Devils batter Eagles for third straight rivalry win
The first offensive series for Bellwood-Antis in last night’s Backyard Brawl at Memorial Stadium was telling.
Twice Tyrone had B-A in third-and-long situations – just the scenario the Eagles were hoping for against a quarterback known far more for his running than passing – and twice Blue Devils quarterback Bradyn Partner made incredible plays to move the chains.
For the Eagles, Partner’s 48-yard run on third-and-7 against a blitz that got caught up inside was unfortunate, but not unexpected.
His 24-yard completion to Ethan Shawley was a little different. While it’s not like Partner can’t throw the ball at all, Tyrone probably wasn’t ready for him to thread a needle along the sidelines with a pass only his receiver could have gotten to. But he did.
If you’re Tyrone in that situation, that’s when you start to realize this might be a long night, and it was. B-A went on to score on their first series and their second before cashing in on an avalanche of Tyrone mistakes to set the mercy rule in effect by halftime in a 37-14 victory.
It was the third straight Backyard Brawl win for the Devils (4-1), who bounced back resoundingly from their only loss of the season a week ago to Central. It was also the most dominant half of football in the mercy rule era for either team in Blair County’s biggest rivalry.
There have been lopsided scores in the Backyard Brawl before, as well as wider margins of victory.
But never in the history of the series had one team enacted the mercy rule before halftime, until last night, when B-A unloaded to score all 37 points over the first two quarters. The closest either team came was in 2015, when Tyrone led 34-0 at halftime of a 41-7 win.
“It’s all about our kids. Our kids did a great job tonight,” said B-A coach Nick Lovrich, who is now 6-3 against Tyrone in his 9-year career as the Devils’ head coach. “It was the preparation during the course of the week to get ready, and we executed tonight. It makes you feel good, and especially winning the Backyard Brawl, it’s a big thing.”
The score alone does little to fully illustrate how dominant a first half B-A played. During those 24 minutes, the Devils outgained Tyrone 247-64, outrushed them 208-8, and forced three turnovers over four Golden Eagle drives, with each resulting in points on the board. Tyrone’s three other possessions ended in punts.
It was uncharacteristic, to say the least, for Tyrone, which had counted defending the run as a strength, but found it tough to find its footing against the relentless onslaught of Partner, Alex McCartney, and Chase Plummer, who combined for 202 yards.
“They earned every bit of it tonight,” said Tyrone coach Jason Jones, who was coaching in his first Backyard Brawl. “They’re going to be tough for whoever plays them in the Double-A portion of Districts.”
Partner was B-A’s top ground-gainer with 94 yards and a touchdown on 9 carries. McCartney carried 12 times for 71 yards and two scores, and Plummer added 35 yards and an emphatic second-quarter touchdown on 7 tries.
The Devils had planned for Partner to play as a slotback this season after playing quarterback as a junior, but an injury to Brendan McNelis thrust him back into the role of signal caller. Against the Eagles, he gave B-A a dynamic presence that was hard for Tyrone to corral. He had two carries that went for at least 25 yards and opened the field for Plummer and McCartney to break free on their own.
“He makes it hard for teams to defend because most of the time you can defend a lot of the other guys, but when you have a quarterback that can run too, that makes it even harder,” Lovrich said. “Teams try to stop him and that opens things up for Alex and Chase. They had some big runs tonight, too. It’s a total team effort, and the line did a great job getting things moving for us.”
They were moving from the Devils’ opening series, which began on their own 4 following a 39-yard punt by Tytus Novak. Partner got B-A into scoring position with his long run and completion to Shawley before McCartney blasted in from the 1 at the 5:32 mark of the first quarter. Miles Smearman’s first of four PAT kicks made it 7-0.
After Tyrone went three-and-out, B-A took over at its own 37 and got as far as the Eagles’ 30 when they were faced with fourth-and-1. The call went to the reliable McCartney, who broke through Tyrone’s stacked front and sprinted 30 yards for his second touchdown.
That run came with just 44 seconds left in the first quarter, and while B-A was beginning to impose its will, the Eagles were still battling.
The Devils broke them in the second quarter not so much with offense, but with a defense that was every bit as unrelenting as their running attack.
It started when Jackson Dorminy snatched a tipped pass off the hands of Carter Gwinn and headed to the sideline on a 65-yard interception return at the 10:44 mark of the second quarter to make it 21-0.
After forcing another three-and-out, B-A worked with a short field from Tyrone’s 38 and moved the distance in five plays, capping the drive with a 14-yard run by Partner to extend the lead to 27-0.
The Eagles’ next series ended when Mason Emigh, who had 100 receiving yards, fumbled at the end of a short completion and Dorminy was there to recover. Taking over with 3:22 left in the half, B-A went 64 yards on five plays, aided by a pass interference call. Plummer bullied his way in from the 12, running over a defender as he reached the endzone, to make it 34-0.
Dorminy got his third takeaway of the half on the Eagles first offensive play after the ensuing kickoff, giving the Blue Devils another short field with 1:43 until halftime. B-A methodically moved to the 5 on four running plays before turning things over to Smearman, who drilled a 22-yard field goal as time expired.
“We moved the ball a little bit better tonight, but we shoot ourselves in the foot too much,” said Jones. “It’s something we have to clean up. And we will. Whenever you’re in a game like this and you shoot yourself in the foot that many times, you’re not going to get the outcome you want.”
Tyrone avoided the shutout with a couple of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, beginning with a 35-yard pass from Ben Walk to Emigh that got the Eagles on the board with 8:05 remaining.
Walk finished 4-for-14 for 100 yards, but as had happened in Tyrone’s earlier loss to Central the Eagles were plagued with dropped balls that could have extended drives. Eagles receivers dropped four passes, three of which came in the first half.
Later, freshman Kaden Kustenbauder broke loose off right tackle and sprinted 90 yards for another score with 17 seconds left.
Those scores narrowed the final score, but they did little to dampen the spirits of B-A’s seniors, who will graduate with a 3-1 against Tyrone.
“It’s a great feeling,” Plummer said. “After last week, today was payday. We were fired up.”
McCartney echoed those sentiments, noting that the loss to Central added extra motivation for a game that normally needs little motivation.
“We were frustrated at Central,” McCartney said. “They ruined our win streak, and we knew we were better than that.”
NOTES: Reid Starr was Tyrone’s leading rusher with 83 yards on 19 carries … the two teams combined for 15 penalties amounting to 148 yards … the Golden Eagles travel to face Bishop Guilfoyle Saturday, while B-A will host 4-1 Philipsburg-Osceola on Homecoming. The Mounties topped Bald Eagle Area last night 22-14 … the Eagles fell to 3-2 and 0-2 in the Laurel Highlands East 1. B-A is now 1-1 in LHAC East 1 play.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tyrone 0 0 0 14 – 14
Bellwood-Antis 14 23 0 0 – 37
First Quarter
B – McCartney 1 run (Smearman kick) 5:32
B – McCartney 30 run (Smearman kick) :44
Second Quarter
B – Dorminy 65 interception return (Smearman kick) 10:21
B – Partner 14 run (PAT kick failed) 5:05
B – Plummer 12 run (Smearman kick) 2:00
B – Smearman 22 FG :00
Fourth Quarter
T—Emigh 35 pass from Walk (Novak kick) 8:05
T – Kustenbauder 90 run (Novak kick) :17
TEAM STATISTICS B T
First downs 18 10
Total yards 286 270
Rushes-yards 38-247 23-170
Yards passing 39 100
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 3-5-0 4-14-2
Punts-avg. 3-36.6 3-36
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 6-60 7-88
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Tyrone Starr 19-83, Walk 1-11, Kustenbauder 1-90, Robinson 1-0, Team 1 (-14); Bellwood-Antis – Partner 9-94, Plummer 7-35, McCartney 12-71, Crist 3-23, Evans 2-1, Mountain 1-7, Cherry 3-8, McCloskey 1-8.
PASSING—Tyrone Walk 4-14-100, 1 TD, 2 Ints.; Bellwood-Antis Partner 3-5-39, 0 TDs, 0 Ints.
RECEIVING—Tyrone Emigh 4-100; Bellwood-Antis Shawley 2-28, Dorminy 1-11.
