#9 Bishop McCort-Carroll vs Bellwood Antis Game Preview
Tagged under: District 6, Gameday Hub, News, pfn
Baron Dionis | August 28, 2025
This weekend is absolutely filled with great Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference matchups and the best one on Friday night is between ninth ranked Bishop McCort-Carroll and Bellwood-Antis. These two teams returned so many players from their playoff teams in 2024 and look to build upon that in 2A. Both will be competing for a District 6 Championship at that qualification, meaning this may not be the only time these two programs matchup.
Last season they faced off before the postseason and had an absolute thriller where Bellwood pulled through with a 34-33 win. Bishop McCort lost just two seniors and Bellwood lost seven, yet returned one of the best running backs in the area who was out with an injury. This matchup is expected to be another close matchup and both coaches are ready for that.
“This is a very talented team that we are playing this week,” Bellwood Head Coach Nick Lovrich commented. “There are not many years that you play a team that is almost exactly the same as the year before. We know that they have some big, strong lineman and skill guys that can make big plays.”
“First thing taken away from that game is that it’s going to be a hard fought game,” Bishop McCort Head Coach Tom Smith explained. “I reviewed that game over the weekend in preparation for this and boy that was something else that game. The determination from both kids on both teams and their will to fight. We just ended up on the short end of it. We know that we are going to have to work very hard for this game and we have been. This is going to be physical battle between both teams. Looking at Bellwood this year, I think they are better than they were a year ago because of the veteran ship and they got some guys healthy. Just a couple of new guys running around and so do we. This will make up for a wonderful matchup.”
Speaking of new faces, Bellwood Antis returned Alex McCartney who missed the entire 2024 season to a knee surgery. In his first game back against Clearfield, he rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns. Getting him back is huge for Bellwood and they know it. He is one of four that went through this injury bug in Bellwood and all are back again.
“It is great having Alex back this season,” Coach Lovrich stated. “Alex has worked very hard to get back to the playing field. His work ethic and determination has made this all possible. It is great seeing him be successful and he will get more comfortable as the season goes on and continue to improve. Last season we lost 4 kids season ending injuries and all of them are back healthy and contributing to our team. Having them all healthy and owing their role on our team will help us achieve our goals we have set for our team.”
McCartney is very well known to McCort and is a tough player that they have to plan around. A true game changer that McCort must figure out how to contain.
“Yeah, he’s tough,” Coach Smith replied. “I’ve been watching him on film all week here. We’re gonna start up front on the line of scrimmage. We’re gonna have to try to make sure he doesn’t get out and get his yards. He runs very low, falls forward, and carries guys. He is an impressive runner and we have a lot of respect for him as a football team. We’ve got to be ready to match his physicality on defense. If we do that we’ll have a chance, if we don’t he’ll get his yards and we won’t be successful.”
McCort has a physical runner of their own in Jon Delia who also started the season off with a bang against Bedford with three touchdowns himself and nearly 200 yards.
“Jon is very versatile,” Coach Smith explained. “Jon is a big, strong running back much like McCartney. He’s got a lot of experience at running back and is highly skilled in space. He can catch the football, run the football, and he can block. All around a really good athlete and we’ve gotta try to get the ball in his hands.”
McCort has a handful of athletes around Delia too with newcomer Kaleem Taylor, Nick Dressick, Brady Page, Garrett Farabaugh, Bentley Bainey, and Angelo Gallucci. That group is really tough to defend and Bellwood has their own group as well. Along with McCartney, the Blue Devils have Bradyn Partner, Chase Plummer, Colin Gibbons, and Jeffrey Waite.
This is an excellent matchup and there could be a rematch later this season. A must watch game in the second week of the 2025 season.
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