Defense tightens for Tigers
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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Hollidaysburg began Friday night's contest by getting a few breaks to go its way.
The Golden Tigers finished up in the trenches with a ground-and-pound style that kept the ball out of the hands of a DuBois offense that showed the potential to score with big plays.
The defense did its part in the second half, and Hollidaysburg rode the momentum on both sides of the ball to a 28-23 victory to capture the District 6-8-9-10 Class 5A championship at Tiger Stadium.
"Anytime you get out ahead, the momentum is just great," Hollidaysburg quarterback Maddox Bainey said. "I think we were able to get that because we just had the right mentality going in -- we were ready to play."
Sequence of the game: Leading 21-17, Hollidaysburg was forced to punt on the opening drive of the second half, and when Paul Wedel's boot went off the side of his foot for a 15-yard kick, DuBois had the ball at the Hollidaysburg 30.
After four straight runs produced a first down, Beavers quarterback Trey Wingard threw incompletions on the next four downs to give the Tigers the ball back at their own 25.
Hollidaysburg mixed in three pass completions with seven runs behind a stacked offensive line that paved the way at the end for a Bainey keeper from 9 yards out that capped off the 75-yard drive and gave the Tigers the eventual winning points by stretching the lead to 28-17 with 3:18 remaining in the third stanza.
"Once we got the lead and got the wind, it's not a good idea to throw the ball, Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. "So, we were trying to finish it running the football. We had some good push on our offensive line. We had that 75-yard drive in the third quarter mixing the run and the pass with that one."
Player of the game: The Golden Tigers' offensive line of Kolby Long, Wyatt Maines, Jeff McCoy, Joe Keefer, Hunter Albright, Matthew Walters and Jackson York were big difference makers in both the passing game by giving Bainey time to find his receivers but also in running the ball to the tune of 155 yards, including 110 from Mitchell Baronner.
"I think we just needed to make sure we made a statement (with the 75-yard drive), and got the guys on the line to make sure we got down there for the score,'' senior center McCoy said.
Getting the break: Hollidaysburg got on the board first on a Bainey 8-yard pass that deflected off a DuBois defender and straight to Cole DeLattre at 7:44 of the opening quarter.
"It's just nice to know that they (skill guys) are doing those great things because of us (offensive line blocking to give them time),'' McCoy said. "Football is ultimately a team sport. We know it won't happen without us, they know it, too, and they make sure they tell us that. We're all behind each other the whole game."
Getting the break yet again: The Golden Tigers made the score 14-0 at 4:31 of the first stanza when Baronner scored on a 5-yard run where he was able to recover his own fumble just inside the end zone.
"We had two breaks go our way -- Cole made a nice catch and Mitchell stuck to it when he fumbled and was able to recover,'' Coach DeLattre said. "They kept playing hard and played the whole play -- that's what we ask them to do."
Unsung hero: Bainey was 15-of-20 passing for 173 yards and no interceptions. He ran 18 times for 29 yards. In addition to his 9-yard scamper and TD pass to Cole DeLattre, the senior also found Brady Steiner, who caught seven passes for 112 yards, on a 24-yard scoring strike that put the Tigers up 21-10 at 5:48 of the second quarter.
Most vital statistic: Hollidaysburg fumbled the ball away twice in DuBois territory in the second half when it potentially could have come away with some points. Fortunately, for the Tigers, the defense minimized the damage as it forced a turnover on downs after the first. However, the Beavers were able to capitalize on the second as Trey Wingard completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jaxson Hanzely with 4:36 left to play to set the final.
DuBois coach TJ Wingard: "Hollidaysburg is obviously a solid team, and I thought we were pretty solid tonight, too. We said in games like this that there's probably going to be about 155 plays on film, and 8-10 are going to be the game changers. I bet you when I go back and watch that film, I'm right. Both sides of the ball, just a couple of plays here and there, that scores probably five or six points the other way.''
Notable: Hollidaysburg's Gavin Bell broke up Trey Wingard's last ditch deep throw downfield to end the game. ... Wedel's second punt was a 45-yarder that pinned DuBois back at its own 5 with only 23 seconds to go in the contest. Ethan Rhodes came up with two sacks and Cristian White had one for Hollidaysburg in the second half. ... In addition to the late touchdown pass to Hanzely, Trey Wingard, who tossed for 212 yards, completed a 14-yard pass to Carter Vos to make the score 14-7 with 2:11 in the first stanza and then scored from 2 yards out to make the halftime score 21-17 in favor of the Tigers. ... Kyan Peck made the score 14-10 with a 35-yard field goal. ... The Beavers' Noah Crawford recovered the first fumble, while Samson Deeb had the second.
Records: DuBois (8-4); Hollidaysburg (11-1).
Next week: DuBois' season is complete; Hollidaysburg plays the District 2 champion -- the winner of today's game between Delaware Valley and Abington Heights -- in the PIAA state playoffs next Friday or Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
DuBois 7 10 0 6 -- 23
Hollidaysburg 14 7 7 0 -- 28
First Quarter
H--DeLattre 8 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 7:44.
H--Baronner 5 run (Wedel kick), 4:31.
D--Vos 14 pass from Wingard (McCleary kick), 2:11.
Second Quarter
D--Peck 35 field goal, 9:23.
H--Steiner 24 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 5:48.
D--Wingard 2 run (McCleary kick), 2:05.
Third Quarter
H--Bainey 9 run (Wedel kick), 3:18.
Fourth Quarter
D--Hanzely 13 pass from Wingard (pass failed), 4:36.
TEAM STATISTICS D H
First downs 21 20
Total yards 316 328
Rushes-yards 25-104 43-155
Yards passing 212 173
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 23-43-0 15-21-0
Punts-avg. 2-18.5 2-30.0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2
Penalties-yards 6-68 6-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--DuBois, Dixon 12-63, Wingard 13-41. Hollidaysburg, Baronner 20-110, Bainey 18-29, Muth 4-13, Bell 1-3.
PASSING--DuBois, Wingard 23-43-0-212. Hollidaysburg, Bainey 15-20-0-173, DeLattre 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING--DuBois, Vos 2-34, Delaney 3-13, Korney 8-75, Kougher 7-63, Hanzely 2-21, Wilson 1-6. Hollidaysburg, Bell 2-17, Steiner 7-112, DeLattre 2-24, Albarano 3-22, Baronner 1-(-2).