Key decision seals Central’s huge win over Bellwood-Antis — barely
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ROARING SPRING -- Sports can be games of inches, but those are usually only the ones that become instant classics.
With Friday's Bellwood-Antis and Central high school football game coming down to millimeters, it's one that is sure to be remembered.
With Central leading by two with 1:49 to play and the Scarlet Dragons facing a third-and-7 from their own 33-yard line and B-A holding no timeouts, coach Jerry Albright decided to throw for the first down and win the game right there.
Blue Devils junior defensive back Brady Crist wasn't fooled.
He stepped in front of Central quarterback Jesse Muthler's pass with nothing but grass between him and the go-ahead Bellwood-Antis touchdown, but the pass snuck through by the smallest of margins into the hands of Bentley Dickson for a game-clinching first down in the Dragons' 28-26 victory at Roaring Spring Athletic Field.
"Everyone was talking in the headphones, and we all agreed we had to play to win," Albright said. "The only way you can play this game is to play to win. You have to take some risks. If we would have went three and out, they might have gotten the ball back and won the game. We decided we would rather take the shot and keep the ball with our offense."
But when they took that shot, Albright admitted his heart was pumping through his chest.
"Big time," Albright said. "I saw their defensive back under-cutting that pass. If he picks that off, he scores. That would have been completely on me, because I gave the go-ahead to throw the ball. You have to take those risks sometimes."
Muthler didn't see Crist until he let go of the ball.
"He made an incredible play and almost won them the game," Muthler said. "But Bentley is such a great receiver. He came down with the catch that mattered. It shows the coaches have the confidence in myself and my receivers to go and make a play."
Crist was distraught on the field after the play, but showed a lot of leadership even as a junior and put the focus on Bellwood-Antis' next game -- the Backyard Brawl at home against Tyrone.
"It was very close," Crist said. "I could feel it going by my hands. But we're going to talk about this, practice really hard and get ready for Tyrone. We have to win, and that's where all our focus will be."
Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Lovrich praised his defensive back.
"Brady Crist stepped in today," Lovrich said. "He made some great plays. They tried to pick on him a little bit from the time he got in, and he stepped up and didn't allow a completion to his guy for most of the game. That last play shows the aggression he has, and I'm proud of the effort he had there to put himself in position to make the play."
Play of the game: As big as the final first down was, the play of the game might have come one Central series earlier. At their own 32 leading by just two, Muthler took a shotgun snap and ran for 68 yards to the B-A 1-yard line on a play usually designed for running quarterback Carter Schenk. Schenk scored on the next play to put the Dragons up by nine with 6:28 to play.
"We have practiced them and worked on them in practice," Muthler said. "But we haven't run those with me at quarterback. We had Semaj in motion, and he has all the attention on him because he's such a great weapon. Our line, backs and receivers made a huge hole and opened a big seam for me."
Player of the game: It's impossible to pick one. Bronson Myers and Schenk each returned interceptions for touchdowns in the first half. Brooks Decker caught four passes for 44 yards and a touchdown, and Muthler and Dickson connected on the first down pass to seal the game.
Unsung hero: Central placekicker Cole Marks made all four of his extra point kicks, which proved to be the difference.
Most vital statistic: Central did not turn the ball over and had just two penalties for 10 yards.
Most deceiving statistics: Bellwood-Antis outgained Central, 386-215, had 22 first downs to Central's nine and ran 42 plays in the first half to Central's 11 plays but trailed at halftime, 21-6.
Lovrich: "We made some mistakes as a team, and that's going to happen. I'm very proud of our kids' effort. I have seen teams give up when they have gone down like that, but our team fought the entire game up until the last play. Their heads were up. They believed that they could win that football game and put themselves in a position to do that. Hats off to Central. They made some big plays. Their coaches have them ready, and they are a really good football team."
Albright: "We had to match their physicality. They are an extremely physical team, and we said we had to come out and be physical with them or they would have run us off the field. That's what we had to do, and that's how we played."
Albright on Central stopping Bellwood-Antis at the Central 2-yard line just before halftime: "That was absolutely huge. They would have had so much momentum going into the second half. That stop was huge. I thought for sure they would kick a field goal there. If they would have, it would have been a different game at the end, too."
Notable: Bellwood-Antis ran for 315 yards. ... Alex McCartney had 133 yards and a touchdown, and Bradyn Partner -- who came on in relief at quarterback for Curtis Shedlock, who started due to an injury to Brendan McNelis, ran for 131 yards and a touchdown and passed for 68 yards and threw a score to Ethan Shawley. ... Chase Plummer added a 21-yard touchdown run for the Blue Devils. ... Northern Bedford head football coach Garry Black attended the game after his team was awarded a forfeit win due to Everett not being able to field a team this week.
Records: Bellwood-Antis (3-1); Central (3-1).
Next week: Bellwood-Antis will host Tyrone on Friday, and Central will play at Mansion Park against Bishop Guilfoyle Academy on Saturday, Sept. 26.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellwood-Antis 0 6 6 14 -- 26
Central 7 14 0 7 -- 28
First Quarter
C--Myers 55 interception return (Marks kick), 7:56.
Second Quarter
C--Decker 7 pass from Muthler (Marks kick), 11:20.
C--Schenk 30 interception return (Marks kick), 10:22.
BA--McCartney 45 run (pass failed), 8:06.
Third Quarter
BA--Partner 40 run (kick failed), :22.
Fourth Quarter
BA--Plummer 21 run (Smearman kick), 8:59.
C--Schenk 1 run (Marks kick), 6:28.
BA--Shawley 9 pass from Partner (Smearman kick), 2:56.
TEAM STATISTICS B-A C
First downs 22 9
Total yards 386 215
Rushes-yards 46-315 21-141
Yards passing 71 74
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 10-20-2 8-16-0-74
Punts-avg. 0-0 1-12
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 4-35 2-10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Bellwood-Antis, McCartney 20-133, Partner 17-131, Plummer 6-39, Dorminy 2-14, Shedlock 1-(-2). Central, Musei 11-79, Muthler 4-60, Schenk 4-4, TEAM 2-(-2).
PASSING--Bellwood-Antis, Partner 8-16-0-68, Shedlock 2-4-2-3. Central, Muthler 8-16-0-74.
RECEIVING--Bellwood-Antis, Shawley 4-56, Waite 3-25, Dorminy 1-1, Partner 1-0, Moser 1-(-8). Central, Decker 4-44, Schenk 2-16, Dickson 2-14.