High School Football

BG dominates Rams for LHAC title

Guilfoyle dominates Rams for LHAC crown

JOHNSTOWN -- Richland won the battle, but Bishop Guilfoyle Academy won the war.

Emphatically.

Richland dealt the Marauders their only loss to date this season, grinding out a 21-16 regular-season win over BG back on the second Friday of the season.

The Marauders got payback in a big way Friday night at Herlinger Field, and in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championship game to boot.

BG ambushed Richland with a big play on both sides of the ball early in the first quarter, and used those plays as a springboard to a 38-7 rout of the Rams, securing BG's first LHAC championship since the league's crossover games began back in 2023.

It was BG's third straight appearance in the conference title game, and the third indeed proved to be a charm after the Marauders had lost a controversial decision to Penn Cambria two years ago and were beaten by Bishop McCort Catholic in the league title game last season.

Sophomore running back Keegan Hewitt, who rushed for 182 yards on 24 carries and three touchdowns, broke off a 40-yard scoring run just 1:35 into the game, on BG's opening possession.

Senior safety Evan Schimminger came up with the Marauders' second big play, on defense, just over a minute later, when he jumped a passing route and came up with an interception that he returned 23 yards for a touchdown, helping BG to a 14-0 lead right out of the gate.

Hewitt and BG junior quarterback Jay Wheeler, who celebrated his 17th birthday in a big way on Friday night, led a powerful Marauders' running attack that churned out 417 yards on the ground, with Jay Wheeler rushing for 134 yards and a score on 20 carries.

"Week 10, you don't want to get anybody hurt, but it was nice to get to this game again and do something that we hadn't done before,'' said BG coach Justin Wheeler, whose Marauders finished their regular season at 9-1 and will open the district playoffs next weekend as the top-seeded team in District 6 Class 1A. "We wanted to play our best game tonight, and I thought that we did that.''

So did Richland coach Brandon Bailey, whose team finished the regular season at 7-2 and will host a District 6 Class 2A playoff game next weekend as the second-seeded team in that classification.

"BG is a great football team,'' Bailey said. "Hats off to them. We didn't do what we needed to do to win the game tonight. They came out and gave us an old-fashioned whooping.''

Hewitt, Schimminger and the offensive line set the tone for the Marauders' convincing victory.

"This is a great win, and it means a lot to us,'' said Hewitt, who rushed for touchdown runs of 4 and 9 yards in the third quarter after his big first-quarter TD jaunt. "We worked really hard for this, and the scoreboard speaks for itself. We have the best offensive line in the state.''

It certainly looked like it Friday.

"The offensive line has played great all year, and we challenged them to win this game for us tonight,'' Coach Wheeler said. "We wanted this one to be memorable.''

BG two-way junior starting lineman Nicky Georgiana agreed that it was just that.

"I thought tonight was a total domination by our offensive and defensive lines,'' Georgiana said. "It was a great game for everybody.''

Schimminger's pick put the Marauders squarely in the driver's seat.

"I was just in a great position to make that play,'' Schimminger said. "It was great to get a big lead in a game like this.''

A 30-yard field goal by outstanding junior kicker Carter Boland in the second quarter gave BG a 17-0 halftime lead, and after Richland used a 79-yard middle screen pass from quarterback Jake Regan to running back Grayson Mahla to set up its only touchdown of the night -- on a 1-yard Jamere Christian run to open the third quarter -- BG promptly responded with a 67-yard dagger scoring drive of its own, capped off by Jay Wheeler's 10-yard TD run, to regain control and take a 24-7 lead.

"We talked about settting the tone on offense tonight, and after that first (Hewitt) touchdown run, Evan Schimminger jumping that pass route on that interception for the second touchdown gave us a lot of momentum,'' Coach Wheeler said. "And I loved the way we responded after (Richland) scored that touchdown in the third quarter.''

Play of the game: None was bigger than Schimminger's early pick-six, although Hewitt's first touchdown run also certainly deserves consideration.

Player of the game: Hewitt had his most prolific rushing game of the season, and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time.

Unsung heroes: BG's offensive line should take a well-deserved bow.

Most vital statistics: All but four of the Marauders' 421 yards were achieved via the rush. BG's total first-half domination was reflected by a 12-0 edge in first downs, a 182-24 advantage in total yards, and the fact that the Marauders enjoyed a roughly 18 to 6 minutes advantage in time of possession.

BG two-way lineman Enzo Lascoli: "We stayed together and played great tonight. We played a great game and did our thing, and you saw how it worked out.''

Notable: Lascoli made an interception for BG to set up Hewitt's 4-yard third-quarter TD run, while Camden Yeager recovered a fumble for Richland.

Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (9-1), Richland (8-2).

Next week: Both teams will open District 6 playoff competition with home games. Bishop Guilfoyle is the top seed in Class 1A, while Richland is the second seed in Class 2A. Pairings will be finalized later this weekend.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop Guilfoyle 14 3 21 0--38

Richland 0 0 7 0--7

First Quarter

BG--Hewitt 40 run (pass failed), 10:25.

BG--Schimminger 23 interception return (Wheeler run), 9:20.

Second Quarter

BG--Boland 30 FG, 6:19.

Third Quarter

R--Christian 1 run (Smith kick), 11:35.

BG--Wheeler 10 run (Boland kick), 10:14.

BG--Hewitt 4 run (Boland kick), 8:02.

BG--Hewitt 9 run (Boland kick), 0:14.

TEAM STATISTICS BG R

First downs 24 5

Total yards 421 193

Rushes-yards 57-417 16-56

Yards passing 4 137

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 2-3-0 8-20-2

Punts/avg. 0-0 3-44

Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 4-25 9-83

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Bishop Guilfoyle, Hewitt 24-182, Wheeler 20-134, Hite 5-77, Foor 4-16, Shellenberger 3-5, Schimminger 1-3. Richland, Mahla 6-29, Regan 5-14, Hill 3-11, Christian 2-3.

PASSING--Bishop Guilfoyle, Shellenberger 2-3-0-4. Richland, Regan 6-16-2-130; Miliauskas 2-4-0-7.

RECEIVING--Bishop Guilfoyle, Foor 1-6, Schimminger 1-(-2). Richland, Mugerwa 4-44, Mahla 1-79, Christian 1-7, Lohr 1-9, Larue 1-(-2).