Northern Bedford Keeps Playoff Hopes Alive With Win Over Windber

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Baron Dionis | October 18, 2025

Northern Bedford scores game winning touchdown to knock off Windber in 28-21 thriller at Winder Stadium.

An important ICC South matchup came down to the wire, resulting in the Northern Bedford Panthers winning their second game of the season over the Windber Ramblers. Both teams managed to move the ball really well all game long, but Windber had no answer for the Panthers’ big plays in the second half.

“We’ve told the kids all week that they are the best 1-7 team in the state,” Windber Head Coach Matt Grohal explained. “They are very well coached and hats off to those guys. They are a very solid football team. There is no shame in losing to those guys.”

Windber started off with the ball and moved the ball fast with a 53 yard rush from Cole Mash. The Panthers’ defense held strong, forcing a field goal. Windber went with the fake, but failed.

A quick punt gave Windber the ball back and they wasted no time this drive. They pounded the ball down field on the ground, ending in a 15 yard score from Ike Serenko.

The Panthers quickly responded on the first play as Zach Bowers took the jet toss and took it all the way for a 48 yard touchdown to tie it up.

Windber ran their way to the red zone again, but the Panthers forced fourth down. They attempted a field goal again and this one resulted in a botched snap. Bowers intercepted the Ramblers’ panic play.

Northern Bedford struggled to put offense together and punted. It went just 13 yards, giving Windber excellent field position. On fourth down, Lucas Rummel hit Serenko on the screen and he took it 27 yards for a touchdown, giving the Ramblers the lead.

Northern Bedford nearly scored minutes after, but threw a goal line interception to Windber defender Dalton Strick. That ended the half with a score of 14-7.

The Panthers quickly turned things around in the second half, starting with a three and out. They got the ball back and Ben Clark took it 37 yards for a game tying touchdown.

Then they forced another punt and Clark was taking over the ball game. He ran for a big 57 yard rush to put the Panthers across midfield. A few plays later, Trace Baker took the snap on fourth down, evaded two defenders in the backfield, and scrambled out for a 14 yard go ahead score.

Windber got the ball back and pushed the ball right back down the field, but set themselves up with a fourth and long. The Panther defense again got a huge stop with a lead entering the final minutes of the fourth.

The Ramblers quickly forced a punt and got solid field position. They fed Mash six straight snaps and he tallied 40 yards, capped off by a 15 yard touchdown to tie the game back up.

That left Northern Bedford with around four minutes to go with the ball. They slowly converted back-to-back third downs and later set themselves up with a fourth and long with 24 seconds on the clock. Baker took the snap and threw it up for Bowers in the endzone. Bowers juggled it and the referee signaled a touchdown and it could have gone either way.

“A little bit controversial at the end,” Coach Grohal stated. “Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn’t. I believe that it was an incomplete pass.”

That call was the difference maker in the ballgame, resulting in the Panthers victory. This gives them their second win on the season, propelling them back into the mix for the District 5 1A playoffs.

“Our record does not reflect the team that we are,” Northern Bedford Head Coach Gary Black replied. “We’ve lost a lot of close games and we finally found a way to come together. We just continued to battle. That’s two in a row and our goal does not change. Our goal is to win a district championship and I’m very excited about what we did tonight.”

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