Bald Eagle Area rallies late to edge River Valley in District 6 Class 2A football quarterfinals
Even though Friday night was just the start of the postseason for the Bald Eagle Area football team, the Eagles’ 33-29 win over River Valley in the District 6 Class 2A quarterfinals had more of a PIAA playoff feel to it.
BEA forced four turnovers, but gave up three of its own. It also had to rally late to come away with the win.
“We dealt with adversity. Our kids grew up tonight a little more,” Eagles coach Jesse Nagle said. “We are plus one. I don’t care what it is, as long as we are plus one. We’ve been here before. We’ve won a lot of games by one or two points, and that’s all that matters, as long as we play another week.”
BEA trailed 29-26 with 7:07 left in the game as the Panthers turned an Eagles’ fumble into a score. It was the second fumble of the game, and the third turnover of the night.
BEA started the ensuing drive at its 26. The drive opened with an incomplete pass from Carson Nagle to Kahale Burns. The next play the Eagles were able to collect a pass interference call on River Valley to get to the 41-yard line.
BEA strung together six straight run plays to get to the Panthers’ 17. A holding call on the Eagles forced them back, an incomplete pass and a seven-yard run from Garrett Burns, and had BEA sitting 4th and 6 at River Valley’s 20.
Coach Nagle said he was fine kicking a game-tying field goal at that point, but his offensive coordinator urged him to go for it. The gamble paid off.
Carson Nagle, who is a freshman, connected with sophomore receiver Camron Watkins to earn the first down. Nagle connected with Owen Irvin to get the Eagles to River Valley’s 2, and it was now first and goal.
Garrett Burns, who became BEA’s first 1,000 yard rusher in 17 years, rumbled in for his fourth rushing score of the night to give the Eagles a 33-29 lead with 38 seconds remaining in the game. The defense then shut the door when it picked up its third interception of the night — this one from Max Yetsko.
“We say it all the time. We got to battle and believe. We are a family,” Coach Nagle said. “We harp that every single day. They play for each other. They played their hearts out. Tonight was a prime example, they could’ve quit many of times, but they did not quit.”
The game couldn’t have started any better for BEA. The Eagles raced out to a 14-0 first quarter lead. They also force three turnovers in that quarter alone — interceptions from Ethan Koleno and Irvin, and a fumble recovery by Chandler Burns.
Garrett Burns started the scoring for the night by taking the snap on a one-play drive, and scoring on a 17-yard run. It was a possession that came off of Irvin’s interception deep in the Panthers’ end of the field. On River Valley’s ensuing possession, Chandler Burns had that fumble recovery, again deep in the opponents territory.
Garrett Burns capped off a four-play drive, that saw him carry it three straight times. Burns finished the night with 32 carries for 179 yards. He now has 1,130 yards rushing on the year and 12 rushing touchdowns.
The Panthers responded by scoring 21 unanswered points to claim the lead. They scored back to back touchdowns late in the first half to tie the game at 14-14 at the half. One of those touchdowns saw Hank Skirboll return a fumble 86 yards.
River Valley opened the second half with star running back Angelo Bartolini getting loose on a 57-yard rushing score. It was his biggest run of the night as he was bottled up by BEA’s defense.
“They are a heck of a defense. They played well all year,” River Valley coach Jess Houser said. “We played with their defense being good. I think we did OK on offense, but turnovers killed us.”
Garrett Burns’ third rushing score of the night came with eight minutes left in the third quarter. It pulled the Eagles to within 21-20 as the extra point kick got blocked.
BEA reclaimed the lead when Carson Nagle connected with a wide open Irvin on a 24-yard slant pass for the score with 6:45 left in the third quarter.
River Valley took the lead over one more when its defense sacked Carson Nagle deep in the Eagles’ end of the field. Nagle fumbled the ball that end up going into the end zone, and was recovered by the Panthers. It was a 29-26 game with 7:07 remaining, and that’s when BEA began its comeback.
With the win, the No. 4 Eagles will host No. 8 Forest Hills, which beat top-seeded Cambria Heights, 29-0, next Friday in the semifinals.
“They were excellent. They have great running backs. The quarterback was very good,” said Coach Nagle of River Valley. “The linemen were a lot more physical than I thought they were going to be. They had trouble blocking us in the first half, but they made some adjustments. In all fairness, we helped them. I think we had five penalties on one drive. We got to clean that up. There is no way we are going to beat a good Forest Hills team next week if we don’t clean it up.”
Bald Eagle Area 33, River Valley 29
District 6 Class 2A Quarterfinals
Friday at Wingate
SCORE BY QUARTERS
River Valley 0 14 7 8 -- 29
Bald Eagle Area 14 0 12 7 -- 33
First Quarter
BEA--Garrett Burns 17 run (Kaden Burns kick), 3:39
BEA--G. Burns 2 run (Kad. Burns kick), 1:42
Second Quarter
RV--Braden Staats 1 run (Keith Behanna kick), 4:54
RV--Hank Skirboll 86 fumble return (Behanna kick), 1:21
Third Quarter
RV--Angelo Bartolini 57 run (Behanna kick), 11:07
BEA--G. Burns 1 run (kick blocked), 8:00
BEA--Owen Irvin 24 pass from Carson Nagle (run failed), 6:45
Fourth Quarter
RV--Conner Rebo 1 fumble return (A. Bartolini run), 7:07
BEA--G. Burns 2 run (Kad. Burns kick), :38
TEAM STATISTICS RV BEA
First downs 10 13
Total yards 178 362
Rushes-yards 30-124 35-189
Yards passing 54 173
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 9-14-3 14-26-1
Punts-avg. 0-0 3-40.3
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 6-70 14-159
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--River Valley, A. Bartolini 20-127, Sincere Mcfarlin 4-5, Rocco Bartolini 2-4, Luke Woodring 1-0, Staats 2-(-9), Team 1-(-3). Bald Eagle Area, G. Burns 32-179, Kahale Burns 1-0, Chase Thompson 1-3, Camron Watkins 1-7.
PASSING--River Valley, Staats 9-13-54-0, Woodring 0-1-0-0. Bald Eagle Area, Nagle 14-26-173-1.
RECEIVING--River Valley, R. Bartolini 3-9, A. Bartolini 1-8, Skirboll 3-11, S. Mcfarlin 1-16, Woodring 1-10. Bald Eagle Area, Irvin 6-115, Kah. Burns 3-26, Watkins 2-15, G. Burns 2-15, Gavin Eckley 1-2.
Records: River Valley 8-3, Bald Eagle Area 9-2
Next game: River Valley season complete, Forest Hills at Bald Eagle Area, D6 Class 2A semifinals, Friday, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 1:07 AM.
