With the Panthers an inch from a first down on their own 30, they opted to go to a play that always works.

Only this time, it didn’t.

Claysburg-Kimmel tackled Nolin Snider behind the line of scrimmage after what appeared to be a bobbled snap. Nathan Fee put the Bulldogs ahead with a 27-yard field goal with 6:47 remaining, and Dustin Slowik and Jacob Freeman combined for a sack of Ben Cottle on third down near midfield to thwart Northern Bedford’s final significant chance to score in a 17-14 victory.

“He’s money from anywhere on the field,” Claysburg-Kimmel senior quarterback Mason Campagna said. “I have so much confidence in him.”

Photo for the Mirror by Jeremy Boland Northern Bedford’s Ben Clark hits the hole but runs into Claysburg-Kimmel’s Tyler Mowry during C-K’s 17-14 win

Northern Bedford had battled back from a 14-0 halftime deficit to tie the game and had the ball and all the momentum in the fourth quarter before the fourth-down stop.

“It was fourth and 2 inches,” Northern Bedford coach Garry Black said. “Nolin Snider has probably not ever not gotten 2 inches (on a carry). Nolin runs hard. I thought they would think we would try and run our sweep and we could catch them on the dive. Something happened. It was clogged up and wasn’t clean. I would call it 100 times over. It was a couple inches, and we were pounding them inside. They have seniors playing against our sophomores, and we didn’t want to give them the ball back. We had momentum. I’d do it 100 times over.”

Play of the game: C-K’s stop on fourth down is the obvious choice, but another huge momentum shift happened on the Bulldogs’ first scoring drive. On first-and-10 from the Northern Bedford 41, the Panthers’ Ben Clark read a screen pass and stepped in front of Campagna’s pass. He nearly intercepted it on a leaping attempt and would have returned it for a score, but it fell to the ground. Three plays later, Campagna connected with Gavin Treon on a 26-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring.

Player of the game: Gavin Treon caught two long touchdown passes, 26 and 33 yards, and also sealed the game with a clutch 47-yard punt with 20.5 seconds to play.

Unsung hero: Clark had 136 of Northern Bedford’s 138 rushing yards and also caught two passes. He was all over the field defensively as well.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Black said. “I challenged them. We were missing heart last week, and what better way to show it than be down 14 to a team that was ranked No. 10 in the state in the preseason and outwardly say they want to contend for a District 6 title, and we battled back and put ourselves in a position to win the game at the end.”

Most vital statistic: Fee’s 27-yard field goal was near the edge of what Claysburg-Kimmel coach Chuck Kassick felt comfortable with on grass. He also made two extra points.

“I would give him a chance from around 35 on grass and from turf maybe 40,” Kassick said. “That’s what we live for. He practices that every week. He’s a soccer kid too. He comes to football and then goes off to soccer. He was here in camp and during heat week. We live for those opportunities. Once we got inside the 15, I knew if we didn’t get it, Nathan was going to be our guy.”

Campagna builds on legacy: Campagna, who will continue his baseball career at Penn State, has been a major part of Claysburg-Kimmel’s resurgence. He finished Friday’s game with 95 yards rushing and 122 yards passing.

“I want the ball in his hands every play whether he’s running, throwing or just choosing to take a knee,” Kassick said. “I don’t care what it is, I want the ball in his hands. He’s a smart kid that works his tail off to get to where he is.”

Missed chances: Campagna’s stats, and the game, might have been a little different if Claysburg had not failed to connect on a couple wide open deep passes that would have gone for touchdowns.

“It’s Week 2,” Kassick said. “They are still kids. But we got two touchdown catches from a sophomore. It will come, and I’m confident we’ll get there.”

Kassick: “My kids told me we had to be better than we were against Berlin. I didn’t have to ask. They told me, and they went after it and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Black: “It’s hard when you have been good for so long — and we have been good. It’s hard for these kids, but they are learning to play football the right way. That’s what I’m so proud of. I just want to say — it sounds cheesy, but I love Northern Bedford. I love these kids. I could care less what our season record ends up being. I love them, and I think they are just going to keep getting better every week.”

Campagna: “We put a lot of hard work in this week at practice. We wanted to be more physical, and it showed tonight. This is going to turn our season around and give us a lot of momentum going into the next eight weeks.”

Notable: Northern Bedford beat Claysburg-Kimmel by three points last season. … The Panthers executed a fake punt near the end of the first half that would have resulted in a first down in Claysburg territory, but a holding call wiped it out. … Ben Cottle and Ben Clark each ran for a touchdown for Northern Bedford, and Adam Berry kicked a pair of extra points.

Records: Claysburg Kimmel (1-1); Northern Bedford (0-2).

Next week: Claysburg-Kimmel hosts West Branch, and Northern Bedford hosts Wilmington next Friday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Claysburg-Kimmel 0 14 0 3 — 17

Northern Bedford 0 0 14 0 — 14

Second Quarter

CK–Treon 26 pass from Campagna (Fee kick), 5:26.

CK–Treon 33 pass from Campagna (Fee kick), :20.

Third Quarter

NB–Ben Cottle 5 run (Berry kick), 4:26.

NB–Clark 2 run (Berry kick), 1:46.

Fourth Quarter

CK–Fee 27 field goal, 6:47.

TEAM STATISTICS CK NB

First downs 11 10

Total yards 230 150

Rushes-yards 33-108 41-138

Yards passing 122 12

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 7-17-0 3-12-0

Punts-avg. 5-32.2 2-28

Fumbles-lost 1-0 4-1

Penalties-yards 9-52 2-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Claysburg-Kimmel, Campagna 25-95, Diehl 4-19, Soler 1-3, Mowry 1-(-4), TEAM 2-(-5). Northern Bedford, Clark 26-136, Snider 5-13, Donaldson 1-2, Feathers 1-0, Ben Cottle 6-0, TEAM 2(-13).

PASSING–Claysburg-Kimmel, Campagna 7-17-9-122. Northern Bedford, Ben Cottle 3-10-0-12, Clark 0-2-0-0.

RECEIVING–Claysburg-Kimmel, Diehl 3-23, Treon 2-59, Herline 2-40. Northern Bedford, Clark 2-6, Donaldson 1-6.