Fort LeBoeuf gets past Meadville with excellent line play and clock management
Tagged under: District 10, Gameday Hub, News
Josh Hosier | August 23, 2025
The season opened in Meadville with a touch back as Fort LeBoeuf showed a desire to avoid putting the ball in the hands of Bulldog star Tymir Phillips. The Bulldogs would rattle off 4 straight runs for nice gains before an offensive face mask and then a 15 yard loss on a sack would lead to them punting the ball away.
Fort LeBoeuf took over on their own 23 but could not move the ball going three and out and giving up a 8 yard sack on 3rd down. The Bison punt and a penalty would place Meadville at the 50 yard line to start their drive.
Meadville ran the ball 5 straight plays then caught everyone off guard with a passing play that was caught by Tymir Phillips for the first score of the game. The extra point made it 7-0 Meadville.
The Bison answered with some power running of their own moving the ball forward with toughness and hit a home run on a dive play where Skylar Sadowski took off for a 61 yard touchdown. The extra point tied the game at 7.
Meadvilles next offensive possession went from perfection to ended in disaster as a 91 yard yard kickoff return for Phillips was called back and then a fumble on a pitch lead to a turnover on their own 3 yard line. Fort LeBoeuf used the hard running style displayed on the prior drive to punch in the score 3 plays later when Xavier Blose took the qb draw into the end zone. The Bison lead 14-7.
Meadville then failed to pickup a first down and punted the ball away to the Bison. Fort LeBoeuf took over at their 43 yard line and proceeded to use their powerful offensive line to run the ball down the field. Featuring 6 runs and no passes. A 35 yard qb draw by Dominic Walters and a 1 yard touchdown run for Brady Black. The Bison attempted a 2 point conversion and failed making the score 20-7 with 6:10 remaining in the first half.
Another rough possession for the Bulldog offense lead to 4th and 20 at the 10 yard line when they elected to punt the ball away. A 35 yard punt was returned 9 yards and it looked like Fort LeBoeuf was poised to run away with the game. An impressive goal line stand by Meadville was able to limit the damage and only allowed a 27 yard field goal which extended the Bison lead to 23-7.
A few moments later, The Bison kick the ball where you should not, and that was to Tymir Phillips. The Bulldogs star took the kick return 96 yards to the end zone in a display of electric speed. After the successful point after the lead was now Fort LeBoeuf 23 – Meadville 14. That score would hold to the half time break.
The second have started with a return to what worked for Fort LeBoeuf. With another run heavy drive behind their dominate offensive line ending with an 11 yard touchdown run for Skylar Sadowski. Another attempted 2 point conversion failed taking the score to a 29-14 advantage for the Bison. That would be the score as we entered the final frame of play.
Give credit to the Bulldogs for not giving up, they tried a lot of different ways to get the ball in the hands of their playmakers and found success finally getting the ball to Tymir Phillips for his 3rd score of the game on a 40 yard touchdown pass. A successful 2 point conversion brought the game back to a one score affair with the Bison leading 29-22.
The next possession seemed like it could make or break the game and all the momentum seemed to be leading the Meadville way as they forced a fumble and regained possession of the football. They drove to the Bison 32 but a failed 4th down conversion turned the ball back over to the Bison.
Fort LeBoeuf proceeded to grind out the remaining clock finishing the game with 3 first downs. A 4th and 1 was converted with very little time remaining that was rather inconsequential other than preventing a hail mary attempt from Meadville.
The Bison Coach Justin Blose told me after the game that “There is a lot we have to clean up there to get ready for week 2” but overall he was happy with the teams effort. He added “We are excited” in reference to the season being underway and his team already off to a 1-0 start.
Score by Quarters
Fort LeBoeuf 7 16 6 0 – 29
Meadville 7 7 0 8 – 22
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