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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
For the most part, Bishop Guilfoyle Academy rolled through the first nine weeks of the high school football season.
The Marauders qualified for the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championship game at Penn Cambria and for the first time found themselves in a tough position.
Bishop Guilfoyle trailed at the half and fought back into the game before scoring in the final minutes, and the Marauders opted to go for two and the win.
They got it -- then they didn't.
A flag wiped out the conversion and pushed the extra-point attempt back, which was eventually missed. BG was able to recover a perfect onside kick by Michael Cacciotti, but time ran out before the Marauders could set up a spike after a first down to set up a possible game-winning field goal in a controversial ending.
In the end, that 28-27 loss might have been the best thing that happened to BG.
"You never want to have a loss, but if you do, you better learn from it," Bishop Guilfoyle coach Justin Wheeler said. "I think for us, things were going pretty well for us most of the year. There wasn't much adversity. This was a moment where we had adversity. We thought we rose to it and overcame it. Then maybe there were some things at the end that didn't go our way. It really helped to focus us to really start talking about finishing games and not leaving a doubt -- which is something we have been saying a lot. Whether it's practices or the games, guys keep yelling not to leave a doubt."
That's exactly what BG has been doing since.
"We knew we let one slip through our fingers," BG senior wideout and running back Hamilton Gates said. "It didn't end the way we thought it would have ended, but we knew we had to play with an edge after that. We took it like the world is against us and we have to go out there and win."
Since that loss on Oct. 25, Bishop Guilfoyle has outscored its opponents, 217-46.
"I think that loss almost enraged us to where we got so much better and forced us to compete at such a higher level," BG junior running back Taurean Consiglio said. "It gave us so much more enthusiasm toward just winning it all, and I think that's the biggest reason we have been playing so well."
BG will try and do just that when it travels to Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg on Thursday to play District 9 champion Port Allegany in the PIAA Class 1A championship game at 1 p.m.
"That (Penn Cambria) game was a big motivator for us," BG senior quarterback Chase Kissell said. "It was a close, hard loss, and it just really lit a fire under us. We came in the next day and said we weren't letting it happen again. We have been on a roll since, and we're going to keep it rolling into Thursday."
The change hasn't been so much with Xs and Os as it has been mentally.
"I think we're a lot more focused at practice, and we're taking care of our objectives and watching film really well," Consiglio said. "We're just doing everything really well right now."
Bishop Guilfoyle's offensive and defensive line has also improved throughout the season after the Marauders dealt with an early-season injury.
"We knew we had two studs we were going to rely on in Joe Eckenrode and Connor McElheny, and the first couple weeks, that's what we did," Wheeler said. "Then, we lost Connor with an ACL (injury). That was a terrible moment, but it helped some of the young guys realize they had to be the guy. Coach (Gabe) Walter and Logan McGeary, our O-line guys, have really focused on technique with our young guys. They spend a lot of individual stuff together, and they have progressed this young line into a pretty dominant group."
BG will be playing its 16th game of the season, and the extra half season of work has made some of its players who were young and inexperienced going into the season into veterans.
"It's been really good," Wheeler said. "We had a couple guys who were multiple-year starters, and now you add an extra five games this year, which is another half season, the confidence level is sky high. A kid like Joe Eckenrode, who has started 50 or 60 games already, has so much confidence. But even the first-year starters like Tyson Lestochi or some of the guys on the line, 15 games is a season and a half. They have come a long way. These guys have really benefited from these extra weeks of practices and games, and that's part of what helped our programs over the years."
Bishop Guilfoyle won't get to hang a LHAC championship banner this season, but because it can't, it just might win another PIAA title.
"As bad as that loss hurts, which all losses do," Wheeler said. "I think it has helped get us to where we are this week."