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By Paul Buriak
For the Mirror
BOSWELL -- A huge second-half effort lifted Northern Bedford to its fifth consecutive victory on Friday night as the Black Panthers erased a one-point deficit at the break and pulled away over the final two periods to come away with a 28-7 triumph at North Star.
The Black Panthers remained atop the District 5 Class 1A standings and also held onto first place in the Inter-County Conference South Division, thanks to a balanced offensive attack that controlled the ball in the second half and a defense that stymied the Cougars over that stretch.
Play of the game: With Northern Bedford holding a 14-7 lead early in the third quarter, the Black Panthers' Kolson Feathers picked off North Star quarterback Kasey Yoder. That turnover was converted into points by Northern Bedford after a subsequent 11-play drive capped off by Ben Clark's 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal that made it 21-7 heading into the fourth.
Player of the game: Clark rushed for a game-high 98 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries for the Black Panthers.
Unsung hero: Northern Bedford defensive lineman Joey O'Brian had a key third-quarter sack that helped stop a Cougar drive, one of four sacks on the night for the Black Panthers.
Most vital statistic: Northern Bedford's defense held North Star to just 46 yards in the second half and a net negative 1 rushing yard total for the game.
Northern Bedford coach Garry Black: "Kudos to our offensive line. At halftime, we challenged our guys and said we're going to come out and pound the ball in the second half."
North Star coach Bob Landis: "I thought we were two even teams in the first half, But they took it to us in the second half,"
Clark: "It started off a little bit rough, but in the second half we fixed what went wrong and kept going from there."
Notable: Northern Bedford quarterback Vaughn Schleinkofer threw for 153 yards and a touchdown, with his top target being Aaron Bowers, who caught four passes for 92 yards and a score.
Records: Northern Bedford (7-1), North Star (5-3)
Next week: Northern Bedford hosts Windber. North Star travels to Berlin Brothersvalley.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Northern Bedford 6 0 15 7 -- 28
North Star 0 7 0 0 -- 7
First Quarter
NB--Clark 2 run (run failed), 3:49.
Second Quarter
NS--Smith 38 pass from Yoder (Musselman kick), 7:19.
Third Quarter
NB--Clark 8 run (Snyder pass from Schleinkofer), 8:31.
NB--Clark 1 run (Kochara kick), 0:45.
Fourth Quarter
NB--A. Bowers 28 pass from Schleinkofer (Kochara kick), 11:15.
TEAM STATISTICS NB NS
First downs 15 13
Total Net Yards 310 146
Rushes-yards 41-157 25-minus 1
Passing 153 147
Comp-Att-Int 8-18-1 12-27-2
Punts 5-29.0 4-33.5
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 9-75 4-29
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Northern Bedford, Clark 24-98, Schleinkofer 2-minus 1, A. Bowers 3-24. Pittman 2-10, Weimer 2-6, Swanseen 2-minus 1, Foor 1-3, Amick 1-8, Snider 2-6, Suter 1-5, Cottle 1-minus 1. North Star, Smith 9-6, Yoder 13-minus 21, Samler 1-3, Lasky 1-8. Eshleman 1-3.
PASSING--Northern Bedford, Schleinkofer 8-18-1-153. North Star, Yoder 12-26-2-147, Smith 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING--Northern Bedford, A. Bowers 4-92, Horch 1-19, Z. Bowers 1-37, Clark 1-minus 5, Pittman 1-10. North Star, Smith 5-69, Samler 3-32, Hawkins 2-26, Durst 2-20.