TIM WEIGHT/For the Express The Bellefonte offense huddles up during a football game against Bald Eagle Area on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, at Rogers Stadium.

BELLWOOD – While Bellefonte’s defense did what it could to give the team a shot, it could only do so much when it was all said and done. In its Week 9 affair at Bellwood-Antis (5-4), its offense got past midfield four times but never managed to enter the red zone, culminating in its third shutout of the season.

Five forced turnovers, coupled with it winning the field position battle, helped Bellwood-Antis take control early and never let go. It put together a 14-point second quarter, then added insurance in the fourth, defeating the Red Raiders, 22-0, on Friday at Memorial Stadium.

Injuries hampered Bellefonte, as x-factor running back Kav’en Smith-Kirk remained out with injury while starting quarterback Quinn Park played with a cast. With that, it struggled to add more dimensions to its offense, resulting in it being outgained 223-89 and ultimately, dropping its second straight game.

“Offensively, being short-handed at times, we just haven’t been able to put anything together. It’s very unfortunate for these kids. They’ve played their butts off, and we’ve been short-handed quite a bit this year,” said Bellefonte head coach Tony Confer following the loss.

“Bottom line is we need to come out and execute, and a lot of that falls on me as a head coach, and I need to do better at making sure we’re in a place where we can execute what we’re trying to do offensively.

Following a scoreless first quarter, a rough second put the Red Raiders in a bind heading into the break. They failed to get out of shadow of their end zone on their second drive, with that and a fumble gift-wrapping great field position for Bellwood-Antis, who took full advantage.

Starting 41 yards from the end zone, Bellwood-Antis made quick work of drawing first blood. Jeffery Waite gained a step on a seam down the middle, and on just the second play of the drive, Bradyn Partner found him for a 37-yard touchdown.

The Blue Devils would then start their next drive at midfield, this time using their touted cast of backs and a few solid runs from quarterback Brayden Partner to put together their longest drive of the night. That ten-play, 50-yard drive took up almost half the second quarter and was capped off with a one-yard touchdown from Partner on a QB sneak, which gave Bellwood-Antis a 14-0 lead with two minutes left in the half.

From there, it was just a matter of protecting its lead and building on it, with it doing both well.

The promise Bellefonte showed through its first three drives didn’t rematerialize through the second half. Of its six drives within the last 24 minutes, three featured turnovers – one just outside Bellwood-Antis’s red zone, one ended in a safety, one a three-and-out and the last a four-and-out.

After two strong starts to kick off his stint as Bellefonte’s starting quarterback, Park struggled to make what had worked in weeks past work on Friday. Bellwood-Antis swallowed up its run game, forcing the inexperienced quarterback to throw more. And its secondary, led by three picks from Collin Gibbons, got in his head.

“He’s doing everything he can. He’s in a bad spot with that cast on, but he’s giving everything he has out there,” said Confer on Park.

“We had some bad snaps and things like that. Whether you have two hands or one in a cast, bad snaps aren’t going to be good for you. We’ve just got to clean those things up and get better this week.”

Offensively, Ashten Howell had success early as a receiver, finishing the first half with 42 yards on three receptions. With catches of 14 and 9 yards on the team’s first drive, he played a role in setting the Red Raiders up just outside the red zone. And on their third drive, he caught a 19-yard pass on the sideline to help the team convert a third-and-16.

Defensively, Gavin DuFour came up big for the Red Raiders, posting a sack to stall a third-quarter drive and keeping Bellwood-Antis from adding a fourth touchdown late. The Blue Devils completed a 54-yard pass that was nearing the endzone before DuFour got there, forcing and recovering a fumble in the process.

All in all, it was a tough loss, as Bellefonte now sits at 3-6 on the season heading into its final contest. On top of looking to improve offensively, it’s also hoping it can get healthy with the postseason right around the corner.

Its next contest will be a Laurel Highlands crossover game, with its opponent yet to be determined.

“Whenever we find out who our opponent’s going to be, we’re going to focus on getting a game plan ready for them, getting our guys ready to go offensively and continuing to do what we’re doing defensively,” said Confer.

“We’ve got one more week to come back, and I know our coaches are gonna show up Monday and the kids are gonna show up Monday.”

Bellwood-Antis 22, Bellefonte 0

BELL 0 0 0 0 – 0

BAHS 0 14 0 8 – 0

Second Quarter

BA – Bradyn Partner to Jeffery Waite 37 pass (Miles Smearman kick), 11:53.

BA – Partner 1 run (Smearman kick), 2:05.

Fourth Quarter

BA – Chase Plummer 8 run (PAT blocked), 9:28.

BA – Plummer safety, 4:46.

TEAM STATISTICS BE BA

First downs 10 8

Rushes-yards 31-30 37-101

Passing yards 59 122

Total yards 89 223

Comp.-att.-int. 7-17-3 7-9-0

Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0

Penalties-yards 5-28

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Bellefonte, Quinn Park 15-29; Isaac Gall 5-13; Jackson Long 4-7; Alten Howell 2-4; Ashten Howell 1-0; Carson Crawford 1-(-1); TEAM 3-(-22). Bellwood-Antis, Alex McCartney 19-55; Chase Plummer 9-45, TD; Bradyn Partner 9-11, TD.

PASSING–Bellefonte, Quinn Park 7-16-3 59 yards; Alten Howell 0-1-0 0 yards. Bellwood-Antis, Bradyn Partner 7-9-0 122 yards, TD.

RECEIVING–Bellefonte, Ashten Howell 3-42, Landyn Langille 2-11; Jackson Long 1-5; Kolton Ammerman 1-1. Bellwood-Antis, Jeffery Waite 3-61, TD; Ethan Shawley 1-54; Colin Gibbons 2-4; Alex McCartney 1-2.

INTERCEPTION–Bellefonte, none. Bellwood-Antis, Collin Gibbons 3.

Records: Bellefonte 3-6 (3-6 Laurel Highlands). Bellwood-Antis 5-4 (5-4 Laurel Highlands).