How BEA football erased a 14-0 halftime deficit to win an OT thriller in the 1st round of PIAAs
The Bald Eagle Area Eagles overcame a 14-point deficit to take down the Bedford Bison Friday night, 21-20, in the first round of the Class 3A PIAA football championships.
The Eagles trailed by 14 at the half, but Bald Eagle head coach Jesse Nagle had a halftime message to rally the team.
“(I told them to) just believe in one another,” he said. “We’ve dealt with a lot this year. I told them that we were so close so many times and we just couldn’t finish it. I just told them them to believe in themselves.”
Nagle said the team’s schematic changes at the half helped propel his team to victory.
“We changed up a bunch,” he said. “We changed our blocking scheme a little bit there, we changed our routes because they were jumping them, and we told (quarterback) Jaden (Jones), ‘Hey, use your feet, man.’”
The Bison jumped out to their lead with a 6-yard touchdown run by senior running back Miles Washington with 30 seconds left in the first quarter of the game.
They traded possessions with the Eagles before getting on the board with a long touchdown run by junior running back Steven Ressler. Ressler took a handoff and outraced the Bald Eagle defenders to the end zone for a 59-yard touchdown run with 8:51 left in the second quarter.
Bald Eagle nearly got on the board on its last drive of the first half. Senior quarterback Jaden Jones hit senior wide receiver Kaden Bittinger in the end zone on a long pass, but it was called back after the Eagles were called for a holding penalty with less than a minute left. The Eagles continued to march downfield to set up first-and-goal from the Bedford 10 late in the half. They failed to score on the next four plays, and went into the half down 14-0.
Bald eagle wasn’t able to get its offense going until late in the third quarter when senior running back Gage McClenahan scored from 6 yards out on a run to cut the Bedford lead in half.
Both offenses struggled to score until the Eagles finally broke through again with 1:06 left in the fourth quarter. They lined up on fourth-and-goal at the 5-yard line, still down seven. Jones dropped back and rolled right, before reversing course and coming back to his left. At that point, he saw senior wide receiver Matthew Reese in the corner of the end zone and flicked the ball into the air. Reese and a Bedford defender went up for the ball and the senior wide receiver came down with it, tying the game at 14 after the extra point.
Reese said he wasn’t surprised by the play Jones made to get him the ball.
“It was just a typical Jadey Jones scramble play,” Reese said. “I was just trying to get open and it ended up working in our favor. My eyes were huge. There was nothing getting between me and that ball.”
McClenahan said he had faith in his teammates, although he admitted nerves did take over as the ball was in the air.
“With (Jones), you can never doubt him, but I’m going to admit it, I kind of got a little bit nervous,” McClenahan said with a laugh. “But when I saw Matt in the end zone, I had faith.”
The senior running back got his chance to shine in overtime.
Jones took the second snap of overtime and faked a handoff to McClenahan before the running back took off toward the end zone. Jones initially stepped to his left, before cutting right and flinging the ball to a sliding McClenahan for a touchdown and a 21-14 lead. The Bison quickly answered with a touchdown of their own from senior quarterback Mercury Swaim on a 10-yard run, but the team missed the extra point, giving the Eagles the win.
McClenahan finished the game with 100 rushing yards on 25 carries and 108 receiving yards on eight receptions as well as a fumble recovery and interception on defense, while Reese finished with 46 receiving yards on seven receptions.
The Eagles will take on the winner of Saturday’s matchup between Grove City and Sharon in the quarterfinals.
BALD EAGLE 21, BEDFORD 20
(Friday at Hollidaysburg)
Bald Eagle 0 0 7 7 7 – 21
Bedford 7 7 0 0 6 – 20
First Quarter
B — Washington 6 run (Lizzy Martz kick), 0:30
Second Quarter
B — Ressler 59 run (Martz kick), 8:51
Third Quarter
BEA — McClenahan (Carter Stere kick), 3:40
Fourth Quarter
BEA —Reese 5 pass from Jones (Stere kick), 1:06
Overtime
BEA — McClenahan 10 pass from Jones (Stere kick)
B — Swaim 10 run (kick failed)
Top Rusher: B: Ressler 4-87-1. BEA: McLenahan 25-100-1.
Top Passer: B: Ressler 1-1 35. BEA: Jones 22-42-2-0 192.
Top Receiver: B: Gregory Edwards 1-35. BEA: McClenahan 8-108-1
Interceptions: B: Ressler. BEA: McClenahan, Ben Yetsko.
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 12:17 AM.
