By Kenny Varner

SPRING MILLS – It was a tale of two halves Friday night as Bellefonte took an early 20-14 lead going into the intermission over Penns Valley in Friday night high school football action.

But big plays by the Rams proved to be the turnaround in a game that would not be decided until the final stanza.

In the end, the Rams would make the plays they needed to in the fourth and was able to hold onto a 34-20 victory.

Penns Valley finished with 238 total yards of offense.

Quarterback Jackson Romig threw for 122 yards through the air, he also ran for 31 yards as well.

Teammate Ty Watson led the running game, smashing his way to a 77 yards on the ground, and three TDs. Receivers John Meyer and Miles Brooks finished with a 60 yard and 55 yard receiving night, respectively.

Bellefonte got a strong passing effort from quarterback Trevor Johnson who went 7-for-18 for 213 yards and a two touchdown connections.

Running back Jamal Saunders rushed for 53 yards.

In the first, the Red Raiders scored first in the contest.

On its second possession of the night, Bellefonte started its first drive on its own 46.

In the 9-play drive, Bellefonte went to Saunders as he ran five times in the drive.

He kept the last handoff of the drive and followed his blockers and went in for the touchdown on a 15-yard jaunt, making it a 7-0 advantage after the Logan Proctor kick.

Penns Valley rallied back to tie the game early in the second period.

Going on a 9-play drive, the Rams tied up its contest.

Jackson Romig launched the 12-yard pass to Miles Brooks, tying it at 7:24.

Bellefonte wasted little time getting back on the board as Johnson hit Logan Williams on a 46-yard hook up, upping the lead back to seven with 5:39 left in the half.

The Red Raiders used a little trickery on the kick off, booting an onsides kick past the front row. In the scramble to get the ball, Bellefonte got the ball and the momentum back.

As the gamble paid off, the Bellefonte offense was still hitting on all cylinders, scoring just minutes later.

Facing a 4th and 3, Johnson found Williams in the end zone for a 12-yard TD, upping the Bellefonte lead to 20-7.

Penns Valley turned its fortunes around in the final ticks of the first half clock.

Bellefonte had the ball pinned deep in its territory,  they tried to run out the clock but Penns Valley used its time outs and forced the Raiders to punt.

The Rams broke through the line of scrimmage and blocked the punt in the end zone.

Colin Niewinski alertly fell on it and gave his team the touchdown, cutting the Bellefonte advantage to just six points at the half.

“In the end of the second quarter, I take full responsibility for that, that’s on me and I told them you just got to move forward,” said Bellefonte coach  Vaughn Donmoyer. “In the second half, we are still piecing things together offensively. Yes, it was great to see 20 points in the first half but we need to put a full game together. Again, it comes down to the fundamentals and doing things correctly and being able to play the full game.”

In the second half, Penns Valley’s defense stiffened while it’s offense started to heat up.

After being forced to punt after its first possession of the second half, the Rams defense made a statement once again.

This time John Meyer snatched a pass from Bellefonte deep in the Rams end of the field and rumbled down the field to the Bellefonte 21.

One play later, Watson got the nod as he blazed his way for the 18-yard touchdown, giving the Rams their first lead of the game.

Defensively, Penns Valley was just getting started as it frustrated the Bellefonte offense time and time again.

Watson and company would put the game on ice as he added two late touchdowns for Penns Valley to send the Rams home with the victory.

Penns  Valley 34, Bellefonte 20

BE 7  13  0 0 –  20

PV 0  14 7 13 – 34

Scoring

First Quarter

B- Jamal Saunders 15-yard run (Logan Proctor kick),1:49.

Second Quarter

PV – Jackson Romig 12-yard pass to Miles Brooks (Ty Watson kick), 7:24.

B – Trevor Johnson 46-yard TD reception to Logan Williams (Proctor kick), 5:34.

B – Johnson to Williams 12-yard pass (no good), 2:37.

PV – Colin Neiwinski blocked punt recovery (Watson kick), 0:05.

Third Quarter

PV – Watson 22-yard run ( Watson kick), 9:26.

Fourth Quarter

PV – Watson 18-yard run, (PAT failed), 11:43

PV -Watson 10-yard run( Watson kick), 8:31.

Team statists       BE        PV

First downs           11         11

Rushes-Yards  37-53 25-116

Passing -yards  7-18 210 7-12-122

Fumbles             2-0     1-1

Penalties -yards 3-25 6-55

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing: BE – Jamal Saunders 19-53, Sherman Lowry 9-21, Trevor Johnson 7-(-19), Cooper Funk 2-(-2). PV – Ty Watson 13-77, John Meyer 1-3, Jackson Romig  11-31, Hunter Lyons 1-5.

Receiving: BE – Tyler Rice 1-32, Dominic Capperella 3-109, Logan Williams 3-69. PV –  Watson 1-7, Miles Brooks 4-55, John Meyer 2-60.

Passing : PV – Romig 7-122. BE – Johnson 7-18-210-1.

Interception: PV – John Meyer 3rd quarter