Special teams play ignites Heights
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
PATTON -- When teams are equally matched, sometimes a special teams play makes the difference in the result.
With neither team budging on defense in Friday's game between Bellwood-Antis and Cambria Heights in a District 6 Class 2A semifinal game at Cambria Heights Stadium, Garrett Jasper's punt that went out of bounds at the 1-yard line turned out to be monumental.
The Blue Devils snapped the ball out of the back of the end zone after three plays gained just 4 yards for a safety, and then the Highlanders took advantage of a short field after the punt kickoff and scored a touchdown to take control of the game in an eventual 15-8 triumph.
"It's been all year; I don't know what else to say that hasn't already been said," Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said. "His punting has been fantastic. Special teams are a big part of the game, and I thought especially in the first part of the game, we played a lot of the game on that side of the field. Garrett's punt was fantastic."
Cambria Heights will take on Richland, a 35-14 winner over Marion Center in the other semifinal, at Mansion Park in the District 6 Class 2A championship next weekend.
"Last year, we won the district title (in Class 1A), and a lot of people made comments about us moving up to 2A," Lewis said. "So we're proud that we proved them wrong and we're headed back to the District 6 championship game."
Play of the game: Jasper's punt was huge, but the final result wasn't decided until his tackle of Bellwood-Antis quarterback Holden Schreier along the sideline on fourth-and-10 from the Heights 34 with 5:19 to play 4 yards short of the first down.
"They made some big plays on defense, and that was kind of the difference," Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Lovrich said.
Player of the game: Cambria Heights gets so many contributions from so many players, but even though Trey Trybus led the Highlanders with 104 yards on 16 carries, Luke Mulraney's 91 yards on 19 carries came at clutch times for several key first downs. Mulraney hasn't been used as much in the running game this year as last season, but he also had a fantastic game defensively.
"It's somebody different every week, and that's what makes us so dangerous," Lewis said. "I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of how we responded and how we played. To be honest, we showed a lot of character. Our seniors lead the way, but we have a lot of kids that have a lot of pride. We don't want to be done."
Unsung hero: Heights quarterback Isaac Weiland was very accurate and sharp on his passes, going 9-for-12 for 125 yards, which helped open up the Highlanders running game, which gained 244 yards on the night.
"Last year, we were really young," Weiland said. "We got a lot of experience, and this year, we have that experience and it's benefiting us on the football field."
Most vital statistic: Bellwood-Antis had only seven first downs, and four of them came on the Blue Devils' lone scoring drive.
"Our guys gave everything they had. I'm proud of the effort they have given all year. They fought all year in every game we had. Very proud of the effort and the progress we made this year with our guys," Lovrich said. "The seniors have done a great job being leaders, and we're definitely going to miss them, but it's a bittersweet ending. We wish we were still playing. Cambria Heights is a very good, physical football team, and they made plays when they needed to make them."
Hold it, won't ya: Heights fumbled five times and lost three to help the Blue Devils stay in the game. Several of the fumbles were a result of B-A punching the ball out, something it worked on in practice.
"We work on turnover stations all the time for situations like that," Lovrich said. "If you're going to be good at takeaways, you have to practice it, so we practice it."
Lovrich on going from 2-8 last year to 8-4 this year: "You feel good about that, but our goal was to play for a district championship, and we didn't reach that goal. As we look back on the season, we'll probably feel a little better about it. But right now, it hurts. We wanted to be playing next weekend."
Weiland: "It feels great. We have to limit our fumbles and turnovers, but we did what we had to do to win."
Notable: Stephen Nelen and Marshall Eckenrode ran for touchdowns for the Highlanders. Nelen's run for a first down on third-and-3 from the B-A 26 sealed the game. ... Bellwood's Quinn Focht was ejected in the final seconds after picking up a personal foul while Heights was taking a knee. ... Ethan Shawley caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Schreier to get Bellwood-Antis on the board, and Cayden Pellegrine caught a two-point conversion pass. ... The teams' only other meeting came in a 2019 playoff matchup won by Bellwood -- also by the score 15-8.
Records: Bellwood-Antis (8-4); Cambria Heights (12-0).
Next week: Cambria Heights will play Richland for the District 6 Class 2A championship at Mansion Park next weekend.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellwood-Antis 0 0 8 0 -- 8
Cambria Heights 0 8 7 0 -- 15
Second Quarter
CH--Safety (snap over punter's head), 10:38.
CH--Nelen 10 run (kick failed), 8:15.
Third Quarter
CH--Eckenrode 1 run (Abrams kick), 6:41.
BA--Shawley 5 pass from Schreier (Pellegrine pass from Schreier), 2:13.
TEAM STATISTICS BA CH
First downs 7 23
Total yards 106 369
Rushes-yards 27-88 55-244
Yards passing 18 125
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 4-12-0 9-12-0
Punts-avg. 6-38.7 2-39
Fumbles-lost 0-0 5-3
Penalties-yards 7-60 7-55
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Bellwood-Antis, Gibbons 10-48, Pellegrine 7-25, Schreier 4-14, Kyle 2-1, Partner 4-0. Cambria Heights, Trybus 16-104, Mulraney 19-91, Eckenrode 6-33, Nelen 10-24, Jasper 1-0, Weiland 1-(-6), TEAM 2-(-2).
PASSING--Bellwood-Antis, Schreier 4-12-0-18. Cambria Heights, Weiland 9-12-0-125.
RECEIVING--Bellwood-Antis, Gibbons 3-13, Shawley 1-5. Cambria Heights, Trybus 3-67, Nelen 3-35, Eckenrode 2-11, Jasper 1-12.