DUBOIS 21, PUNXSUTAWNEY 13

Sept. 7, 2007

By Rich Rhoades

DuBOIS — The DuBois Beavers opened their home schedule on the new turf surface at E.J. Mansell Stadium with a 21-13 win over the Punxsutawney Chucks in District 9 League action Friday night.

The Beavers (1-1) got a game-opening 26-yard fumble return from John Hughes, who scooped up Nick Wehrle’s fumble of the kickoff and dashed into the end zone. It was one of DuBois’ three first-half scores that was enough to deal the Chucks (0-2) their second straight loss.

DuBois, which led 21-6 at halftime, had to withstand some Chucks drives into the red zone in the second half as three straight trips inside the Beavers’ 20 yield just one touchdown. That came on Punxsutawney’s first drive of the half on Wehrle’s 29-yard run.

After that, DuBois stopped the Chucks on downs at the 15 and 11 the next two possessions. After managing minus-two yards of offense in the third quarter, the Beavers mounted two drives in the fourth quarter to chew up enough clock to preserve the lead.

DuBois outgained Punxsutawney 190-177. Junior running back Garrett Malmgren made his Beavers backfield season debut with a team-high 47 yards on 13 carries. He scored the Beavers’ final touchdown on a 1-yard run with 3:51 left in the first half. Malmgren also caught three passes for 40 yards.

Mike Yamrick scored the Beavers’ second touchdown on a 13-yard run late in the first half. He finished with 37 yards on five attempts.

Mike Decker scored the other Punxsutawney touchdown on a 4-yard run, the team’s first score with 9:22 left in the second quarter. While Decker finished with 49 yards on 12 attempts, senior Mike Smiley led the team with 64 yards on eight carries.

The bad news on Smiley was he left the game with a leg injury just two plays before Decker’s touchdown. His status is unknown for next week’s game at Bradford. Smiley rushed for over 700 yards last year and scored two of the team’s three touchdowns against Hollidaysburg last week.

While without Smiley, the Chucks still put up a fight and didn’t go away when it appeared the Beavers were ready to pull away at halftime. However, not having Smiley as an option when the Chucks threatened to score in their first three possessions of the second half was a factor in scoring just once in the red zone.

DuBois travels to Brookville next week.

DUBOIS 21, PUNXSUTAWNEY 13

Score By Quarters

Punxsy            0          6          7          0          —        13

DuBois            14        7          0          0          —        21

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

D - John Hughes 26 fumble return (Kyle Bish kick), 11:50.

D - Mike Yamrick 13 run (Bish kick), 1:19.

Second Quarter

P - Mike Decker 4 run (Bobby Wingert kick failed), 9:22.

D - Garrett Malmgren 1 run (Bish kick), 3:51.

Third Quarter

P - Nick Wehrle 29 run (Wingert kick), 8:16.

                                    P                      D

First Downs                13                    10

Rushes-Yards              33-133             37-107

Passing Yards             44                    83

Passes: Comp-Att-Int 4-13-0              8-10-1

Total Yardage             177                  190

Punts-Average                        2-33                 5-36

Fumbles-lost                4-2                   3-1

Penalties-Yards           3-40                 8-77

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Punxsutawney: Mike Smiley 8-64, Mike Decker 12-49, Nick Wehrle 6-26, Austin Furman 1-7, Kyle Steffey 1-(-1), Zach Smith 5-(-12). DuBois: Garrett Malmgren 15-47, Mike Yamrick 5-37, Ricky Shenkle 3-21, John Sunnealitis 3-10, Danny Henry 5-7, Andy Malmgren 1-1, Less Miller 4-0, Team 1-(-16).

Passing - Punxsutawney: Zach Smith 4-for-12, 44 yards; Mike Decker 0-for-1. DuBois: Danny Henry 8-for-10, 83 yards, 1 Int.

Receiving - Punxsutawney: Mike Decker 2-15, Easton Weaver 1-19, Mike Smiley 1-10. DuBois: Garrett Malmgren 3-40, Billy Morrison 2-29, Brant Davis 1-5, Andy Malmgren 1-5, Mike Yamrick 1-4.

Interceptions - Punxsutawney: Ben Blazavich.

Sacks - Punxsutawney 2, DuBois 2 (Ricky Shenkle, Andy Malmgren).

Fumble Recoveries - Punxsutawney: Neil Weaver. DuBois: John Hughes, Les Miller.

Kick returns - Punxsutawney: Nick Wehrle 2-41, Austin Furman 1-30. DuBois: Kyle Bish 2-43, Billy Morrison 1-5.

Punt returns - Punxsutawney: Austin Furman 1-20. DuBois: Kyle Bish 1-26.