LOYSBURG — Any doubts about Northern Bedford after a 1-3 start to the season were put to rest little by little each week.
The Panthers closed out the regular season with its sixth straight win Friday, celebrating senior night with a 37-15 victory over Mount Union at Panther Community Stadium.
Northern coach Garry Black: “I think the thing I’m proudest of is how these guys came back from 1-3 to finish 7-3. There’s not a lot of people that thought they could do this, but they believed in themselves. They bought in, did was asked of them and put us in a good spot.”
Northern lineman Cooper Kapinski: “We have a lot of young starters this season. It took some time for them to get in the groove of things. Once they did, we started playing well together as a team.”
Players of the game: Kapinski and teammate Hunter Walter led a defensive front that lived in the Mount Union backfield the entire game, smothering the Trojans rushing attack and putting constant pressure on the quarterback.
For the 3-and-¢ quarters the starting defense was in the game, Mount Union managed just 59 yards and three first downs.
The Trojans’ points came on a 75-yard kickoff return late in the first quarter, and a 68-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter after the starters were pulled from the game.
Kapinski: “It was about making a statement on the field that we’re here to play football, not necessarily just to win a game. That’s what we came to do. It’s a good feeling to be working as one unit like that.”
Plays of the game: The Snider brothers, Eion and Brooks, connected on a pair of 21-yard touchdowns. The first coming in the first quarter when Eion found Brooks over the middle behind the defense for the score. On the second, Eion floated a pass to Brooks along the sideline as he was hit. Brooks corralled the ball, made a cut to the inside to slip past two defenders and go in for the score.
Unsung heroes: Kicker Collin Yeatts made a 28-yard field goal and was good on 4-of-5 extra points. He had seven kickoffs, two of which were touchbacks and five other low, line drives all of which Mount Union failed to catch cleanly.
Most vital statistics: Northern Bedford ran 61 offensive plays to just 36 for Mount Union and outgained the Trojans 367 to 132.
Black: “We had another great team win. At the end of the night when you look at the stat line, everybody did something. There were a lot of guys that touched the ball and made plays. Defensively, a lot of guys did their jobs and took care of business. We did what we were supposed to do.”
Mount Union coach Matt Young: “Northern Bedford is a really strong, physical football team. Our kids played hard and hit people all night. We were pleased with the effort knowing this is the last game.”
Notable: Eion Snider completed 10-of-15 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Adam Johnson led the ground game with 55 yards on 11 carries, and Aaron Bowers was the top receiver with four catches for 73 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown from backup QB Kain Baker late in the third quarter….Mount Union head coach Anthony Sottasante was not at the game for undisclosed reasons. The Trojans only had 18 players available for the game.
Records: Mount Union (4-5); Northern Bedford (7-3).
Next week: Northern Bedford plays Tussey Mountain in the District 5 1A championship game at Hollidaysburg’s Tiger Stadium. Mount Union’s season has ended.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Mount Union 7 0 0 8 — 15
Northern Bedford 14 7 13 3 — 37
First Quarter
NB–A. Detterline 2 run (Yeatts kick), 7:04.
NB–B. Snider 21 pass from E. Snider (Yeatts kick), :25.
MU–Reck 75 kickoff return (Dountas kick), :09.
Second Quarter
NB–Keller 7 run (Yeatts kick), 6:45.
Third Quarter
NB-B. Snider 21 pass from E. Snider (kick failed), 7:54.
NB–Bowers 33 pass from Baker (Yeatts kick), 2:06.
Fourth Quarter
NB–Yeatts 28 field goal, 6:11.
MU–Robinson 31 run (Wilson from Danish), 3:44.
TEAM STATISTICS MU NB
First downs 6 19
Total yards 132 367
Rushes-yards 25-73 43-205
Yards passing 59 162
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 5-11-0 11-18-0
Punts-avg. 5-31.8 1-54.0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-50 5-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Mount Union, Robinson 8-29, Wilson 10-24, Danish 3-24, Atherton 2-1, Reck 1-(-1), TEAM 1-(-4). Northern Bedford, Johnson 11-55, Brown 6-40, B. Snider 2-7, A. Detterline 1-2, Keller 5-36, M. Detterline 6-34, E. Snider 4-9, Bowers 1-2, Baker 2-6, Ward 5-21.
PASSING–Mount Union, Wilson 5-11-0-59. Northern Bedford, E. Snider 10-15-0-129, Baker 1-2-0-33, Schleinkofer 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING–Mount Union, Robinson 2-13, Danish 2-32, Atherton 1-14. Northern Bedford, Bowers 4-73, B. Snider 3-55, Fernandez 3-34, Keller 1-0.
