It wasn’t the most ideal matchup for an inexperienced Bradford team to begin its season with.
The Owls, ripe with nine new starters on both sides of the ball, went up against an accomplished Brookville squad with one of the best quarterbacks in the District.
And it didn’t take long for those Raiders to flex their muscles.
Brookville, and star quarterback Jack Krug, took advantage of five Bradford turnovers and churned out 400 yards of total offense en route to a 51-0 season-opening victory Friday night at Parkway Field.
The matchup continues a two-year run of dominance for Krug against the Owls, as the junior quarterback threw for 555 yards and eight touchdowns in a 69-60 win a season ago.
On Friday, he accounted for 199 yards and four touchdowns through the air and then added 129 yards and a touchdown with his legs.
“He’s a good player and if you give him those opportunities, he’s going to beat you,” Bradford coach Jeff Puglio said. “We gave him a lot of chances tonight and he made us pay.”
Krug missed most of last season with an injury, and his head coach admitted after the game that it took the signal-caller a little bit of time to warm up. When he did though, the Owls had few answers.
He threw for a 25-yard touchdown in the first quarter, showed his speed with a 77-yard scamper in the second quarter and then added scores of 13 and six yards, respectively, through the air before halftime.
“He was a little apprehensive after the injury so we were trying to do a couple things in the game to get him more relaxed,” Brookville head coach Scott Park said. “We had him back deep for the kickoff, so we were trying little things like that.
“He scrambles well and I think that’s really where we hurt them on defense. Do you go attack Jack? And then as soon as you attack Jack he was hitting the guy downfield. That’s tough and that’s one dynamic that Jack brings to the table.”
Brookville led 37-0 at halftime before Krug added one final touchdown in the third quarter on a four-yard strike with the running clock. He was pulled early in the fourth quarter when the Raiders second-team offense tacked on a 31-yard touchdown to close the scoring.
For Bradford, the problems began with Krug and the explosive Raiders offense, but they made plenty of self-inflicted errors, as well.
The Owls committed five turnovers in the game, featuring two interceptions and three fumbles lost off bad snaps.
For Puglio, the mistakes up front highlighted a tough offensive night that included just eight first downs and less than 100 total yards of offense.
“Turnovers are going to kill you anytime, and we have to do a little bit better doing a better job of picking stuff up front (on the line),” Puglio said. “The defense didn’t do anything shocking or elaborate to us, it’s kind of simple stuff that we have to get some confidence. We have to start believing that we can make these blocks; we can pick this stuff up. There is room to run. But until that happens, we have to keep grinding.”
There were flashes of success in the passing game, however, as senior quarterback Caleb Nuzzo hit on several nice passes down the field. He attempted 16 throws— a rarity for a Bradford offense — but just wasn’t consistent enough.
“It’s coming along,” Puglio said of the passing game. “We still have to settle down, set our feet and look the ball in. But that’s a work in progress. We want to commit to throwing the ball a little bit more this year, so it’s the start of it tonight.”
The problems in the passing game certainly began with the team’s struggle to run the ball. Featured backs Austen Davis and Derek Sunafrank combined for just 36 yards on 16 carries, and the longest run of the game for the Owls was a 13-yard jaunt from Davis in the first quarter.
“We had a chip on our shoulder,” Park said of his defense. “Our defenses in the past have given up a lot of points and a part of that is the style that we play.
“One person (in the media) picked us to give up 74 points tonight and that was a big thing on our mind. I was pleased with the effort, I thought we came out and we set the tone on offense and then we set the tone on defense right after that on Bradford’s first series.”
Brookville hosts Brockway next week.
Bradford, meanwhile, will need to rebound quickly for its first road test of 2019 next Friday at St. Marys. Puglio is confident that his young team — that included three freshmen starters against Brookville — got most of the butterflies out of the way.
“These guys have to get ready to be able to go,” he said. “(Brookville) is a really good team. They were picked in the top three preseason for a reason. We have to regroup, come back to work Monday, and get ready for St. Marys.”
AT BRADFORD
BY QUARTERS
Brookville 15 22 7 7—51
Bradford 0 0 0 0—0
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: Brook: 15, Brad: 8; Rushes/Yards Rushing: Brook: 18-164, Brad: 21-4; Yards Passing: Brook: 239, Brad 93; Comp-Att-Int: Brook: 19-28-1, Brad: 10-16-2; Penalties: Brook: 9-79, Brad: 8-47; Fumbles-Lost: Brook: 1-0, Brad: 3-2; Total Yards: Brook: 403, Brad: 97 Offensive Plays: Brook: 48, Brad: 39
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: Brookville: Jack Krug 17-26-4-1, Bogush 1-31, Keth 1-9 ; Bradford: Caleb Nuzzo 10-16-93-0-2
Rushing: Brookville: Krug 4-129-1, Cole LaBenne 6-15-1, Radaker 2-4, Hunt 1-4, Davis 1-9, Macbeth 4-3; Bradford: Austen Davis 7-19, Derek Sunafrank 9-17, Jake Pattison 1 (-2), Nuzzo 4 (-14)
Receiving: Brookville: Roberth Keth 5-71, Macbeth 4-51-1, Ian Thrush 4-36, Ryan Daisley 3-28-2, LaBenne 1-13-1, Sharp 2-40-1, Taylor 1-40; Bradford: Davis 4-62, Nate Gridlestone 3-29, Pattison 2-3, Lucas Laktash 1(-1)
Scoring summary
First quarter
Brook: LaBenne, 1-yard run (LaBenne run), 10:12
Brook: Daisley, 25-yard pass from Krug (Hoffman PAT), 3:19
Second quarter
Brook: Krug, 77-yard run (Thrush run), 4:33
Brook: LaBenne, 13-yard pass from Krug (Hoffman PAT), 4:03
Brook: Macbeth, 6-yard pass from Krug (Hoffman PAT), 0:17
Third quarter
Brook: Daisley, 4-yard pass from Krug (Hoffman PAT), 1:14
Fourth quarter
Brook: Sharp, 31-yard pass from Bogush (Hoffman PAT), 2:23
