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Bellwood-Antis runs over Tyrone to win Backyard Brawl

Backyard Brawl

By Michael Boytim 6 min read

TYRONE -- Tyrone spent all week preparing to play against a tremendous Bellwood-Antis offensive and defensive line that Golden Eagles coach John Franco has been praising the past two seasons.

It didn't matter.

The Blue Devils did pretty much whatever they wanted on the ground and pushed their rival around to the tune of 254 yards on 44 carries and came away with a dominant 26-7 win in the latest "Backyard Brawl" at Gray Veterans Memorial Field on Friday.

"That is the best line and running game that I have seen," Franco said. "They might have the best line in District 6 regardless of the level. They really played well. They just dominated us up front. Those two running backs are probably as good as any two in District 6, and that offensive line may be the best I have seen in years. They whooped us in an old-fashioned way. We have to learn from that and pick ourselves up"

The backs -- juniors Alex McCartney and Chase Plummer -- both missed last season due to injuries. McCartney finished Friday's game with 149 yards rushing and three touchdowns, and Plummer added 72 yards on nine carries and returned an interception for a touchdown. In both McCartney and Plummer's only previous experience in the rivalry game, they lost 34-0 as freshmen in 2023.

"I remember losing 34-0 and sitting there with my dad and the offensive linemen," McCartney said. "He told me to remember it and put it out on the field the next time I got to play them. It turned into a two-year wait because I tore my ACL. We have taken some lumps this year, but we're getting better every week."

Play of the game: Tyrone's Caleb Whitby returned the opening kickoff almost to midfield before a hit knocked the ball loose and Bellwood-Antis recovered. Nine plays later, McCartney scored on a 3-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 and set the tone for the game.

"That was huge," Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Lovrich said. "We have kind of been struggling with our kickoff coverage. That gave us a spark, and the rest of the way our kickoff coverage was pretty good. It was a heads up play by our guys and something we work on in practice. The guys did an awesome job."

Player of the game: McCartney had help from his offensive line, but he also had plenty of yards after first contact.

"We always talk about 11 guys doing their job on every play," Lovrich said. "Our offensive line did an excellent job tonight. They are starting to come together really well, and that's something we have to keep building on. I think they really enjoy it when they are out there blocking. That makes it even nicer. The backs really appreciate everything those linemen do for them."

Unsung heroes: The Bellwood-Antis secondary did a good job against a good Tyrone passing attack. Chase Plummer and Jeffery Waite had interceptions, and the Golden Eagles only passed for 33 yards in the first half.

Most vital statistic: Bellwood-Antis forced four turnovers, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

"We gave them a fumble on the opening kickoff. They get a short field and score on it," Franco said. "We get the ball back, get a big play and we have a penalty and that's called back. We had a pick-6 and then another turnover in the second half. You can't hand the game to a team that good."

Lovrich: "This was such a great atmosphere here tonight. Two great teams, two great communities coming together. When you come out on top, it makes it really special."

Franco: "We have a good group of kids. We can still play, but we have to correct some mistakes. Son of a gun, we can just not give them the ball and have bad penalties that we hadn't had all year. We did not play well. We didn't quit."

McCartney: "Everyone was fired up, and we were already fired up in the pregame. It worked up higher every single day of the week. We got more and more hyped."

Tyrone senior wideout Brayden Parsons: "This one is hard. It's a good rivalry all around. Hopefully we bounce back and win our triple-A games in the district we have coming up. We had too many miscues and didn't play as strongly together as we should be playing together."

Notable: Parsons caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Eli Woomer that cut the lead to 20-7 late in the third quarter. Tyrone forced a stop and got the ball back but fumbled on its first play from scrimmage, setting up McCartney's third touchdown. ... The series between Bellwood-Antis and Tyrone is now 51-32-1 in favor of the Golden Eagles. ... Members of the 1975 graduating classes from Bellwood and Tyrone attended the game as part of their 50th class reunions. ... Tyrone got down to the Bellwood 20-yard line late in the fourth, but two sacks by Ethan Shawley forced the Golden Eagles to punt on fourth-and-39.

Records: Bellwood-Antis (3-2); Tyrone (3-2).

Next week: Bellwood-Antis is at Philipsburg-Osceola on Friday next week, and Tyrone travels to Mansion Park to play Bishop Guilfoyle Academy on Saturday, Sept. 27.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bellwood-Antis 14 0 6 6 -- 26

Tyrone 0 0 7 0 -- 7

First Quarter

BA--McCartney 3 run (Smearman kick), 7:08.

BA--Ch. Plummer 30 interception return (Smearman kick), :40.

Third Quarter

BA--McCartney 12 run (kick failed), 8:00.

T--Parsons 68 pass from Woomer (Novak kick), 1:48.

Fourth Quarter

BA--McCartney 16 run (kick failed), 9:27.

TEAM STATISTICS BA T

First downs 15 10

Total yards 269 197

Rushes-yards 44-254 20-33

Yards passing 15 164

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 2-6-0 11-23-2

Punts-avg. 2-32 3-30.3

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-2

Penalties-yards 2-20 4-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Bellwood-Antis, McCartney 21-149, Plummer 9-72, Partner 7-19, Crist 2-12, Shedlock 1-2, Gibbons 4-0. Tyrone, Whitby 9-45, A. Emigh 1-1, Zupon 2-(-4), Woomer 8-(-9).

PASSING--Bellwood-Antis, Partner 2-6-0-15. Tyrone, Woomer 8-18-2-153, Zupon 2-4-0-9, Walk 1-1-0-2.

RECEIVING--Bellwood-Antis, Ch. Plummer 1-9, Waite 1-6. Tyrone, Parsons 3-77. Whitby 2-42, A. Emigh 1-24, M. Emigh 1-4, Stroup 1-2, Woomer 1-2, Martin 1-1.

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