Punxsutawney Tops DuBois With A Strong Second Half Effort

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Phil Myers | August 30, 2025

The Punxsutawney Chucks upped their record to 2-0 in the young 2025 season as they whipped the DuBois Beavers 49-35 before a large crowd at Mansell Stadium in DuBois.  The offense of the Chucks made some big plays and also consistently moved the football against the Beavers.  But it was the defense, believe it or not, that probably won the game for the Chucks.  All they did was force at least six turnovers, including five interceptions, and they held DuBois to only seven points in the second half.

An animated and elated Brandon Snyder, Punxsy’s head coach said, “We cannot be any happier with our secondary, our pass rush, our linebacking corps, every kid.  We’re using fourteen, fifteen guys, rotating them through, and all fifteen did their job.  It cannot get any better.  It’s a huge win for these guys.”

The offense was led by Maddox Hetrick who stepped in last week against Brockway when the starting Chuck QB was injured.  All Mr. Hetrick did last night was account for five of his team’s seven touchdowns.  He passed for 273 yards and a score.  He rushed for 84 yards and four touchdowns.  That was quite an evening for the guy they call Maddo, as he personally accounted for 357 yards of offense.

Maddo Hetrick is #2 in white to the right. Punxsy’s Logan Moore is #13. In Black #22 is Walker Thomas.

In the wild first half, which saw eight touchdowns, Punxsy answered a DuBois score four times, the last one with 30 seconds left in the half.  That showed grit as games can get out of hand in high school pretty fast.  But Maddo and his mates kept pressure on the DuBois eleven until they could put it into a higher gear in the third and fourth quarters.

The game began with a DuBois three and out, and Punxsy going for it on fourth down at their own 43 and not making the yard they needed.  DuBois capitalized by driving 42 yards and scoring, after a sack, when Trey Wingard threw a screen pass to London Duncan who took care of business by running 23 yards to pay dirt.  Maddox Barnes’ first of five PATs put the Beavers on top momentarily 7-0.

Wingard, by the way, threw for 419 yards and four touchdowns.  “That’s a fantastic football team,” said Coach Snyder, “that quarterback and receiving corps are insane.  That’s a great group of kids and we were able to come in and get a win.  It means the world to them.  I can’t be happier for them.”

Punxsy’s first answer was on their next possession.  The Chucks methodically drove 70 yards in 12 plays and used up over five minutes of clock.  The biggest play of the drive was Hetrick’s 18-yard pass to Logan Moore which set up Hetrick’s first touchdown, a 3-yard run.  Owen Roken’s first of six successful point afters tied the game at 7.

Neither team did much on their subsequent possession, but DuBois struck quick on their fourth overall possession.  After a six-yard loss, Wingard hit Jaxson Hanzely in stride for an 86-yard scoring strike to make it 14-7 DuBois.  Thus began a string of six touchdowns in the last 8:40 of the second quarter.

Again, Punxsutawney answered the bell.  This time they went 75 yards in eight plays to tie the game.  Logan Moore caught a 38-yard pass from Hetrick to set up Hetrick’s 5-yard scurry into the end zone on the next play.

Then, for the second week in a row, DuBois returned a kickoff for a touchdown.  This week it was Hayat Muhammad who took the kick just an inch or two from the goal line and raced untouched 99 yards to put DuBois back in the lead 21-14 only thirteen seconds after the Punxsy score.

Hayat Muhammad is #8 in the forefront. #3 is Thacher Hanzely and for Punxsy #56 is Jaden Rutan.

For the third time the Chucks bounced back and tied the game.  This time it only took a minute and a half as the visitors drove 70 yards on just six plays.  Hetrick did the honors scoring his second 5-yard rushing touchdown.

DuBois then used up most of the time that was left in the half by driving 78 yards on 12 plays in over three minutes.  When Samson Deeb hauled down a 12-yard scoring pass from Wingard and then Barnes split the uprights to make it 28-21 it seemed as thought the scoring was done for the first half.  But hold the phone.  Punxsy has a say in that.

Samson Deeb #1 as he crossed the goal line.

The Chucks wasted no time to answer a DuBois touchdown for the fourth time in the opening half.  Hetrick lifted a pass to a wide open Max Presloid who then out raced the Beaver defense to complete an 80-yard TD with only thirty ticks left on the clock.  A bad snap prevented the Chucks from tying the game, so DuBois still led by a score of 28-27.

But there was time for DuBois.  A 39-yard pass to Jaxson Hanzely put the home team at the Punxsy 25-yard line with just a few seconds remaining.  Wingard fired a strike to Muhammad who dragged his foot to stay in bounds and score DuBois’ fourth TD of the quarter.  But an illegal lineman was downfield and the score was negated due to that penalty.  Wingard then threw the first of his five interceptions to end the half.  Maddo Hetrick was the interceptor.

The third quarter found Punxsy grabbing their first lead of the game.  Big Bad Beau Thomas pounded the ball in from three yards out and Hetrick found Teeg Hetrick for the two-point conversion making the score Punxsy 35 DuBois 28.

Late in the quarter DuBois scored their last touchdown of the game (little did they know).  Finishing off an 80-yard drive, Jaxson Hanzely snagged a 7-yard pass from Wingard.  It was Hanzely’s second score of the night and Wingard’s fourth TD toss.

Punxsy put the game away in the fourth quarter on another Hetrick touchdown run and a Jordan Rutan touchdown.  Rutan led all rushers on the evening with 106 yards on 22 carries.

Jordan Rutan is in white and #21 in center finding a bit of running room. #19 in black for DuBois is Aaron Eberly.

On the last three Beaver drives, including the two that ended up in Punxsy real estate, the Chucks picked off passes.  Rutan snared two of them and Presloid the other.  It was Presloid’s second pick of the night also.

Next week the 1-1 Beavers go on the road to face a very tough Karns City Gremlin squad that is 2-0.  Meanwhile, Punxsy, who is 2-0, will play host to the Bradford Owls who are 1-1.

Score by Quarters:

Punxsy – 7 20 8 14 – 49

DuBois – 7 21 7 0 – 35

Scoring Summary:

First Quarter:

D – London Duncan 23-yard pass from Trey Wingard, (Maddox Barnes PAT), 6:15

P – Maddox Hetrick 3-yard run, (Owen Roken PAT), 0:51

Second Quarter:

D – Jaxson Hanzely 86-yard pass from Wingard, (Barnes PAT), 8:40

P – Hetrick 5-yard run (Roken PAT), 5:53

D – Hayat Muhammad 99-yard kickoff return, (Barnes PAT), 5:40

P – Hetrick 5-yard run, (Roken PAT), 3:58

D – Samson Deeb 12-yard pass from Wingard, (Barnes PAT), 0:47

P – Max Presloid 80-yard pass from Hetrick, (PAT failed – bad snap), 0:30

Third Quarter:

P – Beau Thomas 3-yard run, (Teeg Hetrick pass from Maddox Hetrick 2-pt. conversion), 7:53

D – Jaxson Hanzely 7-yard pass from Wingard, (Barnes PAT), 1:47

Fourth Quarter:

P – Jordan Rutan 2-yard run, (Roken PAT), 10:41

P – Hetrick 7-yard run, (Roken PAT), 4:30

Individual Stats:

Rushing: Punxsy – Jordan Rutan 22-106, Maddox Hetrick 15-84, Beau Thomas 6-15, Landan Temchulla 1-4. Totals: 44-209.  DuBois – Walker Thomas 3-9, Dalton Reasinger 2-9, Trey Wingard 5-9, London Duncan 6-6, Team 1-(3). Totals: 17-33. Fumbles lost – 2.

Passing: Punxsy – Maddox Hetrick 14-20, 275 yards, 1 touchdown, Beau Thomas 1-1, (2) yards.  Team 15-21, 273 yards, 1 touchdown.  DuBois – Trey Wingard 31-52-5, 419 yards, 4 touchdowns.

Receiving: P – Beau Thomas 6-80, Logan Moore 5-102, Max Presloid 3-93-1, Teeg Hetrick 1-(2).  Totals: 15-273-1.  D – Jaxson Hanzely 13-219-2, Jonathan Reed 5-60, Thacher Hanzely 5-54, Samson Deeb 4-50-1, Hayat Muhammad 2-9, London Duncan 1-23-1, Walker Thomas 1-4.  Totals: 31-419-4.

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