The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA

Line Mountain News Wire

November 3, 2012

Bowman carries Tri-Valley over Line Mountain

By Marion Valanoski For The Daily Item

HEGINS — Blake Bowman made his final regular season home football game a night to remember.

Bowman scored six touchdowns and ran for 326 yards in leading the Bulldogs past Line Mountain, 42-28, in a matchup that assured the winner a first-round home playoff game in the upcoming district playoffs.

The Eagles hurt themselves in the first half with mistakes and costly turnovers that allowed the Bulldogs to grab a 29-6 halftime lead.

“We hurt ourselves in the opening half with too many mistakes,” Line Mountain head coach Rodney Klock said.

The Eagles (8-2, 7-2 TVL) will be the No. 4 seed in the District 4 Class A playoffs and will likely visit Southern Columbia next Friday night. The official district pairings are due out today.

Line Mountain also had no answer, not just in the opening half, but the entire evening with Tri-Valley’s (9-1, 8-1) tandem of Bowman and Dalton Miller, who combined for 414 yards rushing, and constantly found a way to pound on and rush through the Eagles’ defense.

Bowman started his big night on the Bulldogs’ second series with a 62-yard run to the Eagles 18. He capped the drive with a nine-yard touchdown with 4:23 left in the period.

Bowman was a one-man scoring machine in the second quarter sandwiching TD runs of 3 and 1 yard around an impressive 50-yard scamper where he broke three would-be tackles and then outran the secondary.

The Eagles, who were held to 63 yards on the ground in the first 24 minutes, got on the scoreboard when Dillan Michael swept left end for an 11-yard touchdown.

“We had great offensive execution in the first half,” Bulldogs’ head coach Mike Kogut said. “It all starts up front with the line and both of our backs run extremely hard and don’t go down easily.”

Line Mountain tried to get back into the game in the third quarter when Cole Rickert found Jeremy Renn all alone for a 34-yard TD reception and then connected with Erik Smeltz for the two-point conversion to cut the Eagles’ deficit to 29-14.

Unfortunately, the Eagles could not handle Bowman in the final quarter as the senior standout scored on runs of 40 and 19 yards that offset the touchdown runs of Austin Snyder (2) and Cory Warford (1).

“I told our players they could come out in the second half and treat the score like it was 0-0 or we could hang our heads,” Klock said. “We are not used to trailing and this was a humbling experience but we gained something by the way we played after the break.

“Tri-Valley played a more disciplined game than we did.”

Michael had a solid all-around game for the Eagles rushing for 55 yards and catching five passes for 43 more. The Bulldogs finished the regular season at 9-1 and were really motivated in their matchup against the Eagles.

“We came out with a purpose and were focused for Line Mountain,” Kogut said. “These seniors also remember some of the beatings they took at the hands of the Eagles in the past.”

 

 

Text Only
Line Mountain News Wire
  • Field Cam

    August 25, 2012

  • Tri-Valley League
    Team W L PF PA
    Williams Valley (12-1) 9 0 360 79*
    Tri-Valley (10-2) 8 1 400 220
    Line Mountain (8-3) 7 2 413 201
    Millersburg (7-3) 6 3 382 207
    Juniata (6-4) 5 4 371 139
    Halifax (4-6) 4 5 205 327
    Upper Dauphin (3-7) 3 6 214 308
    Newport (2-8) 2 7 152 301
    Pine Grove (1-9) 1 8 143 363
    East Juniata (1-9) 0 9 136 389

    *-denotes league champion

    July 11, 2012

  • Nine local football stars earn all-state nods

    LEWISBURG - For the third consecutive season Lewisburg linebacker Brandon Smith headlines the Valley’s contingent on the Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Football team.

    December 20, 2012

  • _dsc3026(1).jpg High School Football Podcast

    Listen as Daily Item Sports Editor Bill Bowman and Assistant Sports Editor Harold Raker break down every high school football playoff game set for this weekend.

    November 21, 2012 11 Photos

  • Fan Cam

    September 7, 2012

  • High School Football Scoreboard

    PIAA Playoffs
    Friday
    PIAA Class AAA Quarterfinal
    at Bethlehem
    Allentown Central Catholic 41, Selinsgrove 13 FINAL

    Saturday
    P    IAA Class AA Quarterfinal
    at HersheyPark Stadium
    Wyomissing 52, Danville 0, FINAL
     

    November 16, 2012

  • Southern Columbia rallies past Line Mountain

    If Las Vegas oddsmakers had posted Friday night’s District 4 Class A semifinal between Line Mountain and Southern Columbia, well, let’s just say the Eagles would have been getting a bunch of points.
    And in the first half, those who took the Tigers and the points were already looking for a way to make up for their losses.

    November 10, 2012

  • Southern Columbia 28, Line Mountain 21

    Statistics from Friday's game

    November 9, 2012

  • Bowman carries Tri-Valley over Line Mountain

    Blake Bowman made his final regular season home football game a night to remember.
    Bowman scored six touchdowns and ran for 326 yards in leading the Bulldogs past Line Mountain, 42-28, in a matchup that assured the winner a first-round home playoff game in the upcoming district playoffs.

    November 3, 2012

  • Twitter Feed

    August 14, 2012