Cambria Heights #21 Trey Trybus takes a handoff to the house on a 1st and 10 to put the Highlanders up 8-0 in the first half

By Michael Boytim

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PATTON — When the teams are tied, sometimes a special team play makes the difference in the outcome.

With neither team rocking on defense in Friday’s game between Bellwood-Antis and Cambria Heights in a District 6 Class 2A semifinal game at Cambria Heights Stadium, Garrett Jasper’s punt that went out of bounds at the 1-yard line yard turned out to be monumental.

The Blue Devils ran the ball out of the back of the end zone after three plays gained just 4 yards for a safety, and then the Highlanders took advantage of a short field after the punt and scored a touchdown to take control of the game in an eventual 15-8 triumph .

“It was all year; I don’t know what else to say that hasn’t already been said,” Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said. “His movement was fantastic. Special teams is a big part of the game and I thought especially in the first half of the game, we played a lot of the game on that side of the field. Garrett’s point was fantastic.”

Cambria Heights will face Richland, a 35-14 winner over Marion Center in the other semifinal, at Mansion Park in the District 6 Class 2A championship next weekend.

“Last year, we won the district title (in Class 1A) and a lot of people made comments about us moving up to 2A,” Lewis said. “So we’re proud to prove them wrong and we’re going back to the District 6 championship game.”

Game play: Jasper’s drive was huge, but the final score wasn’t decided until he tackled Bellwood-Antis quarterback Holden Schreier along the sideline on fourth-and-10 from the Heights 34 with 5:19 to play. play 4 meters less. of the first down.

“They made some big plays on defense and that was kind of the difference,” Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Lovrich said.

Player of the game: Cambria Heights gets so many contributions from so many players, but even though Trey Trybus led the Highlanders with 104 yards on 16 carries, Luke Mulraney’s 91 yards on 19 carries came in clutch times for some key first descents. Mulraney wasn’t used as much in the running game this year as he was last season, but he also had a fantastic game on defense.

“It’s somebody different every week and that’s what makes us so dangerous,” Lewis said. “I’m proud of our guys. I’m proud of how I responded and how I played. To be honest, I showed a lot of character. Our seniors lead the way, but we have a lot of kids that have a lot of pride. We don’t want to finish.”

Unsung hero: Heights quarterback Isaac Weiland was very accurate and sharp on his passes, going 9-for-12 for 125 yards, which helped spark the Highlanders’ running game, which gained 244 yards on the night.

“Last year, we were really young,” Weiland said. “We have a lot of experience, and this year, we have that experience and it’s benefiting us on the football field.”

Most important stat: Bellwood-Antis had just seven first downs, and four of those came on the Blue Devils’ only scoring drive.

“Our guys gave everything they had. I’m proud of the effort they put in all year. They fought all year in every game we had. I’m very proud of the effort and progress we’ve made this year with our guys,” Lovrich said. “The seniors did a great job being leaders and we will definitely miss them, but it’s a bittersweet ending. We’d like to keep playing. Cambria Heights is a very good, physical football team, and they made plays when they had to.”

Hold on, won’t you: Heights fumbled five times and lost three to help the Blue Devils stay in the game. A few of the fumbles were the result of BA punching, which worked in practice.

“We work at rolling stations all the time for situations like this,” Lovrich said. “If you’re going to be good at takeout, you’ve got to practice it, so we practice it.”

Lovrich went from 2-8 last year to 8-4 this year: “You feel good about it, but our goal was to play for a district championship and we didn’t reach that goal. As we look back on the season, we’ll probably feel a little better about it. But now, it hurts. We wanted to play next weekend.”

Weiland: “It feels great. We have to limit our fumbles and turnovers, but we did what we had to do to win.”

Of note: Stephen Nelen and Marshall Eckenrode ran for touchdowns for the Highlanders. Nelen’s return for a first down on third-and-3 from the BA 26 sealed the game. … Bellwood’s Quinn Focht was ejected in the final seconds after receiving a personal foul while Heights was kneeling. … Ethan Shawley caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Schreier to get Bellwood-Antis on the board and Cayden Pellegrine caught a two-point conversion pass. … The teams’ only meeting came in a 2019 playoff game won by Bellwood — also 15-8.

Records: Bellwood-Antis (8-4); Cambria Heights (12-0).

Next week: Cambria Heights will play Richland for the District 6 Class 2A championship at Mansion Park next weekend.

STRIME SCORE

Bellwood-Antis 0 0 8 0 — 8

Cambria Heights 0 8 7 0 — 15

The second trimester

CH–Safety (put over punter’s head), 10:38.

CH–Nelen 10 run (kick failed), 8:15.

Third trimester

CH–Eckenrode 1 run (Abrams kick), 6:41.

BA–Shawley 5 pass from Schreier (Pellegrine pass from Schreier), 2:13.

TEAM STATISTICS BA CH

First descents 7 23

Total yards 106,369

Rushing yards 27-88 55-244

18 125 passing yards

Birds (comp.-att.-int.) 4-12-0 9-12-0

Average points 6-38,7 2-39

Fumbles-lost 0-0 5-3

Penalties-yards 7-60 7-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Bellwood-Antis, Gibbons 10-48, Pellegrine 7-25, Schreier 4-14, Kyle 2-1, Partner 4-0. Cambria Heights, Trybus 16-104, Mulraney 19-91, Eckenrode 6-33, Nelen 10-24, Jasper 1-0, Weiland 1-(-6), TEAM 2-(-2).

PASSING–Bellwood-Antis, Schreier 4-12-0-18. Cambria Heights, Weiland 9-12-0-125.

RECEIVING–Bellwood-Antis, Gibbons 3-13, Shawley 1-5. Cambria Heights, Trybus 3-67, Nelen 3-35, Eckenrode 2-11, Jasper 1-12.