First win still eludes Eagles

Don Harris

ST. MARYS — Missed chances usually cost teams a shot at a win, and it wasn't any different for Bald Eagle Area on Friday, as it fell to St. Marys 20-14.

Things looked bleak for the Eagles (0-3) when St. Marys’ Brian Samick pulled in his third touchdown — an 11-yard touchdown pass from Greg Simchick — to give the Dutch (3-0) a 20-7 lead with 7:24 left in the game.

However, St. Marys softened a little on defense and Bald Eagle Area capitalized, marching 63 yards in nine plays to cut the margin to 20-14 with 4:37 left in the game.

The Dutch tried to run out the clock by going to the ground game, but with 2:20 left, running back Kevin Hoy, who the Dutch used exclusively in the final frame, put the ball on the ground and Bald Eagle Area’s Coleman Hoffman recovered it to give the Eagles a chance at either a tie or the lead.

Bald Eagle Area picked up a 1-yard gain on first down before trying to hit some fly patterns down the sideline. That didn’t work as three straight incompletions gave the ball back to the Dutch who ran out the closing seconds.

“The guys didn’t quit,” BEA head coach John Tobias said. “I don’t think that too many people even gave us a chance of coming up here and even being in the game. We played them tough in the first half and went to the half tied at 7-7, then came out in the second half and fell behind 20-7. However, we came up with a big drive then forced a fumble to give us a chance.

“We just have to execute in key situations,” Tobias added. “There were a couple times that we had guys wide open and didn’t get the ball to them. We’ve got to take advantage of that. You can’t have guys running wide open and not get them the ball.”

Hoy and Samick were thorns in the Eagles’ side all night long as Hoy ran for 136 yards on 26 carries, while Samick caught two touchdown passes and ran for another.

Cody Hicks led BEA with 42 yards on 10 carries while quarterback Justin Taylor hit 5 of 17 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown. That score came a 64-yard catch and run by Kyle Womer.

St. Marys scored first when Samick caught a 14- yard touchdown pass in the back corner of the end zone. The kick was good giving the Dutch a 7-0 advantage.

It took BEA nearly a full quarter after that to tie the game as Taylor hooked up with Womer on a first down play. The kick was good, tying the game at 7-7.

St. Marys added a score and a kick in the third to make it 14-7 while a touchdown and a failed kick in the fourth made it 13-point game and gave the Dutch some breathing room.

Bald Eagle Area will travel to Central Mountain Friday.