It took a little while for Bradford’s offense to find its footing against Brockway on Friday night. But in the first half, the Owls honestly didn’t need much. Their defense and special teams were more than happy to pitch in.
A pair of pick-sixes plus a special teams touchdown in the first two quarters helped propel Bradford to a 40-20 victory over the Rovers at Parkway Field on Senior Night.
After back-to-back losses to Ridgway and Kane, the win moves Bradford’s record to 6-2 overall and, more importantly, to 2-2 in the uber-competitive AML South.
“We didn’t help ourselves out in that first half but we just kept going after them,” Owls coach Jeff Puglio said. “That’s something we’ve been looking for, to be a physical team. We rebounded really well.”
As has been the case in Bradford’s best games this year, it was running back John Eakin leading the way on offense. The senior racked up 148 yards on the ground, plus a 49-yard reception. Eakin’s performance was enough to put him over 1,000 rushing yards on the season, a feat he also accomplished in his sophomore campaign.
“Anytime you can go for 1,000 yards it’s really special, especially in [week] eight,” Puglio said. “He’s a special kind of back. All our backs are really special. It’s fun when we can get him on the outside. Getting him on the perimeter is a nightmare for an outside linebacker.”
Meanwhile, fellow senior Andy Pantuso made an impact in every conceivable way, scoring on an interception, a fumble, and a reception.
It was Eakin who got things going on defense with a pick-six early in the first quarter to give Bradford the lead.
Brockway quarterback Pete Downer would tie the game 7-7 late in the quarter on a one-yard QB sneak.
In the second quarter, the floodgates opened for Bradford. Pantuso’s interception return put Bradford back on top 14-7 early in the second.
His second touchdown was as strange of a score as you’ll see. After the Brockway punter mishandled the snap, he was rushed into a poor kick that looked like it hit a teammate and wound up in the hands of Pantuso, who took the ball in from just a few yards out.
The Owls’ offense finally got in on the scoring with under a minute to go in the half. Quarterback Donny Pattison hit Caleb Nuzzo for a three-yard score on a nice crossing pattern to give Bradford a 26-7 halftime advantage.
Despite being outgained in the first half (194-150) — and in the game as a whole (383-347) — Bradford’s ability to force turnovers was a huge factor.
“Sometimes you’ve gotta win games like that,” Puglio said. “Andy Pantuso scored one every way tonight: offensively, defensively and special teams. As a collective effort tonight, it was really, really good.”
The Owls offense came out of halftime looking much more focused, and they found the end zone early in the third quarter when Eakin rumbled 46 yards to put Bradford up 33-7.
After a Brockway touchdown pass from Downer to Jon Wood cut the lead to 20, Pattison uncorked one of his best throws of the season, finding a streaking Pantuso for a 50-yard score to effectively put the game out of reach.
Bradford ended up forcing six Brockway turnovers (four fumbles, two interceptions). While three of those went for Owls touchdowns, perhaps the most impressive one ended up preventing Brockway from scoring.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Brockway running back Tyler Serafini (132 yards) broke off a big run and looked sure to score. But Jaron Ambrose wasn’t having it; he was able to not only bring Serafini down inside the five-yard line, but also force a fumble that was quickly snatched up by Pattison.
Both Ambrose (27 yards) and Derek Sunafrank (45) also contributed on the ground for Bradford.
Things won’t get any easier for the Owls next week when they travel to Curwensville to face the Golden Tide and D-9 all-time leading rusher Nick Stewart.
“We need to tackle better; again tonight we struggled with tackling,” Puglio noted. “Their backs were shifty. We’re going to see the best back in District 9 history next week; we’ve got to tackle him and gang tackle him.”
With only one more game left to make their playoff case, Puglio and the Owls know what’s in front of them and are ready to meet the challenge.
“Still room to improve, still have another game next week,” Puglio said. “This win helps us big time in the playoff race.”
BY QUARTERS
Brockway 7 0 6 7—20
Bradford 7 19 14 0—40
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: Brockway 17, Bradford 12; Rushes/Yards Rushing: Brockway 37-383, Bradford 36-240; Yards Passing: Brockway 170, Bradford 107; Comp-Att-Int: Brockway 13-24-2, Bradford 4-10-1; Punts: Brockway 3, Bradford 3; Penalties: Brockway 5-46, Bradford 8-65; Fumbles-Lost: Brockway 4-4, Bradford 1-1; Total Yards: Brockway 383, Bradford 347; Offensive Plays: Brockway 61, Bradford 46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: Brockway: Pete Downer 13-24-172-2-2; Bradford: Donny Pattison 4-10-107-2-1
Rushing: Brockway: Jon Wood 13-68, Tyler Serafini 21-132, Pete Downer 2-2-1, James Wood 1- -1; Bradford: John Eakin 15-148-1, Jaron Ambrose 8-27, Derek Sunafrank 9-45, Donny Pattison 4-20
Receiving: Brockway: Noah Vokes 5-87-1, Dylan Lecates 1-0, Jon Wood 3-30-1, Garrett McClintick 3-55; Bradford: John Eakin 1-49, Derek Sunafrank 1-5, Andy Pantuso 1-50-1, Caleb Nuzzo 1-3-1
Scoring summary
First quarter
Bradford: John Eakin, interception return (Caleb Nuzzo PAT), 9:34
Brockway: Pete Downer, 1-yard run (Zane Puhala PAT), 0:22
Second quarter
Bradford: Andy Pantuso, interception return (Caleb Nuzzo PAT), 8:21
Bradford: Andy Pantuso, fumble recovery (PAT blocked), 2:03
Bradford: Caleb Nuzzo, 3-yard pass from Donny Pattison (2-point conversion failed), 0:26
Third quarter
Bradford: John Eakin, 46-yard run (Caleb Nuzzo PAT), 8:34
Brockway: Jon Wood, 20-yard pass from Pete Downer (PAT no good), 4:32
Bradford: Andy Pantuso, 50-yard pass from Donny Pattison (Caleb Nuzzo PAT), 2:38
Fourth quarter
Brockway: Noah Vokes, 23-yard pass from Pete Downer (Zane Puhala PAT), 5:40
