PUNXSUTAWNEY — The last time the Bradford Owls went on a long road trip, they started out slow and it ended up costing them a game they should have won against Moniteau.

They did plenty to make sure that history didn’t repeat itself on Friday in Punxsutawney.

The Owls scored on the game’s opening drive and exploded for a big second half to defeat the Chucks 34-14 and improve to 4-3 on the year.

Bradford gashed Punxsy (2-5) for some long runs on that opening drive, but the Owls finished the drive on a rare passing play. Caleb Nuzzo found tight end Gaige Campbell in the end zone for a two-yard strike on a fourth down play to put the Owls on top.

They’d have the lead for the rest of the night.

“We did that against Brockway, and now that’s two weeks in a row where we came out, set the tone and had a nice opening drive,” Bradford head coach Jeff Puglio said. “We even got some points on a pass play, so that was nice to see.”

Once the Owls had the lead, they were able to do what they do best: run the football. After that Nuzzo touchdown pass early in the first quarter, Bradford had only three passes the rest of the night.

Instead, the Owls scored their remaining four touchdowns on the ground, and ran for a sensational 459 yards on 49 carries. Featured back Donny Pattison had 216 yards and two touchdowns on the ground to surpass the 1,000-yard mark this season and had plenty of help from fellow running back Jaron Ambrose (12 carries for 169 yards).

Despite Ambrose putting Bradford up 14-0 to start the game, Puglio felt his team came out flat. After that score, Bradford couldn’t get much going offensively for the rest of the half. Nuzzo threw two interceptions in the second quarter, and the Chucks were able to at least limit the running attack.

Punxsy scored mid-way through the first quarter to make it 14-7 at the half.

“We started off good, but we were flat,” Puglio admitted. “The kids knew it and we went in the locker room and I told them, ‘This is it guys. We need to stop being this team.’ The kids did it on their own. We weren’t in that room, so whatever was said seemed to work because we caught some fire in the second half.”

Puglio was being modest.

Similar to Bradford’s win over Kane earlier in the year when they outscored the Wolves by nearly 30 points in the second half, the Owls came out with passion and dominated over the final 24 minutes Punxsy on Friday.

And while the running attack may generate most of the headlines for this game, Bradford’s defense deserves just as much credit for the win. The Owls gave up just seven points in the second half, and allowed only 61 yards rushing on 20 carries for the game.

Although Punxsy quarterback Dylan Ishman completed 20 passes in the game, only two went for over 20 yards. Bradford forced Ishman into 19 incompletions and an interception on some strong pass coverage.  
“The defense played with some passion and emotion tonight,” Puglio. “We need to do that more. We had some breakdowns here and there but I like the way we persevered. There was a little adversity thrown at us tonight, but we battled back and battled through it the entire night.”

With the defense doing its job, the offense made the most of its chances. Pattison had touchdown runs of 57 and 66 yards in the second half, and Ambrose rumbled for an 80-yard score for the game’s longest play.

Any time Punxsy really needed a stop on defense, the Owls were able to plunge for a first down with one of their backs. Senior tailback Nik Erickson had nine carries for 46 yards and helped balance the workload of Ambrose and Pattison.

For the second time this season, the Bradford Owls have won back-to-back games.

They’ll have a tough task against Clarion — which was undefeated until Friday’s loss against Ridgway — next week.

And while Puglio is already preparing for what’s ahead, he can’t help but be pleased with the growth he’s seen from his senior-laden team in the games that count the most.

“I like the way we are playing,” he said. “We’re starting to come together and that’s what we need this time of year. You get into October and these games are real important. We got a really big one next week; we can enjoy this one tonight but then it’s on to Clarion because we are going to have our hands full.”

AT PUNXSUTAWNEY

BY QUARTERS
Bradford    14  0 14  6—34
Punxsutawney  0 7 7 0—14
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: Brad 14, Punx 15; Rushes/Yards Rushing: Brad: 47-459, Punx: 20-61; Yards Passing: Brad: 4, Punx 234; Comp-Att-Int: Brad: 2-6-2, Punx: 20-39-1; Penalties: Brad: 7-79, Punx: 4-30; Fumbles-Lost: Brad: 1-0, Punx: 1-0; Total Yards: Brad: 463, Punx: 295; Offensive Plays: Brad: 48, Punx: 63

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Passing: Caleb Nuzzo 2-6-4-1-2: ; Punx: Dylan Ishman 20-39-234-2-1

Rushing: Brad: Donny Pattison 19-216-2, Jaron Ambrose 12-169-2, Nik Erickson 9-46, Nuzzo 2-22, Austin Davis 1-0, Zach Woodel 1 (-3) ; Punx: Ishman 9-36, Connor Giavedoni 8-3, Alex Gianvito 3-22

Receiving: Brad Gaige Campbell 1-2-1, Pattison 1-2: ; Punx: Carter Newcome 13-126-2, Lunden 3-77, Jake Skarbeck 3-24

Scoring summary

First quarter

Brad: Campbell, 2-yard pass from Nuzzo (Nuzzo PAT good), 7:42

Brad: Ambrose, 17-yard run (Nuzzo PAT good), 0:00

Second quarter

Punx: Newcome, 11-yard pass from Ishman (Gianvito PAT good), 8:09

Third quarter

Brad: Pattison, 57-yard run (Nuzzo PAT good), 7:13

Punx: Newcome, 14-yard pass from Ishman (Gianvito PAT good), 4:32

Brad: Ambrose, 80-yard run (Nuzzo PAT good), 4:11

Fourth quarter

Brad: Pattison, 66-yard run (Nuzzo missed PAT), 7:39