The Bradford Owls stayed undefeated with a convincing 42-0 win over Elk County Catholic in an AML South Division win on Friday night at Parkway Field.
Once again it was John Eakin who powered the Owls offense, scoring four touchdowns of the six scored by the run-oriented offense.
Eakin scored on a 62-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. Caleb Nuzzo split the uprights for the 7-0 score just 17 seconds into the game.
Bradford’s defense once again contained the Crusaders, forcing a fumble that snuffed out the ECC drive. Both teams traded punts before the Owls scored on a seven play 44-yard drive capped off by Eakin’s second touchdown from a yard out. Nuzzo again added the extra point to give the Owls a 14-0 lead with 2:05 left in the first quarter.
Bradford’s defense gave up two big Tyler Dilley passes of 19 and 29 yards allowing the Crusaders to drive to the Bradford 17 where the Owls stopped ECC in four plays to take over on downs.
Fourteen plays later the Owls again scored on a heavy dose of Eakin and Derek Sunafrank resulting in a one yard plunge by Eakin with Nuzzo again booting the extra point for a 21-0 lead with 3:05 left in the half.
Bradford ended the first half intercepting Dilley and returning the ball to the Crusader five-yard-line as the horn sounded.
“We made a few mistakes on pass coverage in the first half, other than that I thought our defense had a great red zone stand in the first quarter,” Bradford coach Jeff Puglio said. “The offensive line again opened holes for our running game and we were able to capitalize on some of their turnovers.”
Bradford began a seven play drive with Donny Pattison connecting on a 12-yard screen to John Eakin and a Jaron Ambrose 31 yard sweep to the right to the ECC 12. Eakin scored his fourth touchdown of the night on a 12-yard run for the 27-0 score. A bad snap on the extra point kept the score the same with 7:13 left in the third quarter.
Bradford’s defense held the Crusaders on a fourth down attempt taking over on downs with 3:20 left in the third quarter. After a Jaron Ambrose 31-yard touchdown run was called back on a holding penalty the Owls hit paydirt on a four-yard Derek Sunafrank run, with Sunafrank adding the two-point running play to put the score at 35-0 kicking in the mercy rule with three seconds left in the third quarter.
Both teams emptied the benches with the Owls traveling 69 yards on a six-play drive with Zach Woodel crossing the goal line from seven yards out. Dalton Feiro kick the extra point to put the final at 42-0.
After the game a pleased coach Pugilo praised his offensive and defensive lines.
“I thought we played a complete game tonight,” he said. “We read our keys defensively and worked as a unit offensively especially the line. It was good to get the second string offense some work tonight. Our defense did an exceptional job especially our outside linebackers. Andy Pantuso had 15 tackles tonight and Patrick Caskey had 10 as well. We will have to get ready for the Ridgway Elkers next week, another physical team”.
As for ECC head coach Tony Gerg, he was able to find some positives.
”I think we played our best game tonight even though the score doesn’t show it,” he said. “They (Bradford) are a class act. This is the classiest team we’ve played and they are coached well so hats off to them. We moved the ball well at times and a couple of mistakes hurt us. Again the league has to do something about the small schools in this league. Week after week we have to play freshman and sophomores and get pounded every week. This is a world of co-ops and this league needs to address this problem or it may not exist much longer. I’m not grinding an ax but we need to look at it”.
Elk Catholic will play Kane next Saturday night 7 p.m. at St Mary’s and Bradford will travel to Ridgway Friday night at 7 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
Bradford-John Eakin 62-yard run, Caleb Nuzzo Kick 7-0 11:43
Bradford-John Eakin 1-yard run, Caleb Nuzzo Kick 14-0 2:05
Second Quarter
Bradford-John Eakin 1-yard run, Caleb Nuzzo Kick 21-0 3:05
Third Quarter
Bradford-John Eakin 12-yard run, Kick Failed 27-0 7:13
Bradford-Derek Sunafrank 4-yard run, Sunafrank 3-yard run 2 point conversion 35-0 :03.7
Fourth Quarter
Bradford-Zach Woodel 7-yard run, Dalton Feiro Kick 42-0 1:55
BY QUARTERS
Elk Catholic 0 0 0 0 — 0
Bradford 14 7 14 7 — 42
TEAM STATISTICS
Rushes/Yards Rushing: ECC 32-110, Bradford 35-291; Yards Passing: ECC 103, Bradford 30; Comp-Att-Int: ECC 8-16-1, Bradford 3-7-0; Punts: ECC 3, Bradford 2; Penalties: ECC 3-15, Bradford 6-45; Fumbles-Lost: ECC 1-1, Bradford 1-0; Total Yards: ECC 213, Bradford 321; Offensive Plays: ECC 48, Bradford 42
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: ECC: Ravis Bobby 3-27, Alec Bittler 11-17, Leo Gregory 1-5, Tyler Dilley 10-28, Hunter Cashmer 7-33; Bradford: Donny Pattison 2-4, John Eakin 16-138-4, Jaron Ambrose 6-68, Derek Sunafrank 9-48, Vinny Burgess 2-33, Zach Woodel 1-7
Passing: ECC: Mason McAllister 1-1-20, Tyler Dilley 7-15-83; Bradford: Donny Pattison 3-7-30
Receiving: ECC: Leo Gregory 3-55, Brenne Klawhun 2-11, Hunter Cashmer 2-21, Alec Bittler 1-16; Bradford: Andy Pantuso 1-4, John Eakin 2-26
