Football

Marauders march into district final

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Bishop Guilfoyle Academy continues to roll through the District 6 Class 1A playoffs.

After shutting out Juniata Valley, 49-0, in the quarterfinals, BG downed Claysburg-Kimmel, 49-7 in the semifinals Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.

The Marauders dominated the line of scrimmage, allowing their backs and receivers to rip off big chunks of yardage on their way to seven consecutive touchdowns.

Claysburg's Mason Campagna and Mark Lattieri each entered the game with more than 1,000 yards rushing on the season but had little success until late in the game against BG's reserves.

BG held the Bulldogs to 32 yards of offense in the first half while building a 42-0 halftime lead.

BG linebacker Nick McCloskey: "We just prepped our line hard, knowing that they want to run especially with their quarterback and running back having so many yards, but also at the same time, we worked with the DBs to know their routes, where they line up and what they'd be running so we could cover it the best we can and shut 'em down."

Players of the game: BG quarterback Chase Kissell completed 10-of-12 passes for 203 yards and four touchdowns. Hamilton Gates ran for 59 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught four passes for another 60 yards. Braden Reilly caught four balls for 107 yards and three touchdowns.

Plays of the game: After a Gates 6-yard touchdown run on the opening possession, Claysburg tried some trickery on its first play. It backfired.

Campagna and four linemen shifted to the left outside the hash marks with the snap going to Lattieri in the middle of the field. Lattieri then handed the ball to Campagna coming behind him. Campagna's deep pass was underthrown. Gates made the interception and returned the ball to the CK 17.

Two plays later, Kissell found Braden Reilly for a 16-yard score and an early 14-0 lead.

On Claysburg's ensuing possession, McCloskey recovered a fumble when he wrestled the ball away from Lattieri as he tried to fight through several tacklers to gain extra yardage.

McCloskey: "It was like we're taught in practice. When he gets held up, go for the ball. Try to get it from him, and I was able to rip it away."

Three plays later, Gates took a handoff through the middle, found a wide-open cutback lane to the right and raced to the end zone for a 34-yard TD and a 21-0 advantage.

Claysburg coach Chuck Kassick: "It's a different level. They've got kids that are great at all places. They're big, athletic and well coached. When you have a team that's from a small community playing against a team that's not, it's a different level of football. It just is."

Unsung hero: McCloskey helped lead a starting defensive unit that shut down Claysburg's offense, recovered a first-quarter fumble and made numerous tackles on kick coverage.

BG coach Justin Wheeler: "Nick McCloskey is our unsung hero every game. He's unbelievable. He probably had four tackles on the kickoffs. He never leaves the field. He doesn't care what he has to do. He just wants to make the team better."

Vital statistics: BG ripped off big gains both through the air and on the ground. The Marauders averaged 15.6 yards per pass attempt and 6.95 yards per rush attempt, the latter of which Wheeler found very promising moving forward.

Wheeler: "To win in November and December you've got to be able to run the football. We wanted to establish the run. We know we can throw the ball, but we have to make sure our run game is clicking, and I thought we really did that."

Claysburg's season will go down as one of the best ever in program history. The Bulldogs won the Inter-County Conference North championship and garnered their first playoff victory since 2019. Their fans turned out strong Saturday night with cowbells and other noisemakers continuously going until the very end.

Kassick: "Our kids played their tails off all year. Never quit. Even tonight, we knew we were down, came out of the locker room and played hard. That's all I can ask for. We don't tuck tail. We don't give up until there's four zeroes on the game clock."

Records: Claysburg (7-5); Bishop Guilfoyle (11-1).

Next week: Claysburg's season is complete. Bishop Guilfoyle plays Northern Cambria for the District 6 1A championship 7 p.m. Saturday at Mansion Park.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Claysburg-Kimmel 0 0 7 0 -- 7

Bishop Guilfoyle Academy 28 14 7 0 -- 49

First Quarter

BG--Gates 6 run (Boland kick), 9:33.

BG--Reilly 16 pass from Kissell (Boland kick), 8:33.

BG--Gates 34 run (Boland kick), 4:36.

BG--Gates 5 run (Boland kick), :04.

Second Quarter

BG--Consiglio 15 pass from Kissell (Boland kick), 2:56.

BG--Reilly 10 pass from Kissell (Boland kick), :21.

Third Quarter

BG--Reilly 43 pass from Kissell (Boland kick), 7:07.

CK--Campagna 28 run (Fee kick), :09.

Fourth Quarter

TEAM STATISTICS CK BG

First downs 14 15

Total yards 186 342

Rushes-yards 42-148 20-139

Yards passing 38 203

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 4-12-2 10-13-0

Punts-avg. 2-24.5 1-40

Fumbles-lost 3-3 2-1

Penalties-yards 8-75 6-46

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Claysburg, Campagna 12-59, Lattieri 27-126, Treon 1-0, Mowry 1-1, TEAM 1-(-38). Bishop Guilfoyle, Consiglio 7-59, Kissell 1-6, Gates 5-59, Gioiosa 5-20, Wheeler 1-(-14), TEAM 1-(-1).

PASSING--Claysburg, Campagna 4-11-2-38, Treon 0-1-0-0. Bishop Guilfoyle, Kissell 10-12-0-203, Wheeler 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING--Claysburg, Diehl 3-24, Treon 1-14. Bishop Guilfoyle, Gates 4-60, Reilly 4-107, McCloskey 1-21, Consiglio 1-15.