Bedford holds off Richland for the win @rhsfootball @bedfordfootball

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Grant Long | September 18, 2021

A sunny, late-summer evening found it’s way to Bedford, Pennsylvania for a matchup between the Bedford Bison and the Richland Rams. Both teams came into this game undefeated at 3-0. Bedford was the slight underdog coming into tonights game but came out victorious, but it took a goal line stand to get the 21-13 win.

Bedford won the toss but deferred to the second half. Richland’s first drive ended in a punt down to the Bedford 8 yard line. Bedford then went on the offense with a long drive that chewed up over 4 minutes. Junior RB Ethan Weber ran it in from 8 yards out to put Bedford on the board. Senior kicker Lizzy Martz drilled the extra point with 6:18 to go in the first quarter.

Richland drove down the field picking up 2 big first downs. Senior QB Kellan Stahl ran it in from one yard out. After the extra point by Senior kicker Chris Cordek, game was tired at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Bedford QB Mercury Swaim in his offense put together a spectacular drive totaling 65 yards and three first downs, one of which came on 4th down. Swaim scored from four yards out at 6:32 in the second quarter. Martz made the extra point and gave Bedford the 14-7 lead. The Bison went into halftime at no worse for wear. The first half lasted just over 1 hour. Running the ball seemed fairly effective for both teams. Of the few passes thrown, many were to the flats for 4 and 5 yard gains.

Less than 3 minutes into the third quarter, Richland’s Stahl fired a pass over the middle to Senior RB Griffin Larue for the touchdown. The Rams missed the extra point and the one point lead to Bedford with the score of 14-13 at 9:19.

With 7:47 remaining in the third quarter, Bedford’s Ethan Weber ran it up the far side line 61 yards for the score. Martz successfully made her third extra point of the night to give Bedford the 21-13 advantage.

Both teams traded punts for most of the fourth quarter. A few mishandled snaps looked like they could change the tide but were futile.

Richland threatened to score late and send the game into overtime. With less than a minute to play, the Rams were inside the Bedford 15 yard line. Bedford made 4 key pass blocks to hold on and win 21-13.

Bedford improves to 4-0, (2-0 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference (LHAC)) and host the Westmont Hilltoppers next week. The Richland Rams suffer their first loss of the season to give them a record of 3-1 (2-1 in the LHAC) and visit the Bishop McCort Crushers next week.

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