Swaim gets Bisons plays they need
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ROARING SPRING -- Central and Bedford mirror each other in many ways: identical records entering Friday night's game, similar size on the offensive and defensive lines, each possesses athletic and smart quarterbacks capable of making plays for their teams.
The schools entered the halftime locker room with the game knotted at two scores apiece albeit in different ways as the Bisons kept the ball on the ground, while the Scarlet Dragons went primarily through the air and mixed in a few runs plays.
In the second half, one team had to separate itself in one way or another.
Unfortunately for Central, it was them as Bedford used a few big plays on offense and forced a few punts and turnovers on the defensive end to hand the Dragons a 34-27 loss on senior night at Roaring Spring Athletic Field.
"This is a great rivalry game. Our kids came ready to play, their kids came ready to play," Bedford coach Kevin Steele said. "Q (Bedford quarterback Quincy Swaim) was outstanding at times, (Central QB Eli) Muthler was outstanding at times. Two really good football players going at it tonight, and we were fortunate to have a couple of other kids step up tonight and make some big plays."
Bedford made the game interesting at the end as they could have kneeled out the game, but, after taking two knees, on a third down and the play clock off, Swaim snapped the ball and took a knee.
Central called its last timeout and got the ball back on its own 33 after a 22-yard punt from Tedrow.
With nine seconds to go, Eli Muthler scrambled but threw incomplete on first down before hitting Thaide Mickel across the middle for a 17-yard gain. As he was being wrapped up, Mickel tried to lateral the ball back to a teammate but the Bisons' Grey Livengood recovered the fumble
to end the contest.
"When it got under 40 (second left), I said, 'they (Bedford) don't even have to snap it again because they can run the clock out'," Central coach Jerry Albright said. "When they did snap it, that's why we called timeout. They gave us two plays and gave us a chance. Give our kids a lot of credit -- they fought to the very end."
Sequence of the game: Leading by 21-20 after a failed Central two-point conversion run, Bedford was forced to punt the ball away on three-and-out and punter Owen Tedrow uncorked a 46-yard punt that teammate Grey Livengood raced downfield to down at the Central 2. On first down, Dragon quarterback Eli Muther hit Jay Hoenstine who then quickly had the ball knocked out by Chase Bauman before Owen Horne recovered the loose ball in the endzone for a 27-20 Bisons advantage just 58 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Albright: "Jay was probably one step away from making a long gain and maybe even a touchdown. The kid made a shoelace tackle, he (Hoenstine) lost control of the ball and they (Bedford) recovered it. That's the way the game of football goes."
Central was forced to punt the ball away on the ensuing possession, and on first down, Bedford signal caller Quincy Swaim went up the middle, broke a few tackles and then hit paydirt on a 78-yard touchdown run that would be the final and only points the Bisons needed to come out on top.
Steele: "Big time players make plays in big games, and certainly Quincy did that for us. … That was an unbelieveable run to punch that in the endzone the way he did was really impressive. But our line did a nice job, and our kids are doing a nice job blocking downfield."
Player of the game: Swaim completed 3-of-6 passes for 84 and one touchdown, and ran the ball 19 times for 189 yards and three scores. The senior gave Bedford a 7-0 lead when he crossed the goal line from 13 yards out at 5:35 of the first quarter, then powered his way in from 2-yards out with 29 ticks left before the half to tie the contest at 14-14, followed that by completing a 73-yard slant pass to Tedrow that went the distance with five minutes left in the third stanza, then capped his night off with a rushing touchdown on the 78-yard burst. He also came up with an interception at the goal line on a pass intended for Hoenstine on the drive following his final touchdown run. On special teams, he raced around behind the left side of the Central line to tackle Lukas Black before he could reach the end zone on a two-point conversion attempt in the third quarter.
Swaim (on his 78-yard eventual game-winning touchdown run): "That was just another run play. We called it to the right, and everybody (on Central) just over-pursued on the play. I cut back left and everybody had great blocks, and Tedrow had a heck of a block downfield and we ended up scoring. It was great."
Most vital statistic: Bedford did not turn the ball over all night. Meanwhile, Central gave it away three times -- Swaim interception, and the Horne and Livengood fumble recoveries to lose the turnover battle.
Records: Bedford (6-2); Central (5-3).
Next week: Bedford hosts Greater Johnstown next Friday; Central travels to Clearfield the same night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bedford 7 7 7 13 -- 34
Central 7 7 6 7 -- 27
First Quarter
B--Swaim 13 run (Horne kick), 5:35.
C--Hoenstine 7 pass from E. Muthler (Steele kick), 1:41.
Second Quarter
C--Hoenstine 17 pass from E. Muthler (Hummel kick), 5:09.
B--Swaim 2 run (Horne kick), 0:29.
Third Quarter
B--Tedrow 73 pass from Swaim (Horne kick), 5:00.
C--J. Muthler 35 pass from E. Muthler (run failed), 3:01.
Fourth Quarter
B--Horne fumble recovery in endzone (pass failed), 11:02.
B--Swaim 78 run (Horne kick), 8:16.
C--Hoenstine 1 pass from E. Muthler (Steele kick), 1:30.
TEAM STATISTICS B C
First downs 12 19
Total yards 345 431
Rushes-yards 35-261 25-125
Yards passing 84 306
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 3-6-0 28-42-1
Punts-avg. 5-34.6 2-35.0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-2
Penalties-yards 5-44 7-55
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Bedford, Swaim 19-189, Evans 6-30, Horne 5-41, Nave 2-4, TEAM 3-(-3). Central, Beach 7-45, Mickel 1-3, E. Muthler 16-75, Black 1-2.
PASSING--Bedford, Swaim 3-6-0-84. Central, E. Muthler 28-41-1-306, Black 0-0-0-0, J. Muthler 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING--Bedford, Horne 1-4, Tedrow 1-73, Livengood 1-7. Central, Beach 3-15, Mickel 6-127, Hoenstine 10-47, Baird 5-47, Klotz 3-35, J. Muthler 1-35.