By Kenny Varner

BELLEFONTE – Simply a sensational Senior night!

The Bellefonte football gave their fans quite a lot to cheer about Friday, rebounding greatly after last week’s loss rolling to dominant 49-26 win by the Red Raiders.

“I was very happy with the offensive line. They did a great job. The pass protection was very good and last week we really struggled against Bishop McCourt,” said Bellefonte coach Tony Confer. “I challenged these guys tonight. I told them we need to be better and they stepped up tonight in both phases. The pass game was really good.”

Offensively, Bellefonte exploded in all aspects of the game, Liam Halterman lit it up through the air while his running backs also took their game to the next level, rushing for 314 yards on the ground in just the first half. The passing game was also as potent, as Halterman scotched the Bearcats secondary for  172. When the buzzer sounded at the intermission, the Raiders “Rolled On” to 486 total yards and they finished with an even 500.

Early on, the Bearcats kept in step with Bellefonte.

The Red Raiders scored on their first possession after getting the opening kick off.

Starting on their 20. Liam Halterman and the offense marched down the field and finished it off after a 10-play drive that culminated in a 28-yard run  Halterman run. With the Andy Gerasenko Kick the Raiders led 7-0 at 8:36.

Huntingdon made the most of their first possession as they also went on a 10-play scoring.

Quarterback Eric Mykut hooked up on a 26-yard TD pass to Chris Gibson, putting the Bearcats on the board at 4:37. However, the Huntingdon kick was no good, leaving Bellefonte holding the slim 7-6 advantage.

Bellefonte was just warming up.

Halterman hooked up early in the drive with 51-yard pass to teammate Ashten Howell, putting the Raiders in the redzone.

Two plays later Halterman with the help of his line broke loose for a 12-yard run and into the endzone, upping it to a 14-6 score with the Andy Gerasenko kick at 2:47 in the first.

after forcing a Bearcat punt, the Raiders started their third drive on their own 36.

With just one hand off to running back Jackson Long the Red Raiders once again added to its score. After breaking clear of the line of scrimmage , Long put on the afterburners leaving the Bearcats secondary in his dust scoring on a 64-yard run. The game was starting get away from the Bearcats who now trailed 21-6 as Andy Gerasenko was again successful with 0:55 still left in the opening period.

In the second quarter, the defense once again forced a Bearcat punt, putting Bellefonte on its own 23.

But this drive took just three plays as Halterman capped off another drive in successful fashion.

Halterman launched a 34-yard TD pass to Jaeden Gerasenko, upping the lead to 28-6.

The offensive line was opening up the running game and they showed their dominance on its next possession.

Aden Howell took the ball in the backfield and blazed his way across the field ending in a 79-yard TD run at 8:05.

Midway through the second, Huntingdon found itself back in the scoring column as they marched down on a 5-play drive that ended on a Landon Erdman 2-yard run. The Red Raiders defense stood tall on the 2-point conversion at 5:00.

The consecutive series touchdown streak for the Red Raiders continued as they marched down the field and deep into the Bearcats side.

The call went to Noah Weaver as he muscled his way for the 5-yard TD run at 3:13.

The defense for Bellefonte got the ball back to the offense when Howell picked off Mykut and ran it back to the Huntingdon 19.

From there Isaac Gall got the call and blasted his way on 15-yards run for the score 1:18 left until the intermission.

With a mercy rule contest to start the  second half, the Red Raiders were able to rest their starters to give their younger players some much needed game-time experience.

The younger Raiders were able to hold their own allowing just 14 points to the Bearcats starting team.

Bellefonte will be in action next week as they travel to Richland.

Bellefonte 49, Huntingdon 26

Huntingdon  6.  6  6 8 –  26

Bellefonte   21 28  0 0 – 49

First Quarter

BEL – Liam Halterman 28-yards run (Andy Gerasenko Kick) 8:36

HUN – Eric Mykut 26-yard TD pass to Chris Gibson (kick failed), 4:37.

BEL – Halterman 12-yards run (Andy Gerasenko Kick),2:47.

BEL – Jackson Long 64-yard run (Andy Gerasenko Kick), 0:55.

Second Quarter

BEL – Halterman 34-yards TD pass to Jaeden Gerasenko (Andy Gerasenko kick) 10:49.

BEL – Aden Howell 79-yard TD run (Andy Gerasenko kick), 8:05.

HU – Landon Erdman 2-yards run (conversion failed), 5:00.

BEL – Noah Weaver 5-yard TD run (Andy Gerasenko kick),3:13.

BE – Isaac Gall 15-yards run (Andy Gerasenko kick),1:18.

Third Quarter

HUN – Erdman 15-yard TD run (Conversion failed), 0:32.

Fourth Quarter

HU – Reese Hughes 5-yard TD run (2-point conversion), 0:35.

TEAM STATISTICS   HU     BEL    

First downs                 11       20    

Total Yards                243  500

Rushes-yards.         26-159 31-328

Yards passing             84   172

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 9-16-2  6-11-0

Fumbles-lost            1 -0    2-1

Penalties-yards       2 -15 5-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: HU – Reese Hughes 3-36, Landon Erdman 9-58, Eric MyKut 11-65, Chris Gibson 1-(-5), Gavin Norris 1-5, Mike Morris 1-0.

BEL – Liam Halterman 4-67, Asten Howell 4-128,  Isaac Gall 2-23, Ka’Ven  Smith – Kirk6-17, Caleb Bartley 3-7, Jackson Long2-69, Noah Weaver 1-5, Quinn Park 5-12, Carson Crawford 1-1, Brennan Huntsinger 2-0.

PASSING: HU – MyKut 6-11-49.  Reese Hughes 3-5 35.

BEL – Liam Halterman 6-9 172, Quinn Park 0-1 0, Huntsinger 0-1 0 .

RECEIVING : HU – Hughes 3-7, Erdman 1-12, Gibson 3-48, Isaac Emel 1-3, Caleb Rutter 1-4.

BEL – Howell 1-8 , Jaeden Gerasenko 3-73, Howell 1-51, Gall 1-40.