PINE GROVE — It’s been a recurring theme through three games for the Pine Grove football team.
Play one great half, play one bad half. That bad half proved fatal Monday night in a Tri-Valley League contest against Juniata.
Chantz Swartz scored four touchdowns — three in the second half — as the Indians overcame a halftime deficit to defeat Pine Grove 26-7 at Cardinal Stadium.
The Cardinals (1-2, 1-1 TVL) dominated the game in the first half, and led 7-6 at intermission. In the second half, it was all Juniata.
“We came out in the second half and we were just flat,” Pine Grove coach Jeff Sampson said. “It’s been an on-going issue for us for the last three games. We’re playing 24 minutes of football and not 48.
“We have understand that it’s a four-quarter game, not two or three. They put 48 minutes on the scoreboard for a reason. They don’t put 24 minutes on. We have to play four quarters.”
Swartz, a 6-foot, 172-pound junior, started his big night on the game’s first play from scrimmage, taking a pitch left and racing 88 yards for a touchdown. Just 13 seconds into the game, Juniata led 6-0.
Swartz finished the game with 187 yards on 16 carries. In three games for Juniata (3-0, 2-0 TVL), Swartz has rushed for 420 yards and scored nine touchdowns.
“The first touchdown helped us get momentum,” Swartz said. “In the second half we came out fired up and ready to play.”
Pine Grove answered Juniata’s touchdown later in the first quarter with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by Logan Levan’s 1-yard plunge. A 33-yard run by Levan started the march, with an 18-yard pass from Levan to Daniel Diaz-Walton giving the Cardinals a first-and-goal from the 1.
Pine Grove threatened to increase its lead late in the first half, driving to the Juniata 6-yard line with less than a minute left. Two incomplete passes forced the Cardinals to try a field goal, and Diaz-Walton missed a 23-yarder.
Minus the 88-yard touchdown run, Juniata amassed just 63 yards and two first downs in the second half.
“We did a really good job in the first half,” Sampson said. “We moved the ball. We stuffed their run. I thought we did a tremendous job on both sides of the ball.”
Juniata took control of the game in the third quarter, scoring on its first three possessions of the second half. The Indians put together drives of 65, 84 and 49 yards, with Swartz scoring on runs of 2, 42 and 10 yards.
The key for Juniata was fullback Spencer Page, who didn’t have a carry in the first half. The 5-8, 182-pounder carried four times for 56 yards on the first scoring drive, and rushed 11 times for 75 yards in the second half.
The Indians’ success running the ball between the tackles with Page gave Swartz room to run outside, as all three of his touchdown runs came on sweeps or scissor runs to the left.
“We went more to our fullback in the second half,” Juniata coach Gary Klingensmith said. “We wore them down. The fullback made some good yards in there and when they tightened down we pitched outside and got some touchdowns on the outside.
“The first half was downright strange,” Klingensmith continued. “We looked like we were in a haze. The real team showed up in the second half.”
Defensively, Juniata held Pine Grove to 75 total yards and forced three turnovers in the second half.
An interception by Noah Burns came three plays after Swartz gave Juniata the lead. Pine Grove then fumbled on its next two possessions, preventing the Cardinals from establishing any momentum and killing their chances at a comeback.
“We’ve had an issue with turnovers,” Sampson said. “It seems that other teams have been able to capitalize on our turnovers, and we haven’t been able to capitalize on theirs. You can’t win many football games if you’re putting the ball on the deck or throwing interceptions.”
Game Summary
Jun. (3-0, 2-0) 6 0 14 6 — 26 PG (1-2, 1-1) 7 0 0 0 — 7
J —Swartz 88 run (kick failed)
PG —Levan 1 run (Diaz-Walton kick)
J —Swartz 2 run (run failed)
J —Swartz 42 run (Page pass from Clark)
J —Swartz 10 run (pass failed)
Jun PG
First Downs 12 13
Rushes-Yards 41-293 43-168
Passes 3-7-0 5-14-1
Passing Yards 28 49
Total Yards 321 217
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 3-2
Penalties 5-53 3-21
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Juniata — Swartz 16-187, Page 11-75, Treaster 5-25, Clark 5-12, Parson 2-5, Team 2-(-11). Pine Grove — Weinus 20-89, Levan 12-34, Aungst 6-30, Soltys 2-11, Lutz 3-4.
PASSING: Juniata — Clark 3-7-0, 28. Pine Grove — Levan 5-14-1, 49.
RECEIVING: Juniata — Zendt 2-21, Treaster 1-7. Pine Grove — Weinus 3-23, Diaz-Walton 1-18, Wolfe 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS: Juniata — Burns.