Bellefonte captures Luther Trophy

Tagged under: Centre County Report, District 6, Gameday Hub, News

Billy Splain | October 24, 2020

PHILIPSBURG – A drive-killing interception led to a backbreaking touchdown which led to a 35-7 victory for Bellefonte over Philipsburg-Osceola in the annual battle for the Luther Trophy Friday night.
P-O had fallen behind the Raiders, 7-0 when Ethan Rossman went up the middle from a yard out with 4:18 in the second quarter and Hayden Walker’s PAT made it 7-0.
But the Mounties were putting together a drive on the ensuing possession when Blandon Hawkins stepped in front of a Ryan Whitehead pass in the flat at the Raiders 40 and returned it to the P-O 45.
It took the Raiders 11 plays to get to the end zone but they did when Rossman hit Jalen Emel in the corner of the end zone from 3 yards out and Walker made it 14-0 with only:23 left in the half.
It was too much for the Mounties to overcome.

“When they scored right before the half, that was the key score in the game,’’ said P-O coach Jeff Vroman. “I thought our kids played OK in the first half. But we missed some opportunities. When they scored before the half, they took control of the game. They did what they had to do, they controlled the line of scrimmage.

The Mounties stayed close until a 61-yard punt return by Emel gave Bellefonte the ball on the P-O 1 and he scored from there to make ti 21-0 with 6:12 left in the third quarter.
The Raider defense, which held P-O to 155 yards in total offense, pushed the Mounties back to their own 14 and an 18-yard punt gave Bellefonte the ball on the P-O 32. Three plays later Logan Houser broke loose for a 27-yard scoring run and Walker made it 28-0 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Raiders invoked the mercy rule when Emel scored his third touchdown, this one from the 5, and Walker kicked the PAT with 9:15 to go in the game.
P-O got its lone score when Weitoish scored on a 27-yard run and Will Rishel kicked the PATwith 4:57 left.

“I didn’t think we played our best but they did the job on both sides of the line,’’ Vroman added. “I was disappointed in the fact that we didn’t read our keys that would have taken us to where we should have been. ‘’

The Mounties, now 1-5, will go on the road Friday when they travel to meet Bucktail at Renovo.

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