Bald Eagle Area football firing on all cylinders with 5-1 start after 2-6 season in 2020
It seemed like everything went wrong for Bald Eagle Area football last season.
They had to deal with injuries, less practice time due to COVID-19, youthful mistakes and just simply the perfect storm of bad luck to finish with a 2-6 record. Things are now looking up for the Eagles, as they have risen from the ashes and have a 5-1 start to the season, which is good for second in the Mountain League behind 6-0 Clearfield.
“I think it’s going pretty well,” head coach Jesse Nagle said Wednesday. “I think we’re still trying to search for some things. We have guys in and out, unfortunately, because of COVID stuff, but we’re doing enough each week and telling our guys, ‘As long as we’re plus one, that’s all that matters’. We’ve been able to do that. We definitely want to continue to get better because there’s still a lot out there for us to grow. So, hopefully each week we continue to get better.”
The Eagles opened their season with a 20-0 win over Troy on Aug. 28. Their only loss of the year was against Clearfield in a 21-0 matchup (Sept. 3), then they pummeled North Penn-Mansfield 50-7 (Sept. 10), following up with another rout of Huntingdon by a 42-0 score (Sept. 17), a hard-fought 14-0 victory over Penns Valley (Sept. 24) and another battle against Tyrone with a 15-9 win (Oct. 1).
One of the biggest keys to the Eagles’ turnaround this season came ahead of their first game against Troy. Senior Garrett Burns was the returning starter at quarterback. Freshman Carson Nagle entered camp to compete for the starting job. Looking to stabilize both the quarterback and running back positions, Coach Nagle made the decision to move Burns to running back and have Carson Nagle take over as the starting quarterback.
Burns hasn’t looked back since. The senior running back has 94 carries for 658 yards (seven yards per carry) and has six rushing touchdowns in as many games. He’s also getting it done on the defensive side of the ball at the linebacker position, following Trey Greene as the second-leading tackler on the team with 35 tackles.
His goal has simply been to do his job and be available whenever the bell tolls to rally the team to play hard.
“Wherever I can help the team out the best is all that I really care about,” Burns said. “I love both of the positions and I have to do what’s right for my team. Our defense is what wins us most of our football games. At practice, we take reps like we’re actually playing in a real football game. We play really hard. Last Friday night, we played with our hearts.”
Greene’s defensive ability has been nothing short of the best on his team — both by statistical standards and anecdotal evidence presented by the coaching staff. Greene has 53 tackles with 10 tackles for loss and six sacks, accounting for 57 yards lost. On Wednesday’s practice, Greene relayed orders to his teammates and put them in the right position to succeed. That’s just the player that his coaches know him as.
He preps by watching some of his favorite players in National Football League history, college football and high school. The biggest key to his game is knowing how to attack the ball carrier and create opportunities for his defense to regain possession of the football. He wants to know each and every detail that is presented to him by the coaching staff and execute.
“It’s been awhile that I’ve been doing it [watching game film],” Greene said. “My dad just instilled that in me from a young age. I try to watch all that I can, grab anything that I can from the game. Every opportunity that I get, I try to take the best from each player. If I had to pick out one player, it’d be Ray Lewis with just the intensity and passion that he played the game with.”
Carson Nagle is 83-for-142 (58.5 percent) on passes for 1,013 yards through the air and has eight touchdowns and eight interceptions on the season. The freshman quarterback has had some ups and downs throughout the season, which can be expected from a young player at the position. His best game was a 14-for-26, 327-yard and four-touchdown performance in a 42-0 blowout of Huntingdon on Sept. 17. He had his toughest outing against Clearfield, where he went 13-for-33 (39.4 percent) with 118 passing yards and two interceptions.
Despite those ups and downs, he understands that he has a reliable supporting cast around him and high expectations for himself and his teammates in the postseason.
“There are definitely some teams that are really, really good that we’re going to play, but I think with our athletes, how we spread the ball and now with Garrett [Burns] coming on with a very good running back, I think our offense is going to be really good,” Carson Nagle said. “And I think our defense is just unbelievable.”
The Eagles will next host Philipsburg-Osceola (2-4) at 7 p.m. Friday, followed by cross-town rival Bellefonte (1-5) in the annual Curtin Bowl the next week to close out their Mountain League schedule, and will end their regular season at home against 2020 Class 4A state runner up Jersey Shore (6-0) on Oct. 22.
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 5:03 PM.
