Albert Einstein once said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
Einstein could not have known that he was describing the 2004 Bellwood-Antis football season to a “T.”
The Blue Devils got through their first preseason scrimmage in pretty good shape, but then were hammered by Clearfield in their final scrimmage and backyard rival Tyrone built up a 40-0 lead in the season opener on the way to a 40-13 triumph. To describe that beginning as merely difficult would not be giving the situation its due. Although both those teams won their respective district championships, the future did not appear very bright for the Blue Devils.
Bellwood-Antis had finished the 2003 football season 5-5, a poor season by most fans’, coaches’ and players’ estimates, even though a lot of area teams would give their collective left arms for a 5-5 season in a down year. Bellwood-Antis has had just two losing seasons during present head coach John Hayes 25-year tenure at Bellwood and just a grand total of 13 in the Blue Devils long 66-year history of the program.
Few would have expected Bellwood-Antis to rebound and have the kind of season that followed, especially since a raft of injuries added to the Blue Devils woes.
Along the way however, something happened. A group of underclassmen, many of them mere sophomores, stepped in to take over for the injured and the mesh was instantly a success. Though the B-A sophomores enjoyed a perfect 8-0 junior high season in 2003, the difference between junior high and varsity competition is greater than the height of the Eiffel Tower. There was a lot of quick learning called for, on the field and during practice. Problems and mistakes had to ironed out. The defense was able to come together quicker than the offense, holding opponents close enough for the rejuvenated offense to get started. Few games were walk-aways, but wins began to come with regularity.
“I can honestly say that going into the year, we expected it to be one in which we hoped to get better as the year wore on, and as we developed some experience and got people into the right places,” Said B-A coach John Hayes. “With the number of openings that we had to fill and the uncertainty in general, we knew we would have some growing pains. To be further honest, I don‘t think that any of us really expected that we would grow to the point that we did by the end of the year. It was just a truly remarkable performance by a lot of kids who I think, just realized that they had some potential and that it was time to exploit it. So this was a year in which each week we actually learned and grew and got better. To be honest we had to, with the exception of Tyrone, the more successful teams were at the latter end of the schedule.”
In week two, the B-A defense stopped a Penns Valley offense that had rushed for 419 yards in their opener, holding the Rams to 74 yards rushing on 31 carries and zero points, and the offense was led by sophomore tailback Josh Kleinfelter who rushed for 120 yards, and Travis Ehredt, who scored a pair of TDs, in a 27-0 victory to get the Blue Devils. Kleinfelter became the starting tailback after taking over late in the Tyrone game due to an injury. Before the 2004 season was over, Kleinfelter would put himself in the B-A record books.
As the season progressed, the Bellwood-Antis defense kept up the pressure and the offense kept getting better.
The B-A defense, after giving up 40 points to Tyrone in the opener, would finish third in the 24-team area in least points allowed, behind only Juniata Valley and Tyrone at the end of the season, allowing just 68 points in 11 straight wins.
Week three featured a couple of outstanding running backs in Kleinfelter and BEA’s Seth Nyman. Kleinfelter rushed nine times for 198 yards and two scores, while the Blue Devils defense limited Nyman, with a pair of 200 yard games to open the season, to just 105 yards, much of that against the B-A reserves late in the game in a 47-15 win.
B-A was provided a valuable lesson against Mount Union, barely avoiding an upset. The Blue Devil defense recorded a safety and the offense drove for a fourth-quarter touchdown to pull out a 17-14 win over a team they had obviously taken too lightly.
Southern Huntingdon was the Blue Devils’ second shutout victim of the season 28-0 on Homecoming Night at Bellwood Memorial Stadium, and a week later, Bellwood-Antis showed that they were for real, forcing undefeated Philipsburg-Osceola, fresh from a 7-6 win over Tyrone, to overtime. B-A yielded a field goal to the Mounties, then Kleinfelter turned the corner for a 10-yard score, for the only play Bellwood-Antis would need to defeat the Mounties 7-6.
Playing giant killers for the second week in a row, B-A overcame leads of 7-0 and 14-7 to knock Chestnut Ridge from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 21-14 win. Travis Ehredt scored twice and led the attack with 89 yards rushing.
Although some of the charm was gone with Juniata Valley handing Moshannon Valley a devastating loss a week earlier, the Blue Devils completed a three-game sweep of area powerhouses with a 23-0 win over Mo Valley for their seventh straight win. Defense was key, with B-A allowing the Knights just 77 yards total offense, while Kleinfelter rushed for 157 yards and two TDs. Junior Kyle Drost took over for the Blue Devils in this game after senior starter Zach Tomchick was lost for the season due to a knee injury.
In the final regular season contest, the B-A defense turned in their fourth shutout of the season and the offense did what it had to in a 14-0 triumph over Bishop Guilfoyle. The Blue Devils intercepted four passes and recovered a fumble to accent their performance and Kleinfelter rushed for 143 yards, including an 87 yard touchdown when it seemed he would stopped for a short gain, spun out of the grasp of a would-be tackler and outraced every BG defender to the end zone.
The Blue Devil offense enjoyed its best game of the year in week 10, as Bellwood-Antis smashed Laurel Valley 52-8 to begin District VI-A playoff action. Kleinfelter set a school record with 307 yards rushing and the team set a total offense mark of 635 yards.
Previously those records had been held by Chris McCartney who rushed for 277 yards against Northern Bedford, in 1989, and 556 yards total offense by the 1964 team against Central.
Travis Ehredt also rushed for 102 yards and scored twice against Laurel Valley, and Drost had his first 100-yard passing game completing three of eight for 101 yards, including a pair of tosses to junior wide out Dan Kovac, who quickly became Drost’s favorite receiver, for 52 and 38 yards.
In round two of the district playoffs, Bellwood-Antis fell behind undefeated Juniata Valley 14-0, before stepping up on both sides of the line of scrimmage and scoring 35 unanswered points, while holding Juniata Valley scoreless to defeat the Hornets 35-14. Valley had been averaging 39 points and 350 yards total offense, while giving up just a total of 20 points in their first 10 ballgames. The Blue Devils limited Juniata Valley to 34 yards rushing on 17 carries and intercepted two pass, one of which Dan Kovac returned 49 yards for a TD, and recovered three Hornet fumbles.
In the district finals at Mansion Park, the Blue Devils faced three-time defending district champ Bishop Carroll, who lost in the 2003 PIAA state finals. B-A used a special effort by special teams and the passing attack to down the Huskies 23-14. Devon Clapper set up the first score by returning a punt 60 yards and Kleinfelter returned a kickoff 38 yards that was followed by a score that enabled Bellwood-Antis to go into the locker room with a 14-7 halftime advantage. Drost threw touchdown passes to Kleinfelter and Kovac and passed for 117 yards.
Bellwood-Antis battled Camp Hill in their first venture in the PIAA playoffs since 1997. With the new PIAA playoff arrangements, the Blue Devils became the first District VI-A team to play in the Eastern Section. Camp Hill employed a big second-half effort after the two squads battled to a 14-14 draw during the first two quarters for a 27-14 win to sideline the Blue Devils, but not until Bellwood-Antis had run out the string to post 11 straight wins since that loss to Tyrone at the very beginning of the campaign.
“We were able to mature and we got some young people in for one reason or another, because of injury or just because of their talents. We started dotting the roster with younger players and they really stepped up and performed well,” explained Hayes. “Between the growth and maturity of our older returning players and the younger players, everything fell into place.”
Offensive line
Hayes is the first to admit defense is key, but he also will tell you that the best defense is not to let your opponent have the ball. The Blue Devils controlled the football for 689 plays from scrimmage, excluding punts in 2004. The offensive line was a big difference in the Blue Devils going from a 5-5 so-so year in 2003, to their vastly improved 11-2 district championship 2004 campaign. Tony DelGrosso or Chris McDaniel at center, DelGrosso and Dustin Hoffer and Adam Martin at tackle, Dwayne Cherry and Brandon Cherry at guard and Troy Brunner as the tight end, blocked for 3,563 yards of offense, proving to be a key to the turnaround. That total yardage figure was almost 800 yards and 15 touchdowns better than 2003. Brunner and Dustin Hoffer were First Team All-Inter-County Conference teammates on the offensive line and Hoffer, Brunner and DelGrosso were selected to the Second Team All Mountain Athletic Football Conference as well. Dustin Hoffer was honored with the ultimate goal of every high school football player by being selected to the AP Class-A Second Team All-State Squad.
“Our forte, as everyone knows is our running attack,” said Bellwood-Antis coach John Hayes. “Dustin had some troubles last year due to injuries, but progressed this season into a real fine blocker. Dustin was able to block on the line and then was able numerous times to hustle downfield to provide more blocks for our running backs and receivers.”
Running backs
A John Hayes-coached offense is and always has been a tailback-oriented rushing attack. Coach Hayes (197-71-2) needing just three wins to reach the coveted 200 mark, must be doing something right in turning Bellwood-Antis into “Tailback U.” During Hayes, highly successful tenure at B-A 13 running backs have eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for a season. All but two of the 13 have been tailbacks. The 2004 team rushed for 2,554 yards and passed for an additional 1,009 yards.
After rushing for just 19 yards in late action against Tyrone, Josh Kleinfelter spent the remainder of the season developing into one of coach Hayes best projects. Kleinfelter easily broke the previous sophomore rushing record of 519 yards by John Graham in 1964, by rushing for 1,620 yards on 235 carries to average 6.9 yards per carry. Kleinfelter’s season total is second on the B-A all-time chart to Don “Booker” Moore’s 1985 total of 1,653 yards rushing. Kleinfelter takes over the school records for total yardage in a single game (307) and in a season (1,866).
Kleinfelter started slowly against Tyrone, but compiled 198 yards against BEA, 157 against Moshannon Valley, 155 against Juniata Valley, 143 against Bishop Guilfoyle, 120 against Penns Valley and 106 against Philipsburg-Osceola, in addition to his record total against Laurel Valley.
Travis Ehredt, who spent most of the time blocking from his fullback position, still rushed for 703 yards, including 100 yard games against Ligonier Valley (102) and Juniata Valley (137) stepping it up on consecutive weeks during the district playoffs.
Quarterbacks
The Blue Devil quarterback in 2004, was a two-headed animal due to injury. Senior Zach Tomchick began the season, after missing much of practice recovering from a preseason practice injury and guided Bellwood-Antis through the Moshannon Valley contest, with B-A winning seven of eight while Zach was at the helm. Then when Tomchick went down again due to a knee injury, junior Kyle Drost stepped in to lead the Blue Devils the rest of the way.
Tomchick, who worked hard over the last two years to improve when handed QB role, completed 36 of 73 pass attempts for 504 yards and four touchdown passes to go with four interceptions. Tomchick is just the 10th B-A quarterback to throw as many TD passes as interceptions in a season. Chuck Benton is the only QB to perform the feat twice (2000-01). Drost completed 24 of 65 tosses for an additional 425 yards, while throwing two TD passes and six interceptions, learning on the job.
Receivers
Senior wingback Derrick Hoffer led the Blue Devils with 18 receptions for 266 yards. Hoffer has 39 receptions for 612 yards during his high school career at B-A, ranking Derrick second in receptions to Jason Lamertina (42 in 1987-88) and fifth in receiving yardage behind Brad Wertz (689 from 1995-96) Lamertina (657), Mike Desch (623 from 1977-79) and Troy Beaver (616 from 1999-2001).
Junior Dan Kovac, who quickly became Drost’s favorite receiver had 10 catches for a team-high 293 yards and two TDs, averaging just short of 30 yards per catch. Travis Ehredt had 11 catches for 86 yards, Kleinfelter had 10 receptions for 182 yards and two scores, and tight end Troy Brunner had five catches for 55 yards and one TD catch. Brunner also grabbed two two-point conversion passes as well.
Special teams
The difference in success from 2003 to 2004 can quickly be measured by the play of the Blue Devil special teams. One example should say all that is needed to be said. In last year’s Moshannon Valley game at Bellwood, B-A had the ball at the end of both halves inside the five-yard line. Zero points were scored and the Black Knights defeated Bellwood-Antis 13-7 to effectively knock the Blue Devils out of playoff consideration.
In 2004, sophomore place-kicker Evan Celmo booted three field goals (32 yards against Moshannon Valley, 23 yards against Laurel Valley and 25 yards against Bishop Carroll), all longer than attempts would have been in that 2003 contest. Celmo booted 33 extra points in addition to the trio of field goals for 42 kicking points. Celmo’s 33 PATs are the fifth highest season total in school history and only Dan Graham (4) has kicked more field goals in a season at B-A.
Devon Clapper showed off special teams at their best with a 60-yard punt return that set up a score in the district final game, leading the team with a 21-yard per return average on five kickoffs and six punts. Josh Kleinfelter led in kickoff returns with a 20.3 average on seven kickoffs, including his 38-yard jaunt against Bishop Carroll.
Defense
The saying that offense puts people in the seats, but defense puts teams in the playoffs, has at least one proponent in Bellwood. B-A head coach John Hayes has mentioned that phrase, or something akin to it many times. Hayes is a staunch believer that his 2004 defense was the glue that held together the 11-game win streak that put Bellwood-Antis into the drivers seat-that was the biggest one intangible that earned the Blue Devils their third district crown and the 11-win season that B-A enjoyed.
“The key to success, if you ask any high school, college or pro coach will tell you that defense is what is important to get to the championships and end results” said Hayes. “It’s kind of ironic because defense is probably a little easier to install and teach than offense. We have always tried to sell our kids the idea that defense with the tackling and pursuit, was more desire and initiative than technique and skill. Obviously those things are part of it as well. Desire and heart and courage, those intangibles are the backbone of a defensive effort. We were in a little better shape defensively and our defense did step up and provided opportunities and make plays that help jump-start our offense. Little-by little that helped develop some sense of unity and confidence and pretty soon we could look for the offense to help carry the show.”
Only three teams were able to score on the Blue Devil defense in the third quarter in 2004 and just three scored in the fourth quarter. During a seven-game streak, from week four through week 10, the B-A defense didn’t allow a point in the second half. The defense kept it close, and the offense put points on the scoreboard-gaining a 160-45 advantage in the final two quarters.
The defense was manned by Troy Brunner and Jonathan Davila at the ends, Tyler Narehood was the noseguard, Adam Martin and Brandon Cherry were the tackles across the defensive line Dan Kovac, Dwayne Cherry and Tony DelGrosso were the linebackers. Josh Kleinfelter and Derrick Hoffer were the cornerbacks and Chris Edmiston was the safety.
Dwayne Cherry led the Blue Devil “D” with 137 total tackles (74 solos and 63 assists). Last year’s leader in tackles as a sophomore, Tony DelGrosso was second with 124 (a team-high 82 solo stops and 42 assists) and has 213 total tackles in the last two years. Adam Martin had 81 tackles, Derrick Hoffer had 73 from his cornerback spot and Dan Kovac added 71. Tyler Narehood had 57, Brandon Cherry 56 and Troy Brunner 55. Josh Kleinfelter had 48 tackles and Jonathan Davila 44.
Derrick Hoffer led the entire 26-team area in interceptions with seven and added 14 pass knockdowns as well.
Tony DelGrosso led the team in running back sacks with nine and added one quarterback sack. Tyler Narehood had seven quarterback sacks and six more running backs sacks and blocked a field goal attempt. Troy Brunner had a total of 10 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, and Dwayne Cherry had nine.
The Blue Devils totaled 74 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, recovered 17 fumbles and intercepted 17 passes. Tony DelGrosso recorded a safety, and Dwayne Cherry and Dan Kovac each returned interceptions for touchdowns.
Adam Martin, Brandon Cherry, Tony DelGrosso, Dwayne Cherry and Derrick Hoffer all made First Team-ICC with Chris Edmiston and Tyler Narehood receiving Honorable Mention. Brandon Cherry, DelGrosso and Derrick Hoffer also were selected to the MAFC First Team and Brunner, Martin, Dwayne Cherry and Chris Edmiston made the MAFC Second Team.
Derrick Hoffer was named to the Associated Press First Team Class-A All-State Team as a defensive back. Hoffer becomes the second member of the family to earn First Team All-State status-his grandfather Mike Hoffer was the first Blue Devil to be named to the First Team All-State squad back in 1950, as well as big brother Dustin getting selected to the Second Team this year.
“More times than not in a any group you will find some cliquish behavior,” said Hayes. “It’s kind of natural. To not have it is more uncommon. I don’t know if I could put a finger on the reason why, but there developed just a real acceptance, a real openness, a real oneness. I don’t know exactly how to describe it. They became a team, a family. They really appreciated the efforts of each other, they motivated each other, they pushed each other. There wasn’t any finger pointing kind of mode when we got into tough spots, and we didn’t have the luxury of blowouts and easy times. The real cancer is when you put the blame on someone else. Our kids didn’t do that, there was a tremendous attitude coupled with a great work ethic. They just developed a togetherness and a will to survive. This senior class is a group that had not had a lot of success in the past. Their motivation was to establish themselves and do whatever it took to be successful. They and the other returning players were not at all discriminatory about who or what, they just wanted to go out and be successful. It brought about a really great on-field but just as importantly off the field, locker room atmosphere, environment that was as a coach really fun to be around. It was just an enjoyable season from that standpoint, every bit as much as the victories.”
The 2005 Blue Devils return Troy Brunner, Adam Martin and Tony DelGrosso from the line and Kyle Drost and Josh Kleinfelter on offense and Brunner, Davila, DelGrosso, Kovac, Kleinfelter, and Tyler Narehood. Evan Celmo returns as the kicker and Kovac doubles as the punter.
As a team, Bellwood-Antis won their 15th ICC crown and shared the first MAFC title with Tyrone and Philipsburg-Osceola.
“Our kids seem right now to be real anxious to get started,” said Hayes “getting into gear for next year. Right now that’s a good sign. Let’s hope that continues.”
Blue Devil legacy: At the recent Bellwood-Antis Quarterback Club Banquet, the end of the year awards were presented. One special legacy needs to be mentioned. In addition to all his other honors, Derrick Hoffer was the 2004 recipient of the VFW Blanket Award. This honor is the oldest award that is presented, being given yearly since 1948. This year’s recipient as previously noted is the grandson of Mike Hoffer, who was honored with the Blanket Award in 1950. In addition to those two, Mike’s son Scott Hoffer was honored in 76, Mike’s nephews Denny Guyer ((1964) and Todd Guyer (1970) were recipients, and Derrick’s cousin Dan Houser was the 2003 Blanket winner. In all six members of the same family have won the VFW Blanket Award
