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Down 14-0, Redbank Valley Scores 35 Unanswered Points to Beat Port Allegany

NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (EYT/D9) — This was not Redbank Valley’s normal view.

Usually the Bulldogs are running away from opponents, not chasing them.

(Photo by Madison McFarland)

That wasn’t the case against Port Allegany in the District 9 Class A semifinals Friday night at home. In the second quarter, Redbank Valley was staring at a 14-0 deficit against the Gators.

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Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.

But the Bulldogs settled themselves, scored a pair of touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the second quarter to take a 15-14 halftime lead and broke the game open in the second half for a 35-14 win.

“If you’re gonna fall behind 14-0, you’ll take 35 unanswered,” said Redbank Valley coach Blane Gold. “I’m really proud of our guys because when you’re in a situation where you’ve never been scored upon first and you’ve never been down, you see what kind of team you have. I’m really proud of the way they didn’t blink in the face of adversity.”

That adversity was provided by Port Allegany quarterback Drew Evens.

The Gators haven’t thrown the ball much in recent weeks, but they did against Redbank Valley. Evens was sharp, throwing touchdown passes of 26 yards to Noah Archer and 5 to Blaine Moses to give Port Allegany that early two-touchdown lead.

Evens completed his first eight passes for 122 yards on two scores before Redbank Valley was able to adjust.

“It was hard to judge their passing game, at least in recent weeks, because they had nine yards passing the last two games,” Gold said. “They came out slinging the football and it took us a couple of drives to make adjustments. We knew (Evens) was a good quarterback. We just hadn’t seen much throwing out of them the last couple of weeks. We learned pretty quickly that they could throw the ball very effectively.”

For Redbank Valley, it was the reverse.

Bryson Bain and the passing game for the Bulldogs struggled early, but flourished in the second half.

Bain completed six of his last nine passes for 113 yards and a score. He finished 14 of 23 for 173 yards and two TDs.

After Ray Schreckengost got Redbank Valley on the board with a 6-yard run, Bain hit Aiden Ortz to give the Bulldogs the lead for good, 15-14, with a little more than three minutes left in the first half.

Schreckengost, who had a big day with 204 yards on 29 carries, scored his second TD of the game on a 3-yard run to extend Redbank Valley’s lead to 22-14 with eight minutes left in the third quarter.

Bain hit Tate Minich, who had a big day as well with seven receptions for 90 yards, on a 22-yard score for a 28-14 advantage and then Schreckengost capped the scoring with his third TD run of the contest, this one from 17 yards out.

“We have to be able to run the football in the playoffs,” Gold said. “There’s no doubt about that, especially playing on grass.”

The stage is now set for the Class A title. Redbank Valley will square off against Union/A-C Valley next week at a site and time to be determined.

The two teams met in Rimersburg Oct. 22 with Redbank Valley winning 28-6.

The Bulldogs forced eight turnovers in that game and scored a pair of defensive touchdowns.

“Union/A-C Valley’s defense is the real deal. No doubt about it,” Gold said. “We have to find a way to score more than twice because they aren’t going to have eight turnovers again.”

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Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.