B-A takes down Central

By: Brady McConnell  |  September 17, 2025

The Blue Devils football team is slowly but surely bouncing back from its many injuries that occurred in Weeks 1 and 2.

With the return of key lineman Jayce Quick, and with running back Chase Plummer running 100 percent, that’s all the Blue Devils needed to get the 20-0 victory over Central at Memorial Stadium last Friday.

“It feels great being back. I missed blocking for my guys in the back field,” Quick said.

The win got Bellwood-Antis back even at 2-2. As for the Dragons, they dropped to 1-3 with the loss, which was their sixth straight loss on the road dating back to last season.

B-A still played without a couple of key starters, but Coach Nick Lovrich thought the team put in a lot of hard work to snap their two game losing streak.

“I thought we had a very good week of practice where we worked on the little things that hurt us the previous week,” the coach said. “Those work days were the days that helped us achieve the win on Friday night. It took the whole team working hard to get better for us to get the results we got on Friday.”

The Blue Devils continued their first quarter struggles, and couldn’t get on the board. The score ended up 0-0 after one.

Bellwood began moving the chains with 8:27 left in the half. The Devils got down to the 7 yard line, and that’s all they needed for junior Alex McCartney to score from there. Freshman Miles Smearman kicked the first of two PATs to put the Blue devils up 7-0 with 2:01 second left in the half.

The score stayed that way at halftime.

To open the second half, sophomore Brendan McNelis connected with junior Ethan Shawley for a 39-yard passing connection, but Bellwood couldn’t convert after the long pass and punted.

Bellwood’s defense held strong as it did all game and got the offense right back on the field. Only a couple plays into the ensuing drive, Plummer broke away for a 30-yard rushing touchdown. This score put the Blue Devils up 14-0 with 4:23 seconds left in the third.

Both teams stayed quiet until 9:19 left in the fourth quarter when McCartney punched in a 1-yard run to put the Blue Devils up 20-0.

Bellwood-Antis will now travel to Tyrone for the highly anticipated Backyard Brawl on Friday. The Devils won a exciting game 28-21 last year at Memorial stadium. The game is Blair County’s top football rivalry, and Coach Nick Lovrich expects a good game.

“This week is a big week not only because we want to keep improving, but it is also Tyrone week,” Coach Lovrich said. “It should be a great atmosphere and game.”