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Bald Eagle Area pulls away in the second half, advances to District VI title game

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

| November 11, 2023

Kahale Burns threw for a touchdown, caught a touchdown pass and ran for another and caught 11 passes for 163 yards with two tds to help lead the Eagles to a 49-13 win over Forest Hills to advance to the District VI championship next Saturday against Richland. Carson Nagle threw for 407 yards and 5 scores, twice to Gavin Burns to help get BEA to it’s first ever 11-1 record. “It was a very physical game. I thought Forest Hills brought it hard. We gave up a couple plays early and our guys responded very well” said head coach Jesse Nagle.

Forest Hills made a big stop on the goal line early, but sometimes being that deep in your own territory can be tough. BEA made three big stops, keeping the Rangers on their own two yard line and forcing a punt. Starting at the 25, short field position can be a blessing. BEA used three plays to get into the endzone. Nagle hit Gavin Burns from 7 yards out for the score. The kick was true and BEA led 7-0.

With a quick strike offense, the Eagles got on board again after stopping the Rangers on downs. Nagle hit Wyatt Spackman for a 38 yard gain then Kahale Burns made a nifty run to get the next Eagle td.

 

The Rangers fought right back. Nate Cornell hit Chase Williamson for two big gains, 37 and 12 yards, then Cornell plowed in from one yard out to make it a 14-7 game. That fired up the defense and on the ensuing drive Nagle made a mistake. He threw the ball straight into the hands of Ranger defender Si McGough who returned the ball to the Eagles 48. Cornell hit on a couple more big passes then Xander Richardson went in from 5 yards out. The kick was blocked but we had a close game, 14-13, with 5:05 left in the half.

Nagel then went on a tear, completing 4 passes before Coach Nagle dug into his bag of tricks. Carson gave the ball to Kahale who then pulled up and tossed a td pass to Camron Watkins putting BEA up 21-13 at the break. “Our offensive coordinator Brett Umbenhouer is outstanding, he has a lot in the bank and he brings them out when we need them” said Coach Nagle of a few new wrinkles in the BEA offense. “Kahale has been a three year guy. At the end of the day we try to get him the ball. I’m really proud of his efforts”. “To be honest, coach Umbenhouer has a ton of weapons he can use and it just opens up holes for everyone” said Kahale.

BEA got the ball to start the second half and it took just 2 plays to strike again. Nagle hit Kahale Burns in stride for a 61 yard td pass. The Rangers put together a nice drive and appeared to get a first down at the BEA 20 on a 20 yard pass from  Cornell to Richardson but he lost the handle on the ball and the Eagles recovered on their 18. They then drove the 82 yards and scored on a 7 yard td pass from Nagle to Gavin Burns to go up 35-13.

BEA scored twice in the fourth quarter on a 2 yard td run by Cameron Dubbs and a 50 yard td pass from Nagle to a wide open mason Reese. “I had some blocking on those inside flips and I even had a pancake block so I’ll take that” said Carson Nagle.

Forest Hills season ends with a 8-4 record. “It was a heck of a football game. You can’t make mistakes against a good team like that” said Rangers head coach Justin Myers. “We’re a young team and the future looks bright. I think we’ll be back”.

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