Bacher steps in to spark Knights over Glendale

by Rich Murawaski

FLINTON — Moshannon Valley’s Jon Dale did much of the heavy lifting against Glendale Friday night at Dr. Roy F. Baker Field, running the ball 35 times for 221 yards and four touchdowns while eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark for the season in the process.

But it was Joe Bacher who drove the dagger into the Vikings with three long touchdowns in a 48-32 shootout win for the Knights in a contest that featured 819 yards of offense.

Bacher had a 77-yard kickoff return for a score in the second quarter that helped the Knights regain a two-score advantage (21-6) after the Vikings had seized the momentum with a long pass play.

And it was Bacher that ripped off TD runs of 53 and 64 yards on consecutive carries while subbing for Dale late in third third quarter and early fourth that sealed the deal for Mo Valley.

“He really played well,” Mo Valley coach Michael Keith said of Bacher. “When Jon went down, he went in and busted off two long runs that saved our hiney. And he had a big catch. He played well.”

The Knights got out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, going on a 10-play, 70-yard drive that culminated with a Dale 3-yard score with exactly 6:00 to go in the stanza. All 10 plays in the series were Dale runs.

Mo Valley went up 13-0 early in the second on a Dale 15-yard score that finished off a short 31-yard drive after the Vikings were forced to punt out of their end zone.

“You could tell who came to play right out of the gate,” Glendale head coach Richard Braniff said. “Hats off to Mo Valley. They played a heck of a football game.”

Dale’s second TD run started a furious second quarter that saw the teams combine to put 42 points on the board.

Viking quarterback Jacob Jasper hit Josh Potutschnig for a 42-yard score on a fourth-and-9 play to get Glendale on the board at 8:14 of the second quarter, but Bacher answered immediately with his 77-yard kick return and the Knights scored a 2-point conversion to make it 21-6.

A short time later Dale busted off consecutive runs of 22 and 10 yards to cap a 53-yard drive and the Knights scored another 2-point conversion to take what looked like a commanding 29-6 lead with 5:53 in the half.

But the Vikings responded with two Jasper touchdown passes before the half to close the gap.

He found Shane McMurray for a 28-yard score with 4:15 left in the second quarter, then connected with Colton Leyo for a 26-yard TD on a slant with 1:26 to go.

“They have athletes,” Keith said. “Jasper is an athlete, and they have athletes on the outside.”

Mo Valley received the second half kickoff and put Dale right back to work.

He ripped off a 51-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and finished off the 4-play, 70-yard drive with a 2-yard score.

With 10:27 left in the third quarter, Dale had 224 yards rushing and the Knights had a 36-20 advantage.

“It’s really hard to defend us if we can get our running game going,” Keith said. “Jon and Joe. What can you say?”

Dale ended with 221 yards and went over 1,000 yards rushing for the second season in a row. He has 1,034 yards this season.

“That’s great for him,” Keith said. “And that’s not only his accomplishment, it’s the offensive line. It’s the receivers blocking for him. It’s a team thing.

Glendale scored on its initial possession of the second half, getting a 19-yard Jasper run to cap a nine-play, 64-yard drive and get the hosts to a 10-point deficit at 36-26.

The Vikings defense then forced a rare three-and-out in the game and gave the ball right back to the offense, which moved the ball to the Knight 46 where they faced a fourth-and-2.

Knight freshman Nikolaus Smeal stuffed Jasper for a 6-yard loss, and Bacher scored from 53 yards out two plays later.

Score by Quarters

Moshannon Valley 7 22 13 6 — 48

Glendale 0 20 12 0 — 32

First Quarter

MV–Dale 3 run, (Jake Matchock kick), 6:00.

Second Quarter

MV–Dale 15 run, (kick failed), 9:21.

G–Potutschnig 42 pass from Jasper, (kick failed), 8:14.

MV–Bacher 77 kickoff return, (Murawski run), 8:00.

MV–Jon Dale 10 run, (Matchock run), 5:53.

G–McMurray 28 pass from Jasper, (Potutschnig kick), 4:15.

G–Colton Leyo 26 pass from Jasper, (Potutschnig kick), 1:25.

Third Quarter

MV–Dale 2 run, (Jake Matchock kick), 10:27.

G–Jasper 19 run, (pass failed), 6:16.

MV–Bacher 53 run, (kick failed), 0:45.

G–Leyo 81 pass from Jasper, (pass failed), 0:18.

Fourth Quarter

MV–Bacher 64 run, (pass failed), 11:48.

TEAM STATS MV G

First downs 16 16

Rushes-yards 53-356 31-150

Comp-Att-Int 4-9-0 12-30-0

Passing Yards 49 264

Total Plays-Yards 62-405 61-414

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Punts 2-36.0 4-27.5

Penalties-Yards 3-25 6-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Moshannon Valley, Dale 35-221, Bacher 7-111, Murawski 9-26, Team 2-(-2). Glendale, Kuhn 5-97, Dudurich 12-50, McMurray 4-19, Jasper 10-(-16).

PASSING–Moshannon Valley, Murawski 4-9-0-49. Glendale, Jasper 12-30-0-264.

RECEIVING–Moshannon Valley, Bacher 2-33, Delattre 1-9, McCoy 1-7. Glendale, Leyo 5-130, Josh Potutschnig 3-70, McMurray 2-37, Kuhn 1-19, Seilhammer 1-8.