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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- In their 2025 season football opener, the Bishop Guilfoyle Academy Marauders were tasked with shaking off a challenging first half in a road game against Penns Valley before BG took control of the game in the second half.
The Marauders faced no such difficulty in their 2026 opener against Penns Valley Friday night at Tiger Stadium.
Sophomore Keegan Hewitt, who scored four touchdowns in the game and rushed for 128 yards on 18 carries, returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for a score that BG used as a springboard to a 39-7 halftime lead en route to a 46-14 Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference mercy-rule rout.
"Last year, we started slow in this game, but we did a good job of setting the tone tonight,'' Bishop Guilfoyle coach Justin Wheeler said. "Tonight we ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown.
"How else could you come up with a better way to start the season.''
Hewitt got great blocking from his teammates on the return and found clear sailing down the left side of the field.
"It was squibbed to me, and Connor Bennett and Mikey Hofer both pancaked (Penns Valley) kids,' Hewitt said. "I had an easy lane going down the field."
BG, which rolled up 399 yards in total offense, took a 12-0 lead by adding another touchdown on its first offensive possession, when Hewitt's 3-yard TD scamper off left tackle capped off a 58-yard, 10-play scoring drive.
An Enzo Lascoli interception set up an 11-yard scoring run by junior quarterback Justin Wheeler with 58 seconds left in the first period, and BG put up 20 second-quarter points on an 18-yard scoring run by quarterback Wheeler, a 3-yard TD run by senior slotback Evan Schimminger, and a 14-yard off-tackle scoring burst by Hewitt, who also accounted for BG's final touchdown of the game on a 1-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter that staked the Marauders to a 46-7 lead and kicked the mercy-rule clock into action.
"I think we played really well,'' said quarterback Wheeler, who rushed for 82 yards on six carries. "Our line was solid, and when our skill position guys like Keegan, (backup quarterback) Landon Shellenberger, Evan Schimminger and myself put it all together, we are really dangerous.''
Hewitt scored four touchdowns, including the tone-setting return of the opening kickoff.
BG's front-line defense played well, allowing only one hiccup on a 75-yard slant pass from Penns Valley sophomore Cael Smith to wideout Spencer Althouse that went for a late second-quarter touchdown on what Coach Wheeler termed was a "misalignment" of his team's defense.
The most vital statistic was that BG rolled up 259 of its 399 total yards in the first half, which the Marauders dominated before Penns Valley found some equilibrium in the second half.
"Bishop Guilfoyle is a good team, and they started off with the big kickoff return to set the tone. But I'm proud of the effort that our kids put forth tonight. We will use this game to help ourselves get better as a team," Penns Valley coach Martin Tobias said.
Jack Gioiosa also made an interception on defense for BG.
Bishop Guilfoyle 46, Penns Valley 14
Penns Valley 0 7 0 7 -- 14
Bishop Guilfoyle 19 20 0 7 -- 46
First quarter
BG--Hewitt 70 kickoff return (kick failed), 11:54.
BG-Hewitt 2 run (pass failed), 4:17.
BG--Wheeler 11 run (Boland kick), 0:58.
Second quarter
BG--Wheeler 18 run (Boland kick), 11:16.
BG--Schimminger 3 run (run failed), 5:26.
PV-Althouse 75 pass from Smith (Freed kick), 3:48.
BG-Hewitt 14 run (Boland kick), 2:10.
Fourth quarter
BG-Hewitt 1 run (Boland kick), 10:29.
PV-Smith 1 run (Freed kick), 3:00.
TEAM STATISTICS
PV BG
First downs 8 18
Rushes-yards 23-102 39-281
Passing yards 105 118
C-A-I 8-22-2 10-17-0
Total yards 207 399
Fumbles-lost 3-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 3-15 6-80
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Penns Valley, Smith 12-90, Watson 10-13, Harpster 1-(minus-1). Bishop Guilfoyle, Hewitt 18-128, Wheeler 6-82, Shellenberger 2-29, Schimminger 5-19, Himmelwright 2-14, Hite 1-6, C. Okonak 2-3.
PASSING--Penns Valley, Smith 8-22-2-105. Bishop Guilfoyle, Wheeler 7-13-0-75, Shellenberger 3-4-0-43 .
RECEIVING--Penns Valley, Althouse 2-71, Harpster 2-(minus-1), West 1-19, Allegreto 1-9, Rowcotsky 1-7, Watson 1-0. Bishop Guilfoyle, J. Gioiosa 4-30, Okonak 2-44, Schimminger 2-29, Hewitt 1-18 Wheeler 1-(minus-3).