Resilient Windber seeks 2nd straight District 5-1A championship against Northern Bedford

After starting 4-0, Windber weathered a storm of injuries and responded after two straight losses with a Week 10 win and an upset of North Star in the District 5 Class 1A semifinals last Friday to punch a ticket to its third straight title game.

Windber (8-3) will meet top-seeded Northern Bedford County for the second straight year in the title tilt at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Somerset.

The Black Panthers routed the Ramblers 35-6 in Week 9. However, things will likely be closer this time around.

"We're just thankful to be healthy," said Windber coach Matt Grohal. "When we played them Week 9, we knew what was coming, going into that game. We couldn't run. We couldn't throw. We like where we are sitting right now. We got all those guys back from injury and played very well against a pretty good North Star team last Friday.

"Here we are sitting in a district championship game, again. It's a great opportunity. You can throw the records out at this point. Obviously, on paper, they are going to be a huge favorite. We are going to work hard this week and see if we can give those guys a game."

The two teams met last season. The Ramblers upset the Black Panthers 14-0 in the title game. Windber fell to Westinghouse in the District 5-8 championship the year prior.

Despite losing leading rusher Luke Hostetler to injury in Week 4, playing without Colin Marx for the first six weeks and dealing with a crop of other injuries, Windber has been resilient over the course of the season.

"There's been so many highs and lows this season," Grohal said. "When we lost Luke, not only did we lose a great tailback, but I thought we lost the best cover corner in the league. To not have him in a game of this magnitude really hurts. But I can't say enough about these seniors and juniors that kept fighting and hanging in there. We were deflated after Berlin and NBC. Anything we ask of the kids, they do. That's a credit to them and their families."

Bringing momentum into the title game Windber downs North Star, earns trip District 5 title game; Meyersdale falls short at NBC

Northern Bedford (11-0), the No. 3 ranked team in 1A, returns virtually everyone from its runner-up squad a season ago. Quarterback Eion Snider, running back Adam Johnson, along with wide receivers Aaron Bowers and Ben Gable make life difficult for oppositions. The quartet has combined for 60 total touchdowns this season.

"Nobody has taken anything away from them this year," Grohal said. "They are so balanced. It all starts with Snider. He's fantastic. He's got weapons all over the place. We know they're going to score points. We've just got to try and slow them down a little bit and have long, sustaining drives to keep that offense off the field. If we can get a couple stops and turnovers, who knows what can happen."

Windber racked up 379 rushing yards in its victory over North Star. With the likes of Marx, R.J. Tallion and Bryce Chicarell in the backfield, the Ramblers have found a way to effectively run the football. First-year senior quarterback Tanner Barkley has thrown for an unheard of 1,219 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions in coach Grohal's system. Junior Evan Brady has 52 grabs for 691 yards and 12 scores. Everything needs to click for the Ramblers if they are going to repeat as champs.

"We're not where NBC is from a balance perspective, but Tanner's had a phenomenal year throwing the football," Grohal said. "We're a lot more balanced than what we normally are. Any time we get single coverage on the outside with Evan, it's on. If they double him, we need to run the ball.

"This is really exciting, though. For the third year in a row, we are going to be the underdog. We are going to take on that role and give them our best punches and see where we are at the end of the night."

Rip's pick: Northern Bedford County 24, Windber 17

Rip's picks: Last week: 2-1; Overall: 49-8

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 bids for 2nd straight District 5-1A football championship