Northern Bedford takes advantage of short-handed Windber squad to claim District 5-1A gold
SOMERSET — For an undisclosed reason, Windber's Evan Brady, Bryce Chicarell and Colin Marx did not play and were not present on the sidelines Thursday night in the District 5 Class 1A championship against unbeaten Northern Bedford County.
The Ramblers who were there hung with the top-seed Black Panthers, trailing by just five points at the break. But without a trio of playmakers, Windber's offense was one-dimensional. Northern Bedford proved to be too much in the second half, capturing a 27-7 victory, avenging a title loss from a year ago.
"I'm proud of the guys that were here," said Windber coach Matt Grohal. "I'm proud of the guys here for their effort."
Northern Bedford senior running back Adam Johnson racked up 167 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, while senior signal-caller Eion Snider added 46 yards and a score on the ground and 39 yards passing to lead the Black Panthers.
Snider took advantage of a short field after a Windber three-and-out to open the scoring and finish a three-play drive with a 14-yard touchdown run. Northern Bedford (12-0) led 6-0 with 4:50 left in the first quarter.
Windber (8-4) marched down to the Northern Bedford 39-yard line to begin the second quarter. However, the Ramblers could not convert a fake punt and turned the ball over on downs.
The Black Panthers capitalized.
Johnson raced 60 yards down to the Windber 4-yard line, before scoring a play later. The two-point conversion failed, but Northern Bedford led 12-0 with 11:28 to go in the half.
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Windber finally got on the board with 4:08 remaining in the second. The power running combo of juniors R.J. Tallion and Lucas Oleksa engineered a 13-play, 59-yard drive, with Tallion finishing it on a 3-yard surge. Bryson Costa added the PAT.
Tallion carried 26 times for 91 yards, while Oleksa added 51 yards on 17 carries.
The resilient Ramblers trailed 12-7 at the break.
"We did as good as we could in that first half. That's exactly where we wanted to be," Grohal said. "Getting the ball coming out of the half, three-and-out, a crappy punt, then it just kind of got away from us a little bit. My kids never quit for four quarters."
Northern Bedford took over at the Windber 39-yard line after the three-and-out and short punt. Johnson carried for 30 yards then scored on a 9-yard jaunt around left end. He added the two-point conversion, and the Black Panthers led 20-7 with 9:26 left in the third.
The Black Panthers put the game out of reach with a drive that stemmed from the third into the fourth quarter. They converted a fourth-and-9 to open then fourth and added to their lead on an Ashton Detterline 1-yard score.
"It's a veteran team," Northern Bedford coach Garry Black said of his squad. "These guys have been to four district title games in a row. They (the seniors) won three. They know how to win football games. It's something they've learned since youth football."
Despite the loss and everything that Grohal and his program went through this season, he is confident the Ramblers will be playing in their fourth straight district title game next season.
"I'm so proud of the effort, tonight," Grohal said. "They don't need gold medals to be champions. My kids are champions. We'll be back here next year. You can write that down."
Adam Ripple is the Daily American sports editor. He can be reached at 814-444-5926. Follow him on X (Twitter) @ARipple_DAsport. Follow Daily American Sports on Facebook and @dailyamericanmedia on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Windber unable to withstand Northern Bedford in District 5-1A title
