Bellwood steamrolls Rangers on Senior Night

By: Brady McConnell  |  October 30, 2025  |  Photo: Cameron Gallagher

The Blue Devil football team had a strong second half performance last Friday in their Laurel Highlands Week 10 crossover game against Forest Hills, scoring 35 points in the second half after leading by just two at halftime.

It was more than enough to down the Rangers, 45-27.

Bellwood’s run game appeared to be dominant, as they rushed for a combined total of 375 yards on the night.

B-A moved to 6-4 to lock in the 6th seed in the District 6 2A district playoff picture. Forest Hills also ended their regular season 6-4 and fell one spot into the No. 4 position in 3A.

Bellwood opened strong, causing a fumble on the opening kickoff.

B-A capitalized off this with a 21-yard field goal by Miles Smearman to give the Blue Devils a 3-0 lead.

Bellwood got the ball back quick, and Alex McCartney got his first score of the game on a 3-yard rushing touchdown.

It was 9-0, but with 22 seconds left in the first quarter, Forest Hills’s Xander Richardson got into the endzone on a 6-yard QB sneak.

The score stayed the same going into half time, but the scoring in the second half started right away, as only 17 seconds into the frame Richardson connected with Cam Vitez for a 39-yard passing touchdown to give the Rangers the lead.

With 8:41 seconds left Chase Plummer broke free for a 42 yard run. Ethan Shawley caught the 2-point conversion from Bradyn Partner. Those scores put B-A ahead.

With 6:21 left in the third Forest Hills stuck to the air with a 12-yard passing touchdown to go back in front, but McCartney got his second touchdown of the game on a 15-yard run. That made it 24-20, but the Blue Devils had had enough of the back-and-forth game. I the fourth, they went to the ground with Plummer and McCartney and the Rangers had no answer.

Plummer got in the endzone twice in the final quarter while McCartney added his third score to extend the lead beyond the Rangers’ reach.

Plummer finished with 159 yards on 14 carries and McCartney had 165 on 25. The numbers allowed McCartney, who missed all of his sophomore season with a torn ACL, to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for the second time in his career. He now has 1,106 yards on 210 carries.

For his career, McCartney is at 2,268 yards.

In all, the Devils ran for 375 yards while limiting Forest Hills to 137.

The Blue Devils will now prepare to play Riverview in the first round of the 2A playoffs on Friday.