Bellefonte football looks to finish regular season strong at Bishop McCort
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Last week's Week 9 affair didn't earn the Bellefonte football team the ceremonious, fourth consecutive victory the team was shooting for. Instead, the Red Raiders endured, a tough, 27-3 loss to Bellwood-Antis in front of their home crowd – the second time in two seasons they've found themselves down by multiple scores against the Blue Devils to close out a game.
It was a rough setback for a team fresh off one of its more momentous stretches in recent memory, following up wins over Bald Eagle, P-O and Richland. But the mindset following the game wasn't to harp on it. Instead their focus immediately turned to what lay ahead.
"We've got to get back to it Monday and get ready for our crossover game next week," said Confer. "After tonight, this game doesn't matter. It is what it is. We're going to move on from it, we're going to get back and we're going to get ready for Week 10 and our playoff push."
Bellefonte (5-4) closes out its regular season with another tough matchup at Bishop McCort (6-3) on Thursday, with that Week 10 affair set for 7 p.m.
Heading into the matchup, the biggest question involves what last week's scoreboard indicated. The offense struggled on Friday, netting under 150 yards and ten first downs. How the Red Raiders build off those struggles will likely determine whether or not it can bounce back on Thursday.
Injury wise, Bellefonte was without a key two-way contributor in senior Ashten Howell last week. Confer was optimistic about him returning soon following last week's game. But if he were to miss another week, expect freshman Ethan Speerstra to lead the team's backfield.
Speerstra had a solid performance against Bellwood-Antis despite Bellefonte turning more pass heavy in the second half, rushing for 52 yards on nine rush attempts. He has 179 yards on 44 rushes this season, good for an average of 4.4 yards per rush.
"He's one of those freshmen out there that's working hard," said Confer on Speerstra. "We've had to go to him because Bentlee Hall got injured a couple weeks ago, and he's looking to have surgery."
"When you have a kid like that out, it definitely hurts. It hurts us on both sides of the ball," he added on Howell.
Whoever it has available on Thursday, the Red Raiders will have their hands full either way. Since start 1-3, Bishop McCort has rattled off five consecutive victories, most recently blowing out Forest Hills on the road by 35 points.
Offensively, that surge has been led by dual threat quarterback Bentley Bainey, who's passed for 1,273 yards and 15 TDs while also leading the Crushers in all rushing categories (83-787, 12 TDs). Marquez Gordon adds a strong second dimension to the team's rushing attack, and Bainey has multiple trustworthy receivers, most notably senior Breylond Wiley.
Within its win streak, Bishop McCort has averaged a staggering 42.6 points per game while holding opponents to single figures twice. It's also allowed 38 to Philipsburg-Osceola as recently as Week 7, so Bellefonte may be able to find more success than it did last week.
Even with last week's game, the Red Raiders have given up just 14 points in the last four weeks, making Thursday's contest an intriguing battle of strengths. Whatever happens, Bellefonte has clinched the top seed in District 6 Class 4A.