Defense comes up big for BEA

Pat Rothdeutsch

WINGATE — Bald Eagle Area kept things simple on Friday night against visiting Lewistown.

Craig Houtz

Bald Eagle Area's Stevie Eisenhuth (44) chases down Lewistown's AJ Scheffel (1) in the 1st half on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009. CDT/Craig Houtz

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The Eagles scored once, controlled the ball and the clock, committed no turnovers and defensively shut down the wide-open Panther offense.

The result was a 7-0 victory in front of an enthusiastic Senior Night crowd at Alumni Field that, despite the close score, was never really in doubt after BEA surged ahead.

BEA junior quarterback Justin Taylor posted the only points of the game with a 10-yard keeper early in the second quarter that capped a 63-yard, nine-play drive. After that, the Eagles were unable to score, but their defense allowed Lewistown only two first downs the rest of the way and 68 yards in total offense for the game.

“The guys played well,” BEA coach Jack Tobias said. “They have the ability to win games, I’ve been telling them all year. We controlled the ball for most of the night, and it seemed like we moved the ball up and down the field all night. We just have to get better at scoring points.

“I wanted to get this win for the seniors. They have meant a lot to me and they have meant a lot to this program. We have worked hard all year, and I am just happy we could get a win for them tonight.”

The game began looking like it would be an offensive affair. Lewistown took the opening kickoff and drove 60 yards inside the BEA 10. Two consecutive running plays from there netted only one yard, and then on third down, running back Brandon Moist had the ball stripped at the line of scrimmage and BEA recovered.

It would be the only time Lewistown threatened the rest of the night.

“We kept control of the ball and ran the clock,” Tobias added, “and that’s what you need to do to win close games. I am proud of our offensive line; they came out and played real hard, especially in the second half, and they kept the ball out of their hands. When you are playing a team like that, being able to control the ball, that’s the key.”

After an exchange of punts, BEA mounted its scoring drive, with Taylor using all four of his big offensive weapons — Coleman Hoffman, Cody Hicks, Brock Bathurst and Dillon Schall. The big strike was a 25-yard run by Hoffman, who was pushed out of bounds on the Panther 10. On the next play, Taylor scampered in and BEA had the only score it would need.

“We knew we had the ball going into the second half,” Taylor said, “and we wanted to run the ball, and we wanted to open up some passes with play action, and we wanted to control the ball and run time off. We knew we could handle them up front and that’s where it starts. All the momentum and everything was with us.”

BEA threatened constantly in the second half — missing one long field goal and driving twice inside the Panthers 30 — but were not able to come away with any points. Finally, after stopping Lewistown at its own 44 with just over eight minutes left in the game, BEA mounted a 14-play drive that ate up all three of Lewistown’s time-outs and the entire clock. Taylor took a knee at the Panther 17, and BEA had its Senior Night win.

“This is amazing for these seniors,” Taylor said. “They mean a lot to us. Everyone in the locker room looks up to them, and they are our biggest fans and our captains. It’s just amazing that they can go out with a win on their final night here.”

For the game, Taylor was 9-for-19 passing for 131 yards, and Hoffman ran 20 times for 81 yards. Hicks had 44 yards on nine carries, and Bathurst contributed 23 yards on four carries. Schall led the receivers with three catches for 44 yards.