53, DeLattre 5-109, Steiner 2-28, Albarano 1-11, Baronner 1-3. Mifflinburg, Griffith 8-96, Murray 6-79, Jackson Marr 2-30, Donlin 2-25, JP Marr 1-8, Moser 1-2.