FLINTON — Hanging on to the eighth and final seed for the District 6 Class A playoffs, Glendale needed to beat Northern Bedford on Friday night at Dr. Roy F. Baker Field to get into the playoff field.

The Vikings accomplished that mission, but Northern Bedford nearly played spoiler on a cold, wet senior night.

The Black Panthers fought back from a 14-point halftime deficit to get to within eight points and the Glendale 4-yard-line with 14.8 seconds remaining in the game.

The Vikings broke up a Trace Baker pass on third-and-goal and then celebrated when a fourth-down pass fell incomplete. The defensive stand secured a 28-20 victory for the Vikings (4-6).

“Even when there was a chance to go into overtime down inside the 5 our guys stood up to the occasion,” Glendale coach Chase Hill said. “I’m proud of them.”

“That was a great high school football game,” Northern Bedford coach Garry Black said. “We’ve played within a touchdown of everybody outside of Wilmington. We just don’t have quite enough. Hats off to Glendale for making the stop.”

Final playoff pairings won’t be announced until Sunday, but their third straight win qualified the Vikings for the playoffs and tentatively a quarterfinal game at Claysburg-Kimmel.

Defensive play of the game:  The Panthers (2-8) got the ball for the final time with 4:06 left in the game. Thanks to the running of Ben Clark, the Panthers moved the ball from their 32 to the Glendale 44. Baker then took off of a 34-yard run to the 10. A Clark run got the ball to the 4.

And then came the drama at the end.

“Zero (Clark) is the guy we’ve game-planned for all week,” Hill said. “He’s a heck of a runner. We knew he was probably their best player. We were looking out for him. We switched up our coverage a little bit. We knew that either Clark was getting it or the quarterback was rolling out. He rolled out and our guys were there and made a heck of a play.”

Player of the game: Glendale quarterback Logan Skebeck completed 15 of 22 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown pass to Cameron Dreibelbis. Skebeck broke the school career completion record of 250. He also led the team in rushing yards with 81 on 15 carries.

“He’s been playing confidently lately,” Hill said. “I preach to him you’re a heck of an athlete. All you have to do is play with confidence and have fun with it. He’s making the right reads, not forcing anything and doing what we expect of him.”

“He’s a great quarterback,” Drebelbis said. “When I want the ball he throws it to me.”

Offensive play of the game: In the fourth quarter, Dreibelbis, who had five receptions for 69 yards, caught a pass from Skebeck, headed down the Northern Bedford sideline and scored on a 34-yard touchdown pass with 9:41 left. The touchdown reception was the 13th of his career, setting a school record.

“I have to give credit to Rhylan Hoopsick-Bell,” Dreibelbis said. “He had a good block on the edge. That made me get the touchdown. I made a guy miss, but his block helped out a lot. It was like walking on a tight rope. (The touchdown record) is pretty amazing.”

Happy returns: After the touchdown from Dreibelbis, Bowers returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown.

Most vital statistics:  The Vikings outgained the Panthers, 231-65, in the first half, but Northern outgained Glendale 213-91 in the second half.

“The game was two halves,” Black said. “We couldn’t stop them in the first half. In the second half, we moved it and they couldn’t get off the field. They were getting three-and-outs, and we started to play defense.”

Baker plays big: Baker completed 10 of his 24 passes for 155 yards and touchdown passes to Brett Cottle (31 yards) and Zach Bowers (16 yards). He also had 63 yards on five carries. Running back Ben Clark ran hard and finished with 57 yards on 15 carries.

“He keeps making plays,” Black said of Baker.

Next week: Northern Bedford visits Meyersdale in District 5 1A semifinals. Glendale visits Claysburg-Kimmel in District 6 1A quarterfinals.  

Records: Northern Bedford (2-8). Glendale (4-6)

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Northern Bedford 6 0 6 8 –20

Glendale 6 14 0 8 –28

First Quarter

G–Ammerman 2 run (kick failed), 2:26

NB–Cottle 32 pass from Baker (kick failed), :51.6

Second Quarter

G–Myers 1 run (Dreibelbis pass from Skebeck), 8:24

G–Myers 1 run (pass failed), 4:07

Third Quarter

NB–Bowers 16 pass from Baker (pass failed), 1:06

Fourth Quarter

G–Dreibelbis 34 pass from Skebeck (Skebeck run), 9:41

NB–Bowers 70 kickoff return (Baker run), 9:26

TEAM STATISTICS NB G

First downs 13 15

Total yards 278 322

Rushes-yards 22-123 39-167

Yards passing 155 155

Passing (comp.-att.-int) 10-24-1 15-22-0

Punts-avg. 1-38 3-31.5

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-35 3-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Northern Bedford, Baker 5-63, Clark 15-57, Swanseen 2-3. Glendale, Skebeck 15-81, Ammerman 18-64, Dreibelbis 3-20, Myers 3-2.

PASSING–Northern Bedford, Baker 10-24-1-155. Glendale, Skebeck 15-22-0-155.

RECEIVING–Northern Bedford, Bowers 3-66, Donaldson 3-42, Cottle 2-33, Clark 2-14. Glendale, Dreibelbis 5-69, Hamilton 4-46, Jenkins 2-23, Ammerman 4-17.