BROCKWAY — It isn’t often coaches and players can walk away from a 42-point, mercy rule loss and feel positive about the upcoming two weeks.
However, after Bradford High came out inspired in the second half at Brockway, the Owls have plenty of good things to move forward with despite being rolled over, 63-21, by the undefeated Rovers (8-0) on Friday.
Trailing 49-7 and knowing a continuous clock was awaiting them as they emerged from the locker room, Bradford came out with possibly its most-inspired half of football of the season, kick-started by an Alex Daughenbaugh fumble recovery on the half’s opening kickoff.
“It was a gut check,” Owls head coach Jeff Puglio said about his halftime message. “It was like we had no desire to make plays. We just put it on them. You guys have to decide what you want to be. If you want to turn things around or not. We showed some life there in the second half.”
Facing a fourth down, quarterback Kyle Kirk (7-for-21, 176 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions) found Mitch Vleminckx for a first down to the 10-yard line. Two Brockway penalties put the ball at the two-and-a-half yard line before Kirk found running back Donny Pattison on a back-shoulder fade route for a touchdown.
That drive covered 47 yards in seven plays, efficiency that was hard to come by in the first half for the Owls. On the Owls’ eight first-half drives, four ended in punts and two in turnovers on downs, while another two were ended by interceptions.
“I thought there in the first half, we just shot ourselves in the foot,” Puglio said.
The game’s opening drive, by Bradford, seemed to be a microcosm of the Owls’ first-half possessions, if not the entire season. After moving the ball for a couple first downs, Bradford had the ball within striking distance before a penalty moved the football back to the Rovers’ 40 on a first-and-19.
The next play?
Andrew Trunzo stepped in front of a Kirk pass and rumbled 55-yards for a score less than two minutes into the game.
“We moved the ball on that first drive and we got a penalty. Whenever we get a penalty like that and we’re faced with second- or third-and-long, we struggle. We’ve got to stop those mistakes,” Puglio emphasized.
On a positive note, Bradford did snap its 11-quarter scoreless streak when Vleminckx scored on a one-yard Kirk pass on a drive that was set up by a 74-yard catch-and-run to the two-yard line.
“The whole game we moved the ball,” Puglio said. “That was encouraging from the past three weeks.”
Brockway scored six unanswered touchdowns in the first and second quarters to run up a 42-0 lead before the Owls’ got on the scoreboard with 1:10 left before the break. All six touchdowns were scored by different players, with four coming on the ground, one through the air by stud quarterback Hunter Miller and then Trunzo’s interception scamper.
Each team scored twice in the second half.
Miller and running back Mark Latuska, both seniors, were as good as advertised with the former throwing for 174 yards and two touchdowns and the latter rushing for 153 yards on just seven carries. Latuska broke loose for scoring runs of 5 and 73 yards.
The loss drops Bradford to 3-5. However, as Puglio alluded to in his postgame comments, there is reason for optimism, both for the two remaining games this season and heading forward, as most of his starting lineup — for better or worse — consists of underclassmen.
“There were some positives from it, but obviously the score doesn’t indicate that,” Puglio said. “Again, it’s hard for the people in the stands to see it.”
The main positive might be that the Owls were in the black for total yardage, a week after Kane held Bradford to a negative rushing total and just 14 yards for the game. Pattison led the runners on the ground with 71 yards on 15 totes and two receiving touchdowns, while Vleminckx found the edge a few times for 28 yards.
Kirk tossed for 176 yards and three scores, but more importantly to his coach, he didn’t take any sacks for big losses.
“He can’t take sacks,” Puglio said. “Even if that means we throw an interception here and there, then so be it. He’s got to forget that stuff. I like where Kyle is right now. He got better this week and we’ll ride this into next week.”
The Owls host Curwensville next Friday for Senior Night, while Brockway travels to undefeated Kane in a de facto Allegheny Mountain League South Division title game.
“We told our seniors they have eight quarters left,” Puglio said. “I don’t think they realize how close we are to the end and how close they are to the end of their careers. Eight quarters.”
Curwensville, a 23-6 loser to Elk Catholic Friday, presents another prime opportunity for the Owls to steal a win, especially from a team also reeling from its fourth-straight loss.
“We ride the momentum that we got there,” Puglio said about his team’s plan for the Golden Tide. “We won the second half and started to move the ball to score points. We can, and that was a good team we did it against. We take that into Monday and try to get ready to win a game. We have two home games and that should be enough to get us excited.”
SCORE BY QUARTER
Bradford 0 7 7 7 — 21
Brockway 28 21 7 7 — 63
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: Bradford 11, Brockway 14; Rushing Yards: Bradford 35-133, Brockway 19-227; yards Passing: Bradford 7-176, Brockway 13-206; Penalty Yards: Bradford 3-30, Brockway 6-70; Total Yards: Bradford 309, Brockway 433.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: Bradford: Kyle Kirk 7-21-176-3-2, Donny Pattison 0-1. Brockway: Hunter Miller 12-16-174-2-1, Peter Downer 1-2-32.
Rushing: Bradford: Pattison 15-71, Mitch Vleminckx 12-28, Nate Blauser 1-14, Zach Woodel 2-9, Derek Sunafrank 1-5, Alex Daughenbaugh 2-(-1), Kirk 2-(-7); Brockway: Mark Latuska 7-153-2, Miller 7-36, Tyler Serafini 3-25, Downer 2-(-3).
Receiving: Bradford: Andy Pantuso 2-85, Pattison 2-27-2, Vleminckx 2-25-1, Dawson Ambrose 1-29; Brockway: Cameron Baka 2-58, Jake Gorham 3-45-1, Andrew Trunzo 2-37, Garrett McClintick 1-32, Hunter Antonuccio 1-11, Downer 2-18-1, Johnny Wood 1-5.
