2022 D5 A Championship Game Preview: Windber vs Northern Bedford

Tagged under: District 5, News, Playoffs

Brian Ingalls | November 9, 2022

The D5 A Championship game will feature two of the best class A teams in the state.  Northern Bedford (11-0), the #1 seed in D5 A will take on Windber (10-1) the #2 seed.  This game will take place this Thursday 7pm at Bedford High School.  Windber is the #6 ranked team in the state and Northern Bedford is ranked Honorable mention in the Pa Football News rankings.

Check out all the other rankings here: PFN Rankings

Windber is 10-1 on the season with their only loss coming against Berlin-Brothersvalley.  Berlin is the #8 ranked team in AA.  Windber is led by standout Senior RB John Shuster.  Shuster has rushed 137 times for 2,422 yards with 35 TDs on the season.  For his career, Shuster has rushed 687 times for 6,473 yards and 97 TDs.  Windber has averaged over 53 points per game and outscored their opponents 534-19 this season.  Windber’s defense, not to be outshined by the offense, has only allowed under 5 points per game average.  Windber has a 3-game shutout streak going and hasn’t allowed a point since Juniata Valley scored 7 points on 10/14.  Last week, Windber beat Conemaugh Township 66-0.  In this game Shuster had 18 carries for 311 yards and 3 TDs.

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Northern Bedford is 11-0 on the season.  Northern Bedford is led by two Juniors in the backfield.  Junior QB Eion Snider has a completion rate of just over 60% on the season.  Snider is 104-173 with 1,714 yards with 18 TDs and 4 INT passing this year.  Snider has passed for over 2900 yards with 33 TDs and 13 INTs for his career.  Junior RB Adam Johnson has 176 carries for 1,549 yards and 28 TDs on the season.  Northern Bedford has averaged 40 points per game and has outscored their opponents 437-132 this season.  Last week, Northern Bedford beat Tussey Mountain 35-13.  In this game, Snider was 11-17 for 157 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.  Johnson had 6 carries for 133 yards with 2 TDs in the Tussey Mountain game.

Northern Bedford will enter this game trying to do what only Berlin has done this year, keep Shuster in check.  If Shuster is able to get going, it will be a long night for Northern Bedford’s defense.  Northern Bedford will also have a difficult task scoring on this stingy Windber defense.

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