Internally, the Marauders never blinked as they turned a lackluster first half into a dominant second half, cruising away with a 42-18 victory over the Rams.

“We knew there would be bumps in the road,” BG coach Justin Wheeler said. “We have a bunch of new guys. But what I love about our team is there was no panic at any moment. The guys were calm. At halftime, it was about as good of a group as we’ve been around. They knew what they wanted to adjust. I’m really proud of the second half effort, and I thought we played about as dominant of a second half as you can have.”

Plays of the game: With the Marauders facing a third and 2 up 28-18 late in the third quarter, Jake Kissell, who is turning out to be a makeshift running back in the absence of Taurean Consiglio, ran for a 47-yard carry down to the Penns Valley 10. He punched in a touchdown two plays later on the first play of the fourth quarter, which was his fifth of the day.

Player of the game: Kissell ran for 231 yards on 25 carries while lining up mostly as a running back but also had some time as the quarterback.

Unsung heroes: The Bishop Guilfoyle defensive line was suffocating all night, holding the Rams to minus-30 yards rushing.

Most vital statistic: Penns Valley had 147 total yards, and 103 of them came on two touchdown passes — one on a 78-yard long ball from Carter Ironside to Spencer Althouse in the first quarter, and the other on a 25-yard seam from Ironside to tight end Emery Reed. Otherwise, the Rams’ offense was held in check.

Wheeler: “In this conference, you can’t play a bad half. You’re lucky if you can play a bad play or two. We know we have to clean some things up. We have to communicate better, but we love our effort. If we play like we did in the second half, I think we’d be feeling pretty good going into Richland. Now we have some work to do, which is okay with a young team.”

Penns Valley coach Martin Tobias: “I thought we played a really inspired, a really motivated first half. I thought the team came out and executed the gameplan really well. There were some flaws and mistakes, and a couple turnovers certainly helped us. But I was pleased with their overall effort for the whole game.”

Kissell: “We really put it together in the second half. We have a lot of new guys, and a couple guys getting their first starts ever today. We didn’t play to the BG standard in the first half. We came together and regrouped and played together as a team.”

Notable: BG quarterback Justin Wheeler, the coach’s son, was 1 yard short of the century mark with 99 yards on 12 carries. Wheeler and Kissell were a major part of the Marauders’ 443 yards on the ground. … Rams QB Carter Ironside was 12-of-15 for 177 yards and 2 TDs for the night. … Penns Valley’s Isaac Harpster had an interception late in the first half that led to the Rams cutting it to 14-12 just before halftime.

Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (1-0); Penns Valley (0-1).

Next week: The Marauders open their home slate on Saturday night against Richland. Penns Valley visits Central Cambria Friday night.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop Guilfoyle 7 7 14 14 — 42

Penns Valley 6 6 6 0 — 18

First Quarter

BG–Kissell 2 run (Carter Boland kick), 2:05.

PV–Althouse 78 pass from C. Ironside (kick failed), 1:07.

Second Quarter

BG–Kissell 52 run (Carter Boland kick), 2:54.

PV–Reed 25 pass from C. Ironside (pass failed), :03.

Third Quarter

BG–Kissell 6 run (Carter Boland kick), 8:18.

PV–Althouse 85 kickoff return (kick blocked), 8:05.

BG–Kissell 1 run (Carter Boland kick), 5:12.

Fourth Quarter

BG–Kissell 5 run (Carter Boland kick), 11:57.

BG–Hewitt 12 run (Carter Boland kick), 6:50.

TEAM STATISTICS BG PV

First downs 23 3

Total yards 494 147

Rushes-yards 58-443 16-(-30)

Yards passing 51 177

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 2-6-1 12-15-0

Punts-avg. 2-33.5 7-27.9

Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0

Penalties-yards 5-45 2-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Bishop Guilfoyle, Kissell 25-231, Wheeler 12-99, Hewitt 6-56, Gioiosa 13-47, Shellenbergr 1-7, Carson Boland 1-3. Penns Valley, Althouse 2-5, Fetterolf 9-3, F. Ironside 1-(-13), C. Ironside 4-(-25).

PASSING–Bishop Guilfoyle, Wheeler 2-6-51-0-1. Penns Valley, C. Ironside 12-15-177-2-0.

RECEIVING–Bishop Guilfoyle, Lestochi 1-32, Gioiosa 1-19. Penns Valley, Althouse 4-120, Reed 2-34, F. Ironside 5-20, Coursen 1-3.