SHENANDOAH — Blue Mountain coach Cory Mabry held up his index finger in the team huddle following Friday night’s 41-12 win over Shenandoah Valley.
“One down,” he said to his players.
The season-opening victory in Veterans Memorial Stadium loudly announced the Eagles’ arrival in the Anthracite Football League.
“We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” Mabry said. “The anticipation of playing in this league again had the kids excited all summer.”
Blue Mountain (1-0, 1-0 AFL) put on a dominant performance out of the backfield, with four Eagles gaining at least 50 yards.
The “running back by committee” plan Mabry laid out in preseason proved effective, but there was no doubt the best back Friday night was senior Dakota Roberts.
“We have four good backs who can run the ball,” Roberts said. “So we rotate them through. We got a few people in, everyone got some yards tonight. It was a good game, good start.”
Roberts racked up 111 yards on five carries and scored three touchdowns for the Eagles. Quarterback Sean Greenawalt tallied 99 yards on five carries, Will Horn chipped in 52 on eight and Matt Kalyan added a 50-yarder late in the game.
While all three of Roberts’ scores were well-executed, his 52-yard, third-quarter scamper down the sideline stood out.
“We pretty much ran a counter,” Roberts said. “The blocks went inward, I took it around outside, bended it and ran it down. We were supposed to block inside but we just took it out because the blocks were there.”
Roberts started the offense with a 5-yard run with 3:54 remaining in the first quarter. Greenawalt broke free for a 77-yard touchdown run on Blue Mountain’s first possession of the second quarter.
After a Lucas Forbes touchdown with 7:05 remaining in the half, it appeared Blue Mountain was in control for good.
But that was when Shenandoah Valley quarterback Ian McCole and receiver Joel Santana found their rhythm. The duo connected on two passes for 65 yards in the final minute of the half before McCole hit Riley Miller from 4 yards out to put the Blue Devils on the board.
McCole finished 7-for-16 passing for 128 yards, 117 of which went to Santana. Blue Mountain’s defense held the Devils’ run game below zero, totalling minus-25 yards on 27 attempts.
Shenandoah Valley had a chance to bring the game within one score after its second-half kickoff bounced off one of the Blue Mountain up-men and was pounced on by the Devils at the Eagles’ 48.
However, two penalties and two incomplete passes forced the Devils to punt.
“We didn’t do anything with it,” Shenandoah Valley coach Randy Maksimik said of the botched kickoff. “... If we manage to take it in and get some points out of it, it comes down to a six- or seven-point game. Big difference from being seven down to back to 20 down.”
Blue Mountain rattled off back-to-back touchdowns following the punt. Roberts ran in from 17 yards to put the score at 27-6 and Greenawalt added another TD from 5 yards out 2 minutes later after Chelius returned a Blue Devil punt to the Shenandoah 5.
Roberts’ 52-yarder in the closing minute of the third quarter sealed it for the Eagles.
Shenandoah sophomore linebacker Dustin Gelbutis stripped Cordell Hancock of the ball in the backfield and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown in the final three minutes to set the final.
“We haven’t been 1-0 in a long time,” Mabry said. “We’ve had some tough openers the last half-dozen years or more so they’re excited.”
Game Summary
BM (1-0, 1-0). 6 14 21 0 — 41
SV (0-1, 0-1) 0 6 0 6 — 12
BM — Roberts 5 run (Kick failed)
BM — Greenawalt 77 run (Pass failed)
BM — Forbes 11 run (Greenawalt pass to Forbes)
SV — Miller 4 pass from McCole (Kick failed)
BM — Roberts 17 run (Puzzi kick)
BM — Greenawalt 5 run (Puzzi kick)
BM — Roberts 52 run (Puzzi kick)
SV — Gelbutis 80 fumble recovery (Run failed)
BM SV
First Downs 9 6
Rushes-Yards 32-366 27-(-25)
Passes 2-5-0 7-16-1
Passing Yards 7 128
Total Yards 373 103
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties 7-60 9-52
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Blue Mountain — Roberts 52-111, Greenawalt 5-99, Horn 9-52, Ma. Kalyan 1-50, Chelius 1-23, Donovan 4-13, Forbes 1-11, Freed 1-8, Cook 1-6, Team 1-(-1), Hancock 3-(-6). Shenandoah Valley — Morales 14-8, Urbanavage 4-1, McCole 7-(-16), Team 2-(-18).
PASSING: Blue Mountain — Greenawalt 2-5-0, 7. Shenandoah Valley — McCole 7-16-1, 128.
RECEIVING: Blue Mountain — Hull 1-9, Gosch 1-(-2). Shenandoah Valley — Santana 4-117, Storm 1-6, Miller 1-4, Morales 1-1.
INTERCEPTIONS: Blue Mountain — Roberts.