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Northern Bedford’s big plays too much for Juniata Valley

Tagged under: District 5, District 6, Gameday Hub, News

| October 10, 2020


 

LOYSBURG – Northern Bedford has an awesome array of skill players, and Juniata Valley got a first-hand example of that ability on Friday night.
That talented, home-run kind of display led the Black Panthers to a 36-19 victory over the Green Hornets. Despite that final margin, the home team found itself trailing by a 7-0 count late in the first half. But the game turned in      Northern Bedford’s favor across a stretch of less than two minutes of game clock, though halftime was sandwiched in between it.
The Panthers marched deep into the red zone with time winding down in the first half, converting a pair of third downs along the way. The second of those was a 52-yard passing play between Thad Leidy and Dalton Smith that put the ball at the two-yard line.
But a high snap over Leidy’s head resulted in a loss of yardage, and a holding penalty also pushed Northern in the opposite direction. After an incomplete pass and an encroachment flag on Juniata Valley, Leidy lined his team up for third and goal from the 24.
The senior quarterback rolled to his right to buy time before throwing for Smith in the back of the end zone. Smith clutched and held on to the ball with a pair of Hornets draping him for the touchdown. Collin Yeatts added an extra point to tie the game with 58 seconds remaining in the half.
Following a solid kick return to begin the third quarter, the Panthers wasted little time in wrestling the lead away for good. A short screen pass from Leidy to Smith resulted in a 60-yard gallop to paydirt, and Yeatts’ second PAT had NBC ahead, 14-7, at the 11:39 mark of the period.
After Juniata Valley was forced to punt, Northern Bedford went 65 yards in six plays to increase the margin. The Panthers recovered their own fumble on a long third down conversion, and two snaps later, Leidy found Evan Clouse in the middle of the defense for a 10-yard score. Clouse took the snap on the conversion after and ran it in himself for two points and a 22-7 lead.
“When we got backed up to third and 24 there, and Leidy hits Smith for the touchdown, that was an absolute monster play for us,” said Northern Bedford coach Garry Black. “And then we scored on the first play of the second half and did some other things for our skill guys to get in good positions. I thought we played pretty well in the first half but just couldn’t finish our drives. We came out and scored 29 points in the second half, which is a terrific effort by our football team.”
The Hornets mounted a nine-play possession that used mostly short runs to get near midfield. But that would be no more when Hunter Johnson’s soft pass into the flat was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Northern’s Kainen Baker. Another extra point by Yeatts made it 29-7 with 2:09 to go in the third.
Juniata Valley got within two scores on a seven-yard touchdown run by Jayce Rand, but the kick was blocked to leave the visitors 16 points down with 9:10 left in regulation.
“They hit that first play of the second half, and I don’t think we responded too well or too quickly to that,” said Hornets’ coach Bill Musser. “We lost our focus a little bit.”
Both teams were stopped on downs before Smith’s 31-yard run to the end zone with less than three minutes to play put the game away. Juniata Valley had the last touchdown at the 1:48 mark on an 18-yard pass from Hunter Johnson to Gabe Brower.
“We’re a pretty good team,” said Musser. “One of our goals is to be competitive and make everybody work hard. Northern Bedford has some really good athletes. There’s not much more you can say.”
Leidy put together one of his best performances in a Panther uniform by completing 13 passes for 255 yards with the three touchdowns. Smith’s all-around night included 150 of those aerial yards and 122 more on the ground.
“Momentum switched (near halftime) and everyone just got into the game,” said Leidy. “Everyone gave their heart out and we were just making plays. It was fun. It seems like everyone I throw to can bust one out for a big gain. We had a bigger crowd tonight which was great to have.”
Rand led the Hornets with 105 yards rushing and Musser added 92.
Northern Bedford improves to 4-1 and will be at Claysburg-Kimmel next week. Juniata Valley is 3-2 and hosts Glendale next Friday.

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