Bulldogs breeze past Gators
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. – You’ve heard of games where both coaches are happy when it is over, even though only one of them got a victory. Beth-Center’s 47-12 win at Geibel Catholic Saturday afternoon left both coaches … well, less than happy.
Geibel Catholic coach Angelo Dippolito, understandably, was upset after his team fell behind 19-0 when Beth-Center converted its first three possessions into touchdowns. But Bulldogs coach Ed Woods was upset after the game because of what happened next, which was nothing.
“In the first quarter, we came out and played some pretty good football,” Woods said after his team improved to 2-0. “Then, we had one of those … I don’t know what you call it. We went flat.”
After Matt Stay scored on a pair of short runs and Steve Hvizda added a 3-yard score with 4:01 remaining in the first quarter, Beth-Center didn’t find the end zone until Davis Slagle hooked up with Ean Livingood for a 19-yard score 41 seconds before halftime.”
“Our kids have to realize that they have to play hard on every snap,” Woods said. “For whatever reason, we relaxed through the second quarter.”
The Bulldogs blocked a Geibel Catholic punt early in the third quarter and Hvizda cashed in on a 3-yard TD run to make it 34-0 and a few series later, C.J. Jackson bolted for a 31-yard touchdown run to make it 41-0 and invoke the mercy rule with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter.
“They are a heck of a good football team and we were terrible. We weren’t competitive today,” Dippolito said. “I don’t know what else to say. Our kids can play better than we showed today, but Beth-Center is an awfully good football team. They are going to win a lot of games.”
The Gators had some offensive success in the fourth quarter with 163 yards and two touchdowns after being limited to 61 yards in the first three quarters. Sam Manna caught a 30-yard scoring pass from Mitch Erdely with 10:31 remaining, but Beth-Center’s Monty Davis busted loose for a 49-yard score on the next series. After a poor BC punt, the Gators got a score on Mike Vomish’s 9-yard run with 2:24 remaining.
Beth-Center faces a tough challenge Friday when the Bulldogs travel to 2-0 Charleroi in the Black Hills Conference opener. Geibel Catholic (0-2) opens Tri-County South Conference play at Jefferson-Morgan the same night.
Stay led the ground game for BC with 69 yards on eight first-half carries, while Slagle completed five of eight passes for 95 yards, also all in the first half.
Vomish paced the Gators with 50 yards on 10 carries, while Erdely ran for 35 and completed seven of 14 for 118.