Raiders put themselves back on map with 21-12 victory

Tagged under: District 6, News

Billy Splain | October 13, 2018

Written by Lily Weichert

The Bellefonte Red Raiders notched a 21-12 victory against the Central Dragons during their Homecoming game last night at the Lock Haven University field, redeeming themselves after a 2 game slide. The team persevered through the well-matched game and the difficulties that came with it to finish it off with a win.

The Raider’s defense proved to struggle throughout the first half, as the Dragons scored a 34-yard touchdown shortly after kickoff. The Raiders then had the ball on their 47-yard line, setting running back Mason Grey up for a long run to the Dragon’s 28-yard line with 5 minutes left in the first quarter. Bellefonte recovered a fumble by Central with only a few minutes left in the quarter, but were held scoreless by the Dragons throughout the first.

Bellefonte slowly began to respark during the second quarter of the game. Quarterback Kyle Myers intercepted a Central pass, claiming the ball on Central’s 40-yard line. The Dragons then answered, as a Bellefonte pass was intercepted and returned to the 3-yard line, setting the Dragons up for a 3-yard rushing touchdown by quarterback Noah Muthler.

The Dragons suffered after Muthler was injured in the second quarter. This incident quickly became the turning point for Central; the team failed to add any points to the scoreboard throughout the rest of the night.

Running back C.J. Funk ran for a 1-yard touchdown, getting Bellefonte on the board with less than a minute until half. Chris Persiko added the PAT, finishing the second quarter with a 12-7 Central lead.

Bellefonte kicked off to Central to start off the third quarter. Grey intercepted a Central pass, and the team took control of the ball in the second half. Running back Ryan Lehman ran a 26-yard run on fourth and seven, leading to second string quarterback Ethan Rossman to a 7-yard pass completed to Grey for a touchdown; Persiko tacked on the extra point.

Central took over the ball at Bellefonte’s 30-yard line shortly after kickoff in the final quarter, however gave the ball back to Bellefonte by failing to convert on fourth down. Central then recovered a fumble by Mason Grey and redeemed control of the ball. Wide receiver Ryan Smith intercepted a pass, and claimed the ball at the 22-yard line. Rossman threw a 2-yard pass to Funk with only a few minutes left in the game to seal the Raider’s victory. Persiko added the extra point, finishing the game with a 21-12 Bellefonte win.

Bellefonte Head Coach Shannon Manning is proud of his team, and their execution of the plays throughout the night that led them to their victory.

“Every game we get a chance to get another win, they develop a little bit,” Coach Manning said. ““They’re a tough group of kids, we just had to gut through this win and get ourselves the next lead.”

Mason Grey gives credit to his teammates, and their performances during the game that enabled their win.

“I owe a lot to my team, we all stepped up and did good things,” Grey said.

The Bellefonte Red Raiders now have an overall record of 6-2, and will prepare to travel to Ebensburg next Friday to take on Bishop Carroll.

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