High School Football

PC stifles Bedford after half

BEDFORD -- During the closing minutes of the first half of Penn Cambria's LHAC matchup with Bedford, the Panthers faced a fourth down and 12 at the 15 yard line at the end of a drive that ate up over six minutes on 12 plays.

Quarterback Evan Latterner was under serious pressure from a tough Bison defense, but then a close friend found an opening in Panther RB Corbin Vinglish to give the Panthers the lead at the break.

"We always played together when we were little," Latterner said, "We grew up together, we're always really close, and it shows on the field that we've always been really close."

"That was a little recess," Vinglish said. "I was just to the flat there, saw the outside backer sitting and was like might as well turn it up field, ball wasn't thrown yet. Somehow Evan saw me, and I was right there. We have crossers there, and I turned up field."

On the first drive of the second half they scored again on a 3-yard run by Vinglish following an eight-play drive to give the Panthers a 35-13 win to finish off an exceptional execution of the game's middle-eight minutes.

Plays of the game: Vinglish's touchdown going into the half and Nate Mack opening the second half with a kickoff return to the Bisons 35-yard line. That helped set up the second of the two Panther touchdowns in the middle eight minutes of the game.

Players of the game: Latterner and Vinglish will split this honor. Latterner was 13 for 83 on the ground and Vinglish had 96 yards rushing on 16 carries with a touchdown while adding three catches for 31 yards and a score through the air.

Unsung hero: Panther WR Cam Coudriet who had four catches for 28-yards and a crucial touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Three of his catches came on what ended up being the game deciding drive.

Most vital statistics: The Penn Cambria defense held Bedford to just two first downs in the second half and as a team the Panthers had 18 compared to the Bisons nine.

Grassi on key fourth down conversion: "It definitely wasn't the way the play was designed," Grassi said. "Evan improvised there, he was going to run for it, and then he stepped up and I think he saw a defender come up and he saw (Vinglish) open, and threw it over top to him. Sometimes you have to do that. I told those guys it's not always pretty, but get the job done.''

Bedford coach Kevin Steele: "They controlled the line of scrimmage. They were able to run the ball, we had a hard time tackling several of their guys. They had the ball for a ton of time, especially in the second half. They're a tough, physical football team. They were the better team tonight.''

Grassi: "They made a couple of big plays (in the first half). They returned a pick-6, and then ripped one off for 85 yards (touchdowns scored by Grey Livengood). I liked the composure of our guys. We didn't let it affect us. We chipped away, we scored, and we got another score.''

Notable: This was Bedford's homecoming game. ... Despite the difference in first downs, the production in total yards of offense were close. ... Penn Cambria recorded 281 total yards to the Bisons 222. ... Both teams punted a combined three times.

Records: Penn Cambria (3-1), Bedford (1-3)

Next week: Penn Cambria hosts Central Cambria while Bedford travels to Chestnut Ridge next Friday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penn Cambria 0 14 7 14 -- 35

Bedford 7 6 0 0 -- 13

First Quarter

B--Livengood 17 interception return (Smith kick), :07.

Second Quarter

B--Livengood 85 run (kick failed), 9:08.

PC--Beck 1 run (Golden kick), 6:51.

PC--Vinglish 15 pass from Latterner (Golden kick), :37.

Third Quarter

PC--Vinglish 3 run (Golden kick), 7:16.

Fourth Quarter

PC--Coudriet 9 pass from Latterner (Golden kick), 9:09.

PC--Maybush 1 run (Golden kick), 2:15.

TEAM STATISTICS PC B

First downs 18 9

Total yards 281 222

Rushes-yards 47-232 16-156

Yards passing 49 66

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 12-27-1 8-23-0

Punts-avg. 1-31 2-19.5

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-25 6-53

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Penn Cambria, Vinglish 16-96, Latterner 13-83, Beck 11-42, Mack 1-(-4), Maybush 4-17, TEAM 2-(-2). Bedford, Eichelberger 7-39, Taylor 5-22, Livengood 2-89, Kozielec 1-2, Cragan 1-4.

PASSING--Penn Cambria, Latterner 12-26-1-49, Maybush 0-1-0-0. Bedford, Taylor 8-21-0-66, Cragan 0-1-0-0, Livengood 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING--Penn Cambria, Mack 3-19, Coudriet 4-28, Vinglish 3-31, Beck 1-4, Shall 1-3. Bedford, Kozielec 1-15, Livengood 4-29, Boone 1-12, Steele 1-1, Eichelberger 1-9.