Bald Eagle Area crushes Bishop Guilfoyle to advance to District 6 Class 2A semifinal
Bald Eagle Area head coach Jesse Nagle stressed the importance of taking each opponent seriously prior to his team’s District 6 Class 2A first round bout against Bishop Guilfoyle on Friday night.
The Eagles responded — racing to a 36-14 victory against the Laurel Highlands Conference rival Marauders. It began with BEA’s offensive line — paving the way for 166 rushing yards on the night. BEA’s defensive line held its own too, holding Bishop Guilfoyle scoreless through the first three quarters.
“Hats off to our kids in all phases of the game,” Nagle said. “Offensively we did a great job and defensively, we did too ... BG (Bishop Guilfoyle) is a good football team as well, there’s no doubt, but our offensive and defensive lines — it all starts up front. I thought they had nice lines, but our lines put it to them.”
BEA controlled the defensive side of the ball, forcing a three-and-out, two turnovers on downs, two fumbles and two punts throughout the course of the game. Bishop Guilfoyle didn’t score until there was 7:14 left in the game on a Kaden Wyandt 3-yard rushing touchdown. The Marauders scored one final time with a Chase Kissell 45-yard touchdown pass to Braden Reilly with 3:16 left in the game and a 36-14.
Too little, too late.
Eagles senior defensive lineman Alex Lefebvre smothered the proverbial fire before it spread, gathering 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the matchup.
“Coach Nagle had a great scheme tonight coming in and he had us doing what we all felt comfortable with, what we were good at doing,” Lefebvre said. “So, we came in knowing that we were going to dominate, knowing that we were ready to go. It wasn’t just one single person making a play, it was about the whole D-Line and the whole O-Line making plays and doing what we do.”
The beneficiary of BEA’s road grading on the offensive and defensive lines was senior running back and linebacker Cameron Dubbs. He had 16 carries for 112 rushing yards and three touchdowns, along with a fumble recovery and sack.
His line freed him up to make plays and he was more than grateful to them.
“I give big credit to our line,” Dubbs said. “Our line is a big part of what we do and how we run our offense and defense. They create pressure on defense and they create holes for us on offense.”
BEA quarterback Carson Nagle went 18-for-22 on passes for 199 yards. Kahale Burns led all receivers with seven receptions for 76 yards and additionally rushed for a 6-yard touchdown.
The Eagles will next face Forest Hills in the District 6 Class 2A semifinal on Nov. 10. After Bellefonte and Penns Valley lost on Friday night, BEA and State College are the only Centre County schools left in playoff action. State College did not play Friday night and will gear up for the District 6 Class 6A title game on Nov. 10 in Hollidaysburg.
BALD EAGLE AREA 36, Bishop Guilfoyle 0
Friday at Wingate
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bishop Guilfoyle 0 0 0 14 – 14
Bald Eagle Area 3 14 7 12 -- 36
First quarter
BEA – Kaden Burns 24 kick, 5:22
Second quarter
BEA – Dubbs 1 run (Kaden Burns kick), 11:58
BEA – Dubbs 4 run (Kaden Burns kick), 1:56
Third quarter
BEA – Dubbs 5 run (Kaden Burns kick), 8:02
Fourth quarter
BEA – Wible 11 run (Kaden Burns no good), 10:16
BEA – Kahale Burns 6 run (Kaden Burns no good), 7:26
BG – Wyandt 3 run (Caccioti kick), 5:52
BG – Reilly 45 pass from Chase Kissell (Caccioti kick), 3:16
STATS
RUSHING – Bishop Guilfoyle, Wyandt 16-135-1, Gates 2-13, Hagg 1-(-4), C. Kissell 6-(-42). Bald Eagle, Dubbs 16-112-3, Mccully 3-41, Wible 3-16-1, Watkins 1-14, K. Burns 1-6-1, Nagle 8-(-23)
PASSING – Bishop Guilfoyle, C. Kissell 7-14-109-1. Bald Eagle, Nagle 18-22-0-199.
RECEIVING – Bishop Guilfoyle, Reilly 4-71-, Gates 2-24, J. Kissell 1-16. Bald Eagle, K. Burns 7-76, Watkins 4-56, G. Burns 2-41, Taylor 2-24, Dubbs 1-2.
Records: Bishop Guilfoyle 6-5, Bald Eagle Area 10-1
Next game: Forest Hills at Bald Eagle Area, District 6 Class 2A, semifinal Nov. 10, 7 p.m.
