Northern Bedford pulls out big victory over Meyersdale
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LOYSBURG -- In the fourth quarter, Northern Bedford had lost every ounce of momentum it had gained after a strong first half that gave it a two-score lead.
Despite Meyersdale having its big-play runner, Caleb Sines, being held in check by the Panthers' defense to just 29 rushing yards, the Red Raiders went to the air in the fourth to come all the way back.
The Black Panthers' defense came up with a big interception, and the offense went 70 yards in 33.9 seconds for the game-winning score as NBC capped off homecoming night with a dramatic 28-21 victory on Friday night at Panther Community Stadium.
"So, we've seen this happen twice (this season). We had the lead on Juniata Valley at halftime, and we had the lead on Berlin (Brothersvalley) at halftime. We ended up losing both of those football games," Northern Bedford coach Garry Black said. "We talked about it at halftime that we're up two scores and we can't let that happen. ... I'm really happy with our performance. That's absolute guts and moxie from our guys."
With Northern Bedford forced to punt late in the contest, Jordan Free was only able to get off a 13-yard punt as pressure from Meyersdale came quickly.
The Red Raiders moved the ball down to the NB 37 before quarterback Spencer Whitfield looked to throw to Carter Vogt. However, NB's Trace Baker timed up a hit on Vogt that allowed the ball to pop into the air where the Panthers' Nevin Lloyd came up with his second pick of the night.
"We had to punt again as we couldn't manufacture first downs in the whole second half," Black said. "... That's just one that went our way. It popped up in the air when Trace hit him (Vogt), and Nevin was kind of Johnny on the Spot."
Baker, Northern Bedford's QB threw incomplete on first down before Brett Cottle and Carter Love came up with acrobatic catches while being hit and heavily defended.
Cottle's went for 34 yards while Love's picked up 20 yards that had the Panthers down to the Meyersdale 16 with 20 ticks remaining.
"That drive starts with Brett Cottle making an absolutely fantastic catch," Black said. "Then we're quick on the ball as we had another play prepared, and Carter Love makes a huge catch."
On first down, Baker had Lloyd wide open in the end zone but threw low on a bullet pass.
On the next play, Baker found all 16 yards of running room as he plowed through a defender across the middle with 10.1 seconds left. Wes Hart tacked on the extra point to set the final.
"We had Nevin for the touchdown and missed him," Black said. "I thought, 'we can try to get closer because we still have a timeout, (so) let's just run Trace and see what he can do.' On the same play in the first half, he took it for a touchdown."
Following a 32-yard kickoff return from Gavan Steinberg, Meyersdale took over at the NB 48 with 4.1 left on the clock.
With all three of the Raiders' touchdowns coming on throws of 45, 39 and 27 yards, a big play was certainly capable of happening.
However, Whitfield tossed his fourth interception of the game as NBC's Preston Horsh came up with the pick to end the wild contest.
Player of the game: Baker completed 12-of-19 passes for 183 yards, while churning out 75 yards on the ground on 15 attempts. The junior had a hand in all four TDs as he tossed a 23-yard strike to Lloyd to start the scoring in the first quarter; he connected with Cottle for a 24-yard scoring play a little over 90 seconds into the second stanza; and then he broke free for a 35-yard scamper at 8:20 of the second stanza that was set up by a Love 35-yard punt return to give Northern a 21-8 halftime edge.
Baker: "I just got to trust my guys. ... We just have a connection as we're working all week just throwing to spots. It showed tonight, and we really deserved this one."
Unsung heroes: Lloyd came up with two interceptions on the day while pulling in four catches totaling 50 yards and the touchdown, while Cottle had an interception and grabbed four passes for 73 yards and the TD.
Most vital statistic: Meyersdale turned the ball over four times, while Northern Bedford had an interception and lost a fumble that the Raiders' Ryder Reese recovered to help set up the game-tying score with 2:44 left to play.
Meyersdale coach Ryan Donaldson: "(We had) way too many mistakes. We moved the ball on offense and special teams, but we had too many mistakes that set us back.''
Donaldson: "We talk about this all the time. No matter who you play you can not only play, and choose to play, 12 minutes of football.''
Notable: Whitfield had 216 yards passing on 17 completions and three touchdowns. He hit Steinberg for the 45-yarder in the first frame, and then connected with Vogt on back-to-back possessions in the fourth on the other two throws. Vogt finished with 90 yards on four catches. ... Steinberg also came up with a pick on Baker in the second quarter.
Baker: "The ups and downs of the game are why I play. I get to be here with my boys everyday. ... It's amazing to watch us persevere through all of this. They (Meyersdale) were coming back but we didn't back down."
Records: Meyersdale (5-2); Northern Bedford (4-3).
Next week: Meyersdale hosts Wilmington next Friday; Northern Bedford travels to North Star the same night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Meyersdale 8 0 0 13 -- 21
Northern Bedford 7 14 0 7 -- 28
First Quarter
NB--Lloyd 23 pass from Baker (Hart kick), 1:25.
M--Steinberg 45 pass from Whitfield (Whitfield run), 1:06.
Second Quarter
NB--Br. Cottle 24 pass from Baker (pass failed), 10:26.
NB--Baker 35 run (Lloyd pass from Baker), 8:20.
Fourth Quarter
M--Vogt 39 pass from Whitfield (run failed), 7:12.
M--Vogt 27 pass from Whitfield (Fisher kick), 2:44.
NB--Baker 16 run (Hart kick), 10.1.
TEAM STATISTICS M NB
First downs 12 12
Total yards 273 307
Rushes-yards 20-63 29-124
Yards passing 216 183
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 17-29-4 12-19-1
Punts-avg. 2-37.0 5-28.6
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 7-50 10-87
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Meyersdale, Sines 10-29, Whitfield 10-39, Smith 2-(-5). Northern Bedford, Swanseen 12-48, Feathers 1-0, Baker 15-75, Br. Cottle 1-1.
PASSING--Meyersdale, Whitfield 17-29-4-216. Northern Bedford, Baker 12-19-1-183.
RECEIVING--Meyersdale, Steinberg 5-70, Vogt 4-90, Sines 4-19, Paulman 1-13, Smith 2-9, Weber 1-15. Northern Bedford, Lloyd 4-50, Br. Cottle 5-73, Love 2-57, Swanseen 1-3.