Bellwood-Antis (2-2) travels to Three Springs to play Southern Huntingdon (3-1) on Friday night. This contest is a renewal of an old rivalry that began in 1961 with an 18-6 win for the Blue Devils. Although B-A has a commanding 24-7 series lead, the two schools have taken turns in dominating the series.
This will be the first meeting of the two ICC foes since Bellwood-Antis shelled Southern 47-14 in 1998. B-A replaces Penns Valley on the Rockets’ schedule this year. Southern Huntingdon, Everett and Mercyhurst Prep are newcomers on the B-A schedule, although both Southern and Everett have been on the schedule in previous years.
Southern Huntingdon dropped their season opener to still undefeated Moshannon Valley 30-15, then has come on strong with three wins, knocking off Northern Bedford 42-25, in a high scoring affair, Juniata Valley 27-20 and Williamsburg 27-7.
Fred Foster is in his second year as the Rockets’ head coach after a 5-4 season in 2002.
The Rockets have a roster of 31 players, including 13 lettermen. Southern Huntingdon has four starters back on offense and seven on defense.
“Southern Huntingdon uses a lot of I-formation” reported Bellwood-Antis coach John Hayes in describing the Rockets’ offense. “They have an experienced quarterback in Corey Doyle and with his experience, they have been able to expand what it is they are able to do when they have the football. They spread it around with trips and double wides and present a challenge for a defense. They run a lot off tackle and do it well, which sets up the quarterback keeper. Doyle is an outstanding athlete who makes people miss. They are so good at it, you almost know it’s coming, yet find it’s hard to stop it.”
Included among the returning letterwinners for Southern are senior bookend tackles David Gracey (6-2, 270) and Bryan Whitsel (6-2, 190), who open the holes coach Hayes was talking about and seniors Corey Doyle, Chrs Bilger, Matt Yocum and juniors Kasey Kuhns and Eric Hewitt, who man the skill positions for the Rockets.
Southern Huntingdon has rushed for 941 yards, a 215 yards average per game and passed for an additional 316 yards to average 309 total yards per ballgame.
Tailback John Neuder a sophomore 6-1, 180-pounder has carried 66 times for 302 yards and two TDs. Corey Doyle a senior 6-3, 175-pounder has scored a team-leading eight TDs, including three each against Northern Bedford and Williamsburg. Doyle has run 29 times for 226 yards, an average of nearly eight yards per carry. Senior fullback Chris Bilger (6-1, 210) has 259 yards on 25 carries for a 10 yard average per carry. Kasey Kuhns has run 15 times for 137 yards, a nine yard average.
Doyle has completed 14 of 36 passes for 316 yards. He has thrown four TD passes and been intercepted twice. Junior tight end Eric Hewitt (6-2, 185) has six receptions for 117 yards and one TD. Senior split end Matt Yocum has caught three passes for 122 yards and two TDs.
“On defense, Southern Huntingdon plays an eight-man front,” said coach Hayes. “They have been doing that for a long time, even before I started coaching here. They line up in a 5-3, or a 4-4 and step into a 5-3. They bring a linebacker on a stunt a lot and play a three deep secondary that makes it hard to throw deep against them.”
Bellwood-Antis has used a two-pronged attack in 2003.
Dan Houser, a senior tailback has rushed for 334 yards on 61 carries, a 5.5 yard average and classmate Matt Sneath adds 161 yards on 32 carries, a 5.0 yards average per carry.
Senior quarterback Shawn Weiand has completed 30 of 52 passes for 470 yards. Weiand has thrown three TDs and been intercepted twice. Derrick Hoffer, a junior wingback, has 10 catches for 170 yards and two TDs. Sneath has seven catches for 67 yards, Houser has six for 98 and senior tight end Matt Plummer has four catches for 107 yards and one TD.
Houser has scored 33 points on five TDs and three PAT kicks and Hoffer has three TDs and a two-point reception for 20 points.
While the Rockets have averaged 309 yards on offense and have scored 32 points per game in the three-game win streak, the Southern Huntingdon defense has given up an average of 278 yards per game. Friday night’s contest could be a game in which the two teams drive up and down the field with the team that has the ball last the winner. Or perhaps it could go the other way and be a defense-oriented low-scoring game.
“We hope we will be able to do some things that present problems for Southern Huntingdon,” said coach Hayes. “We have some things we feel definitely can be successful. We hope to take advantage of some things we see as a concern for them.”
