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BLAIRSVILLE -- Bellwood-Antis used a mixture of the Wildcat, Pistol and under-center formations to baffle River Valley en route to a 43-14 victory against the host Panthers in a District 6 Class 2A quarterfinal-round playoff game on Friday night at Panthers Stadium.
"Helping switch up our offense makes us more unpredictable. The defense has to adjust more, and changing what we were doing helped more things be open tonight," Bellwood-Antis quarterback Holden Schreier said.
The fifth-seeded Blue Devils take on top-seeded Cambria Heights in the district semifinals on Friday at Patton.
"We're just going to treat it like any other week. We're hoping to go in there and get a win," Schreier said.
Play of the game: Cayden Pellegrine recovered a fumble by Gavin Burkhart at the Bellwood-Antis 1 to snuff out River Valley's longest and most promising drive with 14 seconds left before the intermission.
Player of the game: Schreier completed his first six passes and finished the night 10-of-12 for 148 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions thrown.
Unsung hero: Sophomore Jeffrey Waite caught two touchdown passes (20 and 19 yards). He totaled three receptions for 48 yards.
Most vital statistics: Bellwood-Antis held Burkhart and Sam Yanits, both of whom rushed for more than 1,000 yards during the regular season, to a combined total of 96.
Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Lovrich: "We knew River Valley has some good backs and a big line. So, we were really concerned about that. And our kids did a good job stepping up and doing what they needed to do."
River Valley coach Jess Houser on the fumble just before halftime: "It was a punch in the gut. We were down there getting ready to punch it in right before the (end of the) half, go in with a little bit of momentum. We fumbled that ball; and it was a big punch in the gut right there."
Schreier: "We just treated it like every other game. We had the mindset, same week, the same stuff. We didn't do anything special for this week. We just came in with the same mind-set that we've had all year, and things went our way tonight."
Notable: Pellegrine led all rushers with 103 yards on 21 attempts. The Blue Devils rushed for 204 yards and gained 352 total yards. ... Bellwood-Antis did not commit a turnover and forced three. ... Bellwood-Antis senior Griffin Kyle caught three passes for 50 yards and a touchdown. ... Sophomore Ethan Shawley caught two balls for 33 yards. ... River Valley quarterback Sam Persichetti completed 9-of-11 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. He and Burkhart each threw one interception apiece. ... River Valley did not attain a first down until late in the second quarter. ... Friday marked the first district football playoff game at Panthers Stadium, which opened on Sept. 6.
Records: Bellwood-Antis (8-3), River Valley (8-3).
Next game: Bellwood-Antis travels to unbeaten Cambria Heights, a 24-17 winner against McCort-Carroll, in a District 6 Class 2A semifinal playoff game on Friday. River Valley has finished its season.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellwood-Antis 6 16 14 7 -- 43
River Valley 0 0 6 8 -- 14
First Quarter
BA--Pellegrine 5 run (pass failed), 3:43.
Second Quarter
BA--Shawley 17 from Schreier (Shawley pass from Pellegrine), 9:48.
BA--Waite 20 pass from Schreier (Kyle run), 4:19.
Third Quarter
BA--Pellegrine 27 run (pass failed), 9:33.
BA--Kyle 4 run (Pellegrine run), 7:25.
RV--Burkhart 56 run (run failed), 5:01.
Fourth Quarter
BA--Waite 19 pass from Schreier (Schreier kick), 10:01.
RV--Vresilovic 57 pass from Persichetti (Vreslovic pass from Persichetti), 5:15.
TEAM STATS BA RV
First downs 20 9
Total yards 352 226
Rushes-yards 45-204 15-102
Yards passing 148 124
Passes-comp.-int. 10-12-0 9-12-2
Punts-avg. 1-43.0 3-31.0
Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 8-50 6-39
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing--Bellwood-Antis, Pellegrine 21-103, Gibbons 5-29, Schreier 5-24, Crist 4-21, Hostler 1-18, Kyle 3-9, Shedlock 1-8, Partner 1-1, Mayes 1-0, Team 2-0, Shawley 1-(-9). River Valley, Burkhart 3-53, Yanity 6-43, Adair 1-9, Stuller 1-7, Team 1-0, Persichetti 4-(-10).
Passing--Bellwood-Antis, Schreier 10-12-0-148. River Valley, Persichetti 9-11-1-124, Burkhart 0-1-0-0.
Receiving--Bellwood-Antis, Kyle 3-50, Waite 3-48, Shawley 2-33, Pellegrine 1-17, Shedlock 1-2. River Valley, Vresilovic 4-74, Smith 2-20, Ewing 1-14, Burkhart 1-13, Yanits 1-3.