DEFENSE LIFTS BRADFORD TO SECOND STRAIGHT D9 CLASS AAA TITLE BY SHUTTING OUT ST. MARYS

Shutout is first in a D9 title game since 2001

BRADFORD 17, ST. MARYS 0

Nov. 16, 2007 at DuBois (D9 Class AAA Title Game)

By Rich Rhoades

DuBOIS – Owls fly well come November, in District 9, at least.

The banged-up and bruised, but not beaten Bradford Owls swooped into E.J. Mansell Stadium in DuBois and flew away with a 17-0 shutout win over St. Marys to capture their second straight District 9 Class AAA Championship Friday night.

After losing several key players to injuries throughout the season, the Owls overcame the personnel shortage – they dressed just 29 players from a roster that listed 38 – and slapped a solid defensive effort on the Flying Dutchmen.

“This one is satisfying so much more just because of the situation we were in with the kids who were missing,” Bradford head coach Steve Ackerman said. “This team has stepped up all year. I’m so proud of what they accomplished with the adversity they faced all year. That’s very fitting.”

Bradford (8-2) hiked its winning streak against St. Marys to 13 games. The Owls haven’t lost to the Dutch since 1995. Next week, the Bradford opens the PIAA playoffs against District 4 champion Selinsgrove back in DuBois, probably Friday.

“I love practicing on Thanksgiving,” Ackerman said. “Not many teams in the state practice on Thanksgiving, and we’re always proud to be one of them.”

St. Marys (8-4) coughed up six fumbles and lost five of them. Bradford converted two turnovers into 10 points. The Owls limited the Dutch to only 140 yards.

“The turnovers were key,” Ackerman said. “They say defense wins championships, and they threw a shutout tonight. They did a great job. A couple of times they got inside the 20 and got turnovers, and they were big turnovers. We got points off them.”

Nick Johnson rushed for 86 yards on 16 carries and scored the first touchdown on a 15-yard run late in the second quarter. Quarterback Kyle Yurkewicz threw his first touchdown pass of his varsity career to Matt Teribery in the third quarter and kicker Cody Nuzzo bounced a 42-yard field goal through to ice the game in the fourth quarter.

But it was all about defense for the Owls, who limited the Dutch to just 38 yards of offense in the second half. Not that the Owls were much better. They scored 10 points in the second half despite 53 yards of offense and only three first downs. The shutout was the first in a District 9 title game since Karns City blanked Brockway 46-0 in the 2001 Class AA championship tilt and was the first in Class AAA since Clearfield shut down A-C Valley 35-0 in 1998.

“I’m happy because we won,” Ackerman said. “Obviously, we have some things to work on. The defense is what won the game for us.”

And did we mention the turnovers?

On the Dutch’s second possession of the second half, Brian Tamburlin fumbled away the ball and Bradford tackle Rob Pire recovered at the Dutch 18. Three plays later, Yurkewicz found Teribery for a 17-yard scoring pass on third-and-9.

Yes, a pass. It was Yurkewicz’s seventh pass attempt in his third start of the year. He came into the season as the third-string quarterback, but injuries to Ben Walter and Tyler Grandy forced him into the lineup.

“We know that teams don’t respect our passing, especially with our third-team quarterback in there,” Ackerman said. “We threw that in this week after watching the film with St. Marys … we just put a sweep in motion, ran a fade and it worked. We got a break and it worked.”

Ackerman called it a “Frisbee” touchdown, but “It looks like a touchdown pass in the paper tomorrow,” he said.

Pire continued his monster night on defense on the Dutch’s next possession. He sacked St. Marys quarterback James Swanson, causing him to fumble. Cody Godding recovered at the Dutch 33.

Pire, the 6-foot, 223-pound senior, finished with five tackles, including a sack, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.

Then it was Nuzzo’s turn. On fourth-and-2 from the Dutch 25, Ackerman sent him in for a 42-yard field goal and he delivered, barely, as the kick bounced off the crossbar and went over, just inside the left upright.

“That was his range,” Ackerman laughed. “Forty-two-and-a-half yards, well 42 on the nose actually. It hit the crossbar.”

It capped a solid night for the Owls kicker, who also turned in a clutch play as the team’s punter in the first half. When a snap went over his head, Nuzzo recovered the ball, eluded the Dutch defenders and somehow managed to get off a 10-yard punt.

It could’ve been much worse than that. As it turned out, it was a huge momentum saver, you could say. The Owls held the Dutch on a three-and-out possession and following the Dutch’s Todd Schatz’s 5-yard punt, the Owls went 53 yards on eight plays to score on Johnson’s 15-yarder on a counter play.

Nuzzo’s field goal gave the Owls a 17-0 edge with 10:24 remaining in the fourth quarter and was more than enough. The Dutch turned the ball over two more times, including once at their own 4-yard line, but the Owls fumbled it back with their second-teamers in the game.

St. Marys had two good chances to score in the first half, but came up empty. On the Dutch’s first drive of the game, they marched 47 yards on 12 plays to set up a fourth-and-5 from the Owls’ 14. But Jeremy Williams fumbled away the ball at the 11. Had he held onto the ball, he still wouldn’t have made the first down.

After Bradford scored late in the first half on Johnson’s run, the Dutch took the ensuing kick and threatened again. A personal foul call on a late Bradford hit following Tamburlin’s 6-yard run combined with Tamburlin’s 39-yarder on the next play put St. Marys in business at the Bradford 22 with 2:13 remaining.

Swanson’s run to the Owls’ 12 on the next play got the Dutch closer, but Williams was stuffed for no gain and Owls’ linebacker Dan McMurtrie nailed Todd Schatz for a 7-yard loss on the next play.

After an incomplete pass, the Dutch came up empty when Swanson ran into a teammate and fell for an 8-yard loss on fourth down with 13.2 seconds remaining.

Tamburlin led the Dutch with a game-high 92 yards rushing on 13 carries. Schatz, the team’s leading rusher with 911 yards, was limited to one yard on seven attempts. Swanson completed six of eight passes for only 11 yards.

NOTES: Bradford won its fifth Class AAA championship, all of them coming since 2000. … St. Marys had its winningest season since the 9-0 team in 1966. … Selinsgrove beat Jersey Shore for the District 4 title. Last season, the Seals ended Bradford’s year with a 48-14 victory … Bradford is now 5-2 in D9 Class AAA title games, and the five Owls titles tie them with Clearfield for the most by any D9 team in Class AAA … Either Bradford or Clearfield has won each of the last 10 D9 Class AAA titles and 10 of the 11 D9 Class AAA titles. Brookville in 1991 is the only other team to win a D9 Class AAA crown … St. Marys was making its second appearance in the D9 Class AAA title game. The Dutch lost 21-18 to Clearfield at Clarion University in 2005 … The eight wins for St. Marys are the most at the school since the Dutch went 9-0 in 1966. 

BRADFORD 17, ST. MARYS 0

Score By Quarters

St. Marys        0          0          0          0          -           0

Bradford        0          7          7          3          -           17

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

B — Nick Johnson 15 run (Cody Nuzzo kick), 3:46.

Third Quarter

B — Matt Teribery 17 pass from Kyle Yurkewicz (Cody Nuzzo kick), 3:37.

Fourth Quarter

B — Cody Nuzzo 42 field goal, 10:24.

                                                S                      B

First Downs                            11                    12

Rushes-Yards                          37-129             44-158

Passes: Comp-Att-Int             6-8-0                1-1-0

Passing Yards                         11                    17

Total Yards                             140                  175

Fumbles-Lost                          6-5                   1-1

Penalties-Yards                       2-10                 3-25

Punts-Avg                               3-17.3              28.3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — St. Marys: Brian Tamburlin 13-92, Jeremy Williams 11-38, Todd Schatz 7-1, Mitchell Straub 1-0, James Swanson 5-(-2). Bradford: Nick Johnson 16-86, Steve Hill 14-51, Dan McMurtrie 7-13, Mike Pascarella 4-6, Kyle Yurkewicz 1-4, Zach Smith 1-(-1), Team 1-(-1).

PASSING — St. Marys: James Swanson 6-for-8, 11 yards. Bradford: Kyle Yurkewicz 1-for-1, 14 yards, 1 TD.

RECEIVING — St. Marys: Brett Quiggle 4-19, Jeremy Williams 2-(-8). Bradford: Matt Teribery 1-14.

SACKS — Bradford: Dan McMurtrie, Rob Pire.

KICK RETURNS — St. Marys: Todd Schatz 2-14.

PUNT RETURNS — None.

PUNTING — St. Marys: Todd Schatz 3-52. Bradford: Cody Nuzzo 3-85.