SMETHPORT — It was a good old-fashioned game of McKean County football, and at the end of the day, Bradford found themselves on top.
Talan Reese threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to Logan Kohler, as the Owls (2-5) came away with a 27-12 win over Smethport (1-5).
“September was a long month…October has been a lot more fun so far,” said Bradford coach Jeff Puglio. “It was good to get out here and get a win. And it’s fun playing these close games like this. People want to talk about classifications and everything, you know, but that was a really good football game, and we didn’t have to drive two hours for it. So, I think that, you know, there’s really good football in District 9 and any week anybody can beat anybody.”
Reese did throw two interceptions (one was tipped), but for the most part was very efficient, completing 23-of-29 passes. Seven of those went to Kohler, including a 70-yard touchdown down the right sideline on the first play of the Owls’ second drive after Smethport had stuffed them on a 4th-and-1 20 yards away from the end zone on their first drive.
“On their first touchdown, 30 (Kohler), he’s special,” said Smethport coach Eric Rees. “He’s fast as hell.”
Despite the loss, Rees was proud of the way his team battled, which included stopping Bradford inside the 30 on three separate occasions, including the first drive of the game.
“I told the kids, I said, you know, I’m so proud of them, because we didn’t fight back in years past, when they start to hang their head and they start to bicker back and forth, It ends up being 40-12 instead of 27-12,” Rees said. “Our kids really found a way to just stay in it. I’m not saying they were perfect, but they believe 100% and found a way to dig in.”
For the second time in three drives, Smethport stopped Bradford on their side of the field, this time on the 29, on their third drive. The Owls’ fourth drive was a different story.
Starting on their own 3, Bradford drove 97 yards on nine plays, taking just over five minutes off the clock, capped by a Reese 2-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Kicior with 4:58 to go before halftime. Reese was 6-of-6 on the drive and Tommy Langdon also broke off a 20-yard run.
“We’ve been really working hard on sustaining blocks and sustaining drives with the run game,” Puglio said. “We had some penalties tonight, and it’s really, really hard to sustain drives when you’re getting a lot of flags like that. So that’s something we just have to clean up and keep working on.”
Smethport responded with a 60-yard drive that took just 1:32 off the clock. A pair of Jonah Ganoe runs covering 15 and 10 yards and 15-yard facemask penalty on Bradford set up Smethport at the Bradford 12, where Ganoe ran it in to make it 13-6 with 3:25 to go before halftime.
Smethport thwarted yet another Bradford opportunity inside Hubs’ territory on the ensuing. After a 30-yard run on a double reverse by Kohler, Owen Rounsville intercepted Reese off a deflection to keep the score at 13-6 going to halftime.
“As far as the run game goes, we thought we could run the ball well, and I think we did an okay job,” Rees said. “I don’t know what the stats will tell us, but I feel like we did an alright job.”
Puglio thought his team came out a little flat to start the second half and wasn’t afraid to get them fired up.
The Owls responded after stopping Smethport on downs. A couple of passes to Jordan Thompson set the Owls up at the Smethport 30, where Brody Haviland took a screen pass, broke several tackles and rumbled down to the 1. Tommy Langdon punched it on the next play and the Owls led 20-6.
“Sometimes we just relax and, you know, I think we’ve got to learn how to put the pedal to the metal for four full quarters,” Puglio said. “Sometimes I might have to bring us out of it, and I get a little lightheaded, but that’s all right.”
After stopping Smethport around midfield, the Owls made it 2-for-2 on scoring drives in the second half.
Taking over at their own 16, the Owls methodically drove 84 yards on 15 plays, chewing up nearly six minutes of clock. A 14-yard pass to Kicior and an 8-yard pass to Kohler set up the Reese to Kohler touchdown connection for the second time.
Smethport showed some fight, needing just seven plays to go 70 yards and respond. A 20-yard run by Ganoe helped set up a 35-yard touchdown run from Rounsville to make it 27-12.
“Our kids fought hard, and we cleaned up a lot of the stupid penalties and the big time mistakes,” Rees said. “The only turnover we had late in the game where we just took a shot. So, you know, we gave ourselves a chance to be successful. And I’m super proud of these kids, and I love them to death. You know, I hurt for them because they want it so bad.”
Smethport was able to get the ball back, but Langdon intercepted Smethport quarterback Aiden Tanner, who was taking a shot down the field.
For Bradford, Kohler finished with seven receptions for 154 yards, with seven different players — Kohler, Haviland, Thompson, Carter Colley, Kicior and Nick Degloier logging at least one reception.
As a team, the Owls rushed for 135 yards, led by 62 from Langdon.
Ganoe led Smethport with 116 yards on 18 carries, while Rounsville had 36 yards rushing and also had four receptions. Tanner ran for 27 yards and threw for 43. Ian Fitzsimmons also had an interception for the Hubbers.
“The effort was absolutely there,” Puglio said. “You know, really, we just wanted them to read their keys and play aggressively and they were able to do that tonight.”
AT Smethport
BY QUARTERS
Bradford 7 6 7 7 — 27
Smethport 0 6 0 6 — 12
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: Bradford: 16, Smethport: 13; Rushes/Yards Rushing: Bradford: 26-135, Smethport: 29-179; Yards Passing: Bradford: 308, Smethport: 50; Comp-Att-Int: Bradford: 23-29-2, Smethport: 9-18-1; Penalties: Bradford: 8-73, Smethport: 3-20; Fumbles-Lost: Bradford: 0-0, Smethport: 1-0; Total Yards: Bradford: 443, Smethport: 229; Offensive Plays: Bradford: 55, Smethport: 47
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: Bradford: Talan Reese 23-of-29, 308 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs ; Smethport: Aiden Tanner 8-of-17, 43 yards, 1 INT; Jonah Ganoe 1-of-1, 7 yards
Rushing: Bradford: Tommy Langdon 8-62, TD; Nick Degolier 7-36, Logan Kohler 1-25, Brody Haviland 6-24, Talan Reese 2-(minus)10, Team 2-(minus)2 ; Smethport: Jonah Ganoe 18-116, TD; Owen Rounsville 4-36, TD; Aiden Tanner 7-27
Receiving: Bradford: Logan Kohler 7-154, Brody Haviland 3-46, Jordan Thompson 4-35, Carter Colley 3-32 Kaden Kicior 2-16, Nick Degolier 1-13, Enzo Aiello 3-12 ; Smethport: Jonah Ganoe 3-25, Boe Kirkman 2-13, ,Owen Rounsville 4-12
Scoring summary
First quarter
B — Logan Kohler 70 pass from Talan Reese (Kaden Kicior PAT), 4:35
Second quarter
B — Kaden Kicior 2 pass from Reese (PAT blocked), 4:58
S — Jonah Ganoe 12 run (2-point conversion failed), 3:25
Third quarter
B — Tommy Langdon 1 run (Kicior PAT), 6:45
Fourth quarter
B — Kohler 2 pass from Reese (Kicior PAT), 9:43
S — Owen Rounsville 35 run (2-point conversion failed), 6:20
