ORWIGSBURG — Sustaining a loss for the first time in 12 games didn’t sit well with Blue Mountain.
Following last week’s loss to Lehighton, the Eagles wanted to get back on the right foot in Friday’s Anthracite Football League contest against Marian.
Lucas Forbes ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns and the Blue Mountain defense shut down Marian’s dual-threat offense as the Eagles gritted out a 19-7 win at a rainy Eagles’ Nest.
Marian senior running back K.J. Snerr left the game early in the third quarter with an apparent left knee injury. He did not return and was on crutches at the end of the game.
“I think the kids came out hungry,” Blue Mountain coach Cory Mabry said. “We had I think an 11-game streak going into this year. The kids got a taste of a loss and I think they’re a little bitter about it. I was hoping that would we would come out and put on a good show.”
While the Eagles (4-1, 3-1 AFL) only registered 224 total yards — 179 on the ground — they had great field position. All three Blue Mountain drives in the first quarter started in Marian territory. And it took all three drives to finally get on the board.
Snerr fumbled on his first touch of the game on Marian’s third drive, setting the Eagles up at the Colts 29 with 5:10 to play in the first quarter. Blue Mountain was facing a third-and-17 when quarterback Mason Freed hit Nathan Calderone for a 27-yard gain after a pump fake got the sophomore receiver wide open at the 9-yard line.
Forbes finally pounded the ball in from the 1 — though the extra point was blocked — to give Blue Mountain a 6-0 lead with 2:15 to play in the first quarter.
The Colts (3-2, 2-2) didn’t have much better luck in the second quarter. The first play of the frame was an interception by Spencer Welsh, who had both Blue Mountain picks Friday night. Though Marian got the ball back on an Eagles’ fumble, it could only get as far as its own 40-yard line.
Two drives later, big tackles for loss by Connor Kerstetter and Matt Kalyan preceded a Colts muffed punt that set Blue Mountain up at the Marian 28.
Again the Eagles cashed in. Forbes scampered 14 yards around the left corner to the 1. Then bruising nose tackle Erech Noecker rumbled through the middle for a 12-0 lead with 1:44 remaining in the half.
But that wasn’t the end of Marian’s first-half troubles. The Colts fumbled again on the next drive, giving the Eagles the ball back on the Marian 16. A diving catch by Kerstetter at the 8 set up Forbes’ 2-yard touchdown run for a 19-0 lead 32 seconds before the intermission.
“Every time we turn the ball over to a good football team like that, it’s going to score off it,” Marian coach Stan Dakosty said. “The kids try hard, but we can’t keep making big mistakes in games like this.”
The Colts fumbled six times Friday, losing two of them, and were picked off twice. Though, in the second half, they won the turnover battle and nearly came back on the Eagles.
Aaron DeAngelo intercepted Freed twice, the latter coming on the first play of the fourth quarter that eventually led to DeAngelo’s 12-yard touchdown reception from Kuczynski with 8:25 to play.
But it was too late. Even after the Colts stuffed Blue Mountain’s fourth-and-1 from the Eagles’ 33 with 5:32 to play, Marian couldn’t muster another score. Marian got inside the 5, but Forbes made a tackle in the backfield on third down and Kuczynski’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
“That was huge,” Forbes said. “We didn’t play well in the second half. They got it back to a close game. We had to make that stand. They would’ve had a shot at an onside kick at the end of the game to get the ball back and we stuffed them there at the goal line.”
Forbes was explosive out of the backfield, particularly in the third quarter to keep the clock moving. The 5-foot-5 senior reeled off runs of 17, 12 and 11 yards during the frame, hurdling a defender on the latter — though it was called back for a block in the back penalty.
“Our line did a good job,” Forbes said. “We started a little slow, but we got it going at the end of the first half. They did a good job up front.”
Snerr was injured on Marian’s first drive of the second half. He was blocking downfield on Kuczynski’s 5-yard run on third-and-long. He was helped off the field by teammates and did not put weight on his left leg for the rest of the game. Dakosty said Snerr would be evaluated at 8 a.m. today.
Game Summary
Mar. (3-2, 2-2) 0 0 0 7 — 7
BM (4-1, 3-1) 6 13 0 0 — 19
BM — Forbes 1 run (kick blocked)
BM — Noecker 1 run (pass failed)
BM — Forbes 2 run (Puzzi kick)
Mar — DeAngelo 12 pass from Kuczynski (Buscher kick)
Mar BM
First Downs 8 10
Rushes-Yards 37-69 43-179
Passes 5-13-2 3-9-2
Passing Yards 47 45
Total Yards 116 224
Fumbles-Lost 6-2 1-1
Penalties 2-20 8-72
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Marian — Nause 6-33, Snerr 9-21, Goldberg 3-16, Kuczynski 8-9, Litsch 8-6, Rehrig 1-0, Team 2-(-16). Blue Mountain — Forbes 19-96, Mi. Kalyan 8-56, Ma. Kalyan 11-30, Noecker 1-1, Freed 1-(-1), Team 3-(-3).
PASSING: Marian — Kuczynski 5-13-2, 47. Blue Mountain — Freed 3-9-2, 45.
RECEIVING: Marian — DeAngelo 4-38, Nause 1-9. Blue Mountain — Calderone 1-27, Forbes 1-10, Kerstetter 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS: Marian — DeAngelo 2. Blue Mountain — Welsh 2.