Forest Hills, Damon Crawley run all over Bald Eagle Area in District 6 Class 2A football semifinal
There was one word that Bald Eagle Area coach Jesse Nagle used to describe Forest Hills running back Damon Crawley: stud.
Nagle went on to say that he felt Crawley was the best athlete in the District 6 region, no matter what classification.
“Any field, anywhere, he’s the best player on the field in this area no question,” Nagle said.
Crawley’s 269 yards rushing on 21 carries, and six touchdowns — five on the ground — was too much to overcome for the Eagles in a 49-20 loss to the Rangers in the District 6 Class 2A semifinals on Friday night.
“They were just better. They have horses up front and wore us down,” Nagle said. “We tried to do different things. We shifted our fronts. I haven’t seen a kid better than him. He showed that tonight. He broke tackle after tackle.”
BEA opened the game with the ball first, but was forced to punt. It got its first shot at Crawley and Forest Hills, and held them in check to force a three-and-out.
The Eagles took the ensuing possession at their 47, and marched down the field. The fourth play of the drive saw quarterback Carson Nagle connect with Camron Watkins, who broke several tackles en route to a 45-yard play to get to the Rangers’ 2.
Garrett Burns gained and lost one yard on the next two plays, but Edward Greene took a sneaky snap from BEA’s heavy package and rumbled in for a two-yard score. Greene motioned from the left side of the line to right behind the center to take the snap and score.
The Eagles led 7-0 with 5:01 left in the first quarter. However, Forest Hills responded with an eight-play drive that was capped off with Crawley scoring on a three-yard run, to make it 7-7 with 1:12 left in the quarter.
The teams traded possessions over the next three drives, but the Rangers saw Crawley pick up his second rushing score of the night with 1:38 left in the first half on a 21-yard run to lead 14-7 at the break. It was a score that Forest Hills coach Justin Myers felt his team needed.
“It was key for us to get that score before halftime,” Myers said. “To end the half at 14-7, we were getting the ball to start the second half. If we could put the ball in the end zone on the first drive, our chances were good to win the game.”
Myers’ squad did exactly what he said. They opened the second half with a five-play drive that was highlighted by Crawley ripping off a 40-yard run that got the Rangers to the BEA 7. Two plays later, Crawley had rushing score No. 3 from four yards out, and the rout was on.
The Eagles looked to have rebounded on their ensuing possession when Carson Nagle connected with Watkins for a 55-yard touchdown, but a holding penalty negated the play. BEA ended up turning the ball over on downs to finish the drive.
Forest Hills, which finished with 362 rushing yards on 48 carries, again went to the ground game. It’s something that Myers has focused on all year long.
“We have a big line up front. We have four capable running backs,” Myers said. “Like Damon said, it’s all about the offensive linemen and the guys around him. Without Easton Toth, Nick Caddy, Colten Danel and Brady Christ running the ball, we don’t win the game tonight. They made some key runs for us that opened up holes for Damon as well in our offense.”
Caddy made a big 30-yard run to open a three-play drive for the Rangers with 8:41 left in the third quarter. Two plays later, Crawley had a 23-yard run for his fourth rushing score of the night. Forest Hills led 28-7 midway through the third quarter.
The Eagles responded and looked to keep the game close as they put together another scoring drive. Carson Nagle used three straight passes and a Rangers’ penalty helped move BEA from its own 28 to the Rangers’ 5. Nagle hit Gavin Eckley for a 26-yard strike up the middle of the field. Eckley took a shot from a Forest Hills defender, which was called for targeting.
On the next play, Nagle hit Owen Irvin on a flat route, Irvin took the ball and broke a couple of tackles and carried a couple of Rangers’ defenders to the five-yard line. Two plays later, Greene had his second rushing score of the game to make it a 28-13 deficit for the Eagles.
Forest Hills scored two touchdowns a little over a minute a part to extend its lead to 29. Crawley picked up his final rushing score of the night to finish off a six-play drive. On BEA’s drive after Crawley’s score, Carson Nagle threw an interception that was returned 65 yards the opposite direction for a score by Toth. It was 42-13 with 1:14 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles were forced to punt on their next possession. The Rangers took advantage with Crawley connecting with Jeremy Burda for a 34-yard score through the air, which started a running clock for the remaining 9:49 left in the game.
BEA was able to put one more score on the board before the night was over, when Eckley took a jet sweep 16 yards for a score with 3:48 remaining in the game. It was a sign that even though the Eagles were down, they never gave up.
It’s that mentality that Coach Nagle knows will help this young team in future seasons.
“Our kids battled for all the seniors that were on the field,” Nagle said. “We were rotating guys in to get the seniors that didn’t play a whole lot, some playing time. They battled the whole time, too. I’m very proud of every single kid over there.”
Forest Hills 49, Bald Eagle Area 20
District 6 Class 2A Semifinals
Friday at Wingate
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Forest Hills 7 7 28 7 -- 49
Bald Eagle Area 7 0 6 7 -- 20
First Quarter
BEA--Edward Greene 2 run (Kaden Burns kick), 5:01
FH--Damon Crawley 3 run (Nolan Cabala kick), 1:12
Second Quarter
FH--Crawley 21 run (Cabala kick), 1:38
Third Quarter
FH--Crawley 4 run (Cabala kick), 10:14
FH--Crawley 23 run (Cabala kick), 7:12
BEA--Greene 3 run (kick failed), 4:54
FH--Crawley 3 run (Cabala kick), 2:25
FH--Easton Toth 65 INT return (Cabala kick), 1:14
Fourth Quarter
BEA--Gavin Eckley 16 run (Carter Stere kick), 3:48
TEAM STATISTICS FH BEA
First downs 15 10
Total yards 430 273
Rushes-yards 48-362 19-48
Yards passing 68 225
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 3-6-0 15-31-3
Punts-avg. 3-29 3-39.7
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 8-80 5-44
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Forest Hills, Crawley 21-269, Nick Caddy 8-46, Colten Danel 5-33, Toth 4-14, Ben Harteis 4-5, Brady Christ 2-4, Mason Papinchak 1-2, Jake Poldiak 1-0, Bailey Sheppard 1-0, Team 1-(-13). Bald Eagle Area, Garrett Burns 12-27, Camron Watkins 1-2, Eckley 1-16, Greene 2-5, Carson Nagle 3-(-2).
PASSING--Forest Hills, Crawley 2-5-63-1 TD, Poldiak 1-1-5-0. Bald Eagle Area, Nagle 14-30-191-0, G. Burns 1-1-34-0.
RECEIVING--Forest Hills, Burda 1-34, Caddy 1-29, Christ 1-5. Bald Eagle Area, Watkins 5-68, Owen Irvin 4-33, Eckley 1-26, Kahale Burns 2-51, Elliot Splain 1-34, G. Burns 1-5, Greene 1-(-2).
Records: Forest Hills 7-5, Bald Eagle Area 9-3
Next game: Forest Hills vs. Richland, District 6 Class 2A Championships, Mansion Park, Altoona, Friday, 7 p.m., Bald Eagle Area season complete
