Panthers run wild over Bulldogs
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LOYSBURG -- Northern Bedford coach Garry Black said his team's focus was to get its running game going early and often.
On Friday night, the Panthers were able to do that, to the tune of 350 yards rushing on 35 carries and seven rushing scores in a 59-7 rout of Claysburg-Kimmel in both team's regular season finales at Panther Community Stadium.
Play of the game: Up 20-7, Northern Bedford's Erik Swanseen had an 18 yard run that got the Panthers to the Bulldogs' 26. Claysburg-Kimmel committed a personal foul penalty that moved the ball to the 13. On the next play, Northern Bedford quarterback Jordan Free connected with Brett Cottle on a nice back shoulder throw for a touchdown with 26 seconds left in the first half. The Panthers then took the opening possession of the second half for another score to make it 33-7 early in the third quarter.
Player of the game: Northern Bedford running back Erik Swanseen had nine carries in the game with nearly half going for touchdowns. The junior had four rushing scores and a total of 156 yards. His scores were 34, 2, 41 and 25 yards a piece.
Unsung hero: Panthers linebacker Brett Cottle had three of his team's four interceptions, and he added a 13-yard receiving touchdown.
Most vital statistic: Northern Bedford caused six turnovers on the night, but only recorded a touchdown off of one them. … The Panthers' defense had 13 tackles for loss -- 3 for sacks -- while giving up just 72 yards of total offense.
Northern Bedford coach Garry Black: "The last two weeks, our goal has been to establish the run game. If you want to win football games in November, you have to be able to run the ball. Last week, even though the score was not in our favor, we ran the ball really well, especially given the circumstances that we were in. This week, it just really carried over. We've worked hard on trying to make sure that we establish that, and I think we did. Our offensive line, there's some guys on that group that are seniors, and last year they worked through some injuries. We had guys that we never got a chance to put it all together. Right now, I think that we're as healthy as we've been going into the playoffs, so I'm just excited about that."
Claysburg-Kimmel coach Chuck Kassick: "You see them on film. You see us on film. They're younger kids, and we are too, but they are so much bigger than we are up front. They're huge compared to us. Our kids fought, and they battled. We just don't have enough gas in the tank to finish it sometimes. We just couldn't withstand the pressure. We couldn't withstand the bulk up the front. That's what you get when you're undersized, eventually, physics wins out, and it won out."
Northern Bedford running back Erik Swanseen: "I'm just really proud of my line. They really came out and blocked well. I had to follow them, and then there's green grass. It really boosts our confidence. It's a good win to have. We got to keep that rolling into next week."
Notable: The teams combined for 18 penalties with Claysburg-Kimmel having 10 total. The Bulldogs suffered three personal foul penalties alone on one play, and one player was ejected from the game. … Claysburg-Kimmel had -18 rushing yards in the first quarter and finished with 22 total for the first half compared to Northern Bedford's 221 rushing yards in the first half.
Records: Claysburg-Kimmel 1-9; Northern Bedford 5-5
Next week: Claysburg-Kimmel's season complete; Northern Bedford at Conemaugh Township, District 5 Class 1A semifinals, Friday, 7 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Claysburg-Kimmel 0 7 0 0 -- 7
Northern Bedford 14 13 20 12 -- 59
First Quarter
NB--Swanseen 34 run (Hart kick), 6:33
NB--Swanseen 2 run (Hart kick), 1:25
Second Quarter
C-K--Kulick 4 run (Fee kick), 9:07
NB--Swanseen 41 run (kick failed), 7:13
NB--Br. Cottle 13 pass from Free (Hart kick), :26
Third Quarter
NB--Swanseen 28 run (run failed), 10:50
NB--Black 4 run (Crawford kick), 6:37
NB--Black 17 run (Ritchey kick), 6:08
Fourth Quarter
NB--Brennan 48 run (kick failed), 9:37
NB--Britt 3 fumble recovery (kick blocked), 3:14
TEAM STATISTICS C-K NB
First downs 8 13
Total yards 72 385
Rushes-yards 34-45 35-350
Yards passing 27 35
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 4-13-4 2-5-0
Punts-avg. 3-34 2-35.5
Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-yards 10-82 8-75
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Claysburg-Kimmel, Kulick 13-43, Brown 4-11, Treon 3-6, Quarello 7-2, Wendle 2-(-7), A. Soler 5-(-10). Northern Bedford, Swanseen 9-156, Black 11-70, Brennan 1-48, Free 5-34, Lloyd 3-23, Feathers 1-14, Bowers 1-7, Love 1-2, Weimer 1-2, Br. Cottle 1-1, Baker 1-(-7).
PASSING -- Claysburg-Kimmel, Kulick 4-12-3-27, Knott 0-1-1-0. Northern Bedford, Free 2-5-0-35.
RECEIVING--Claysburg-Kimmel, A. Soler 3-20, Fether 1-7. Northern Bedford, Love 1-22, Br. Cottle 1-13.