The famous quote "Offense sells tickets. Defense wins championships," from Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, is definitely true to some degree; however it isn't fully accurate.
In the game of football, you still need to outscore the opposing team to actually be able to win the game. It is not the defense that wins championships, but how you can take advantage of the opportunities that your defense gives you.
Bellwood-Antis definitely struggled with this on Saturday night at Mansion Park. The Blue Devils, despite the opportunities given, weren't able to capitalize on them, which was a big factor in their 10-0 shutout loss to the Marauders.
"We need to go back to the basics and keep focusing on the little things," said head coach Nick Lovrich. "When you play a very good team like BG, just one little mistake makes a difference, so we need to keep working on doing the common things uncommonly well."
The Blue Devils certainly played outstanding defense against the Marauders. Their defense managed 68 total tackles, 6 of those being for a loss of yardage, 1 of them a sack. They also forced turnovers with 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery and managed to force a turnover on downs against an excellent Marauder team that had scored 40 points in three straight games. So despite the loss, against a team that expects to compete for a 1A state championship, it was still a step in the right direction for Bellwood-Antis.
"It stinks we lost the game, but we went toe to toe with the number one team in the state," Coach Lovrich said. "Our guys battled from the beginning until the end, and they put everything into each play. As a coach you cannot ask for anything more than that. We held a team that averages over 35 points a game to 10. I would say that is a pretty good effort."
The Blue Devils' football team knows that this isn’t a loss to worry about, Bishop Guilfoyle is a very good program, and they managed to keep it close the whole time. If they can compete with them, then they can definitely handle many other teams as well. Bellwood-Antis plans on using this game as motivation heading towards the end of the season and into the playoffs.
Marauder quarterback Justin Wheeler proved to be the difference, rushing for 180 yards while passing for 167. His touchdown run before halftime gave BG a lead at the break, which the Marauders maintained all the way until the game’s final minute, when Carter Boland split the uprights with a field goal to put the game away.
Alex McCartney fronted B-A’s attack with 64 yards on 17 carries, but the Devils could accumulate only 163 yards in total offense.