Wildcats too much for BEA to handle

Gordon Brunskill

MILL HALL — For a fleeting moment, Bald Eagle Area looked like it was on the verge of making a comeback.

The Eagles were starting to move the ball well and pulled to within two touchdowns.

It only took 14 seconds for that feeling to disappear, long enough for Central Mountain’s Scott Zuback to be off to the races for a backbreaking touchdown.

It was the last of the senior running back’s four scores as the Wildcats got the best of their rivals 41-20 Friday night at Don Malinak Field.

“That was just the dagger we wanted to put in,” said Zuback, who finished with 175 yards on 18 carries. “That one felt really good.”

Central Mountain (2-2) had an impressive night rushing, racking up 340 yards on the ground as a team. Freshman Von Walker, up from the junior varsity, added 128 yards on eight carries and two more scores.

“With our option game you always look for a couple backs to do that,” Wildcats coach Steve Turchetta said. “We’ve got some exceptional kids that run hard.”

The Eagles soared through the air with quarterback Justin Taylor connecting on 13 of 19 passes for 202 yards, including 8 of 9 for 129 yards in the second half, but he was sacked midway through the fourth quarter and had to be helped off the field. Taylor, whose right knee was wrapped in ice as he left the field on crutches, was optimistic the injury was not serious.

“I was really seeing the field well,” said Taylor, who was replaced by Mark Leskovansky. “The guys were getting open and we were getting the ball up the field.”

Jon Gingrich led the ground attack with 59 yards on 13 carries and also caught five passes for 33 yards. Stevie Eisenhuth led the receivers with four receptions for 70 yards and Dillon Schall grabbed two passes for 60 yards.

Trailing 21-0 in the first half while being outgained 209-83 in total yards, BEA began moving the ball in the second half and had cut the margin to 34-20 when Brock Bathurst took a reverse 23 yards around the right end for a score.

The Eagles then tried to surprise Central Mountain with a squib kick, but the Wildcats fell on the ball, and on the very next play Zuback took the option pitch from quarterback Nick Turchetta, broke a tackle about five yards down field and pulled away from everyone else for the 59-yard score.

“We just needed that one stop and we couldn’t get a stop,” BEA coach Jack Tobias said. “Every time we’d score they’d come right back and score again. We couldn’t get that momentum to swing. We made too many errors again.”

“It was really frustrating,” Taylor said. “We had the momentum.”

The Eagles were like a different team after intermission, needing just 2:16 to move 77 yards for their first score, a nine-yard Gingrich run. Schall made the big play to set up the touchdown, hauling in a 50-yard connection from Taylor.

After Central Mountain responded with a Zuback six-yard run to cap a 54- yard drive, BEA put together a 75-yard march in just under five minutes, with Coleman Hoffman snagging a screen pass and following his blockers 16 yards to the end zone, dodging a tackle at the 5 yard-line before easing across the goal line.

The Wildcats responded again, however, needing just 2:40 to go 68 yards the other way as Walker raced in from the 9.

That set the stage for the final, decisive scores of the night.

“We just started mixing things up a little bit more,” Tobias said. “We did some things different from what we did in the first half, took advantage of a couple things they were doing.”

Central Mountain, which finished with 405 yards of total offense, dominated on the ground in the first half with Zuback scoring on runs of four and six yards sandwiched around a 38- yard touchdown burst from Walker.

The Eagles also did not help themselves, fumbling the ball five times — losing two of them — while suffering six sacks for 33 yards by the Wildcat defense.

“We came out and moved the ball well in the second half,” Tobias said. “We’ve got to come up with the stop in key situations. We didn’t do that. Credit to Central Mountain. They moved the ball well, were able to get it up and down the field and control it with the run. That’s an important part of the game. For some reason we weren’t able to come up with a play tonight and stop it.”

Gordon Brunskill can be reached at 231-4608.