Red Raiders can't catch up to Tigers' start

Ron Bracken

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The fireworks display at halftime paled in comparison to the one Hollidaysburg put on in the first half against Bellefonte on Friday night.

The Golden Tigers, playing at home for the first time this year, scored on runs of 85 and 80 yards on two of their first three plays and went on to hang a 49-21 defeat on the Red Raiders.

Hollidaysburg’s defense held Bellefonte on a fourth-and-8 from the Tiger 14 and one play later, Luke Rhodes swung left, found a crease in the Bellefonte defense and went 85 yards for the score with 8:08 left in the first quarter.

Bellefonte, thanks to an interception and return by Travis Corl, got the ball on the Hollidaysburg 24. But the Tiger defense again threw up a stone wall, forcing the Raiders to try a 28-yard field goal by Tyler Lucas. It was blocked and on the very first snap from scrimmage, the Tigers’ James Muir circled the left side and went 80 yards for the score with 2:44 showing. Andrew Dick kicked the second of his six extra points to make it 14-0.

The next time the Tigers got the ball, they drove 89 yards in 12 plays with Rhodes, who scored four times in the first half, getting the final nine at the 7:48 mark of the second quarter.

Rhodes struck again on Bellefonte’s next possession as he picked off a Billy Thompson pass and returned it 48 yards for a score. Dick made it 28-0 on the play. Thompson was hurt on the play and finished the game in street clothes.

“Getting out to that big lead early was nice,” said Hollidaysburg coach John Barton. “When you’re 0-3 you have to get some kind of confidence. We had been telling the kids they were a good team and if they kept on fighting things would start to turn around for them.”

Hollidaysburg scored again just ahead of the half when Brandon Glunt picked off Zach Tressler and returned the ball to the Bellefonte 5. Rhodes took it in from there to make it 34-0. And when Dick converted the PAT the mercy rule kicked in with 42 seconds left in the half.

“We need to find some intensity coming out of the gate,” said Raider coach Zac Wynkoop. “We need to have that intensity from the first whistle.

“We had guys in position to make the tackle (on the long touchdown runs) and we didn’t make the tackle. Who knows what would have happened if we hadn’t had those turnovers. We had opportunities but you can’t have those pick-sixes.”

“That’s hard, when you’re behind and you’re trying to get something going and you have those two picks and one of them goes for a touchdown,” said Barton. “That’s tough for anyone to overcome. Rhodes is a pretty special athlete. He’s strong enough to run inside and fast enough to get to the edge.”

Hollidaysburg took the second half kickoff and drove 65 yards, all on the ground, for a score as Muir went in from the 10 and Dick made it 42-0. Barton then turned the game over to his backups.

Bellefonte took advantage, putting three scores on the board, beginning with Tressler’s 47-yard burst on a play that began as a quarterback sneak. With the middle clogged, Tressler bounced to the outside and was untouched as he went for the score. Lucas made it 42-7.

The Raiders got another TD when Caleb Williamson went 61 yard with 10:48 left in the game. The kick for the PAT failed.

Bellefonte’s defense held and the Raiders got their last score when Nate Shultz went 66 yards for a score and Billy Muzika ran for the two-point conversion with 4:53 remaining.