B-A falls to Mountaineers

By: Brady McConnell  |  October 2, 2025  |  Photo: Terry McCaulley

The Mountaineers run game was dominant Friday against Bellwood-Antis and couldn’t be stopped.

It was all Philipsburg-Osceola needed to get the 31-28 victory.

The loss dropped the Devils to a record of 3-3. As for Philipsburg Osceola, the victory was their third straight at home and bumped their record up to 4-2.

“We need to start playing as a team, and working together to stop the run. If we are able to do that we will get back on track,” junior defensive lineman Bryson Hescox said.

With 4:38 seconds left in the first quarter, Philipsburg’s Colton Chapman found the endzone on a 5-yard rushing touchdown. He rushed for 182 yards on 32 carries.

Not long into the second quarter, Chapman got into the endzone again on another 5-yard run. That score put Philipsburg up 14-0 with 10:54 seconds left in the half.

The Blue Devils responded quick as Alex McCartney punched a 4-yard rushing touchdown in to put the Blue Devils within one score.

The half looked to be over, but with only 2 seconds left Philipsburg’s Braylen Philips kicked a 33 yard field goal to put the score up to 17-7 going into the half.

Bellwood had the first score of the second half with a 7-yard run by Alex McCartney to cut the deficit to 17-14.

Bellwood’s defense held up well in the second half, but with 1:31 left in the 3rd quarter Philipsburg scored on a 9-yard passing play to put the Mounties up 24-14 going into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was filled with a lot of ups and downs for the Blue Devils. Despite a couple of turnovers, they were able to pull within a field goal late and had possession of the ball. Bradyn Partner scored on a 10-yard run with 4:53 left to make it 31-21, and a couple minutes later Partner hit Colin Gibbons for a 19-yard touchdown to make it 31-28.

B-A got a big fourth down stop to take possession with under two minutes to play before Robert McClenahan got a big interception to close the game out.

It was one of four turnovers for the Devils, who also fumbled three times.

We just need to be more consistent,” said B-A coach Nick Lovrich. “If you take about 5 plays out of that game, it may have been a different result.”

Outside of Chapman, B-A limited Mountie rushers to just 10 yards.

McCartney ran for 103 yards on 22 carries, bringing him within 270 yards of his second 1,000-yard season.