ORWIGSBURG — Blue Mountain got out to an early lead and never looked back as five different Eagles found the end zone in a 42-21 victory over Palisades on Friday night.
Things clicked immediately as Sonny Amato returned the opening kickoff back to the 50-yard line to set Blue Mountain (3-3) up with a short field.
Reese Miller took all six carries on the six-play drive, and capped it off with a 6-yard touchdown run.
“(We wanted) to establish the run game,” Blue Mountain coach Chuck Kutz said. “We brought Reese in as our running back to set a tone. I thought our offensive line did that job right off the bat with Reese running behind him and punched the first one in. And from there. I thought we played pretty well throughout the game.”
Miller then made a play on defense and came up with a sack on third-and-11 to force Palisades to punt on its first possession.
The Eagles then drove 76 yards in three minutes and took a 14-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Frankie Russo.
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Blue Mountain’s Ryan Clemas (72) forces Palisades quarterback Jack Trickel (3) to scramble during Friday’s game at the Eagles’ Nest. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Blue Mountain’s Cohen Kirby (10) throws after being forced out of the pocket during Friday’s game against Palisades at the Eagles’ Nest. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Blue Mountain’s Carter Smith (6) runs the ball during Friday’s game against the Palisades Pirates at the Eagles’ Nest. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Blue Mountain’s Sonny Amato (32) runs the ball during Friday’s game against the Palisades Pirates on Friday evening at the Eagles’ Nest. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Blue Mountain’s Ryan Clemas (72) forces Palisades quarterback Jack Trickel (3) to scramble during Friday’s game at the Eagles’ Nest. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Blue Mountain’s defense remained stout, forcing and recovering a fumble in Palisades territory.
The Eagles capitalized off the turnover as Carter Smith became the third Blue Mountain player to score with a 16-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 21.
Palisades then put together a drive that included a conversion on fourth-and-1 and ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Lincoln Cook to make the score 21-7.
However, the deficit would not stay at 14 for long.
Amato ran the ensuing kickoff to midfield, and the Eagles needed just one play to go back up by three scores as Cohen Kirby hit Josh Hoover for a 50-yard touchdown.
Then Eagles forced another punt, and scored another touchdown.
For the second time in as many plays, Kirby and Hoover connected for another long touchdown, this one from 60 yards to make it 35-14.
“When our run game is going, our pass game also tends to be there, which is huge for an offense,” Kirby said. “You need both sides of the ball to be working, and the run was obviously there.”
Chase Guers faced double-coverage for much of the game, and the Pirates held him to just two receptions for 20 yards.
In doing so, however, they created opportunities for Hoover.
“When they double up Chase, someone else is going to be open, so Hoover was the man who stepped up and did a great job tonight,” Kirby said. “I can trust my wide receivers, them knowing the routes, knowing what to do and catching the balls.”
Hoover finished the game with three receptions for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
“It’s great, just being able to know the plays, know what to do,” Hoover said. “If the ball’s there, the ball’s there, you’ve got to make the play.”
After forcing a punt with 2:15 remaining in the second quarter, the Eagles were not satisfied with letting the clock run out.
Instead, they drove 64 yards and completed the two-minute drill on a 6-yard touchdown run by Kirby with 28 seconds remaining to go into halftime up 42-7.
“We have some explosive athletes, that if you have a minute left in a ball game, you feel confident that you can get some things done,” Kutz said. “We put some nice plays together, a series of plays to get out of bounds and stop the clock and ensure that we can get a touchdown out of it.”
Blue Mountain looked primed to score again when Guers intercepted a pass to start the third quarter, but the Eagles fumbled the ball away soon after. It was the first time all night they failed to reach the end zone.
Palisades capitalized when quarterback Jack Trickel ran for a 35-yard score with 3:10 to go in the third quarter.
The Pirates added another score with 4:39 left in the game when Cook took a catch-and-run 8 yards to the end zone.
That would bring an end to the scoring as the Eagles picked up two first downs and lined up in victory formation.
The win was their second in a row, and got them back to .500 on the season.
“We said we wanted to balance up,” Kutz said. (It was) a very difficult first part of the season, and with very difficult games ahead. So we had to get game experience against good teams and come away with wins, and we’ve done that in the last two weeks. We’re home again next week, so we’re looking to continue playing good football and be solid across the board.”
Blue Mountain will host Lehighton on Oct. 3.
Blue Mountain 42, Palisades 21
Blue Mountain (3-3) 21|21|0|0 – 42
Palisades 0|7|7|7 – 21
Scoring
1st Quarter
BM – 9:01 Miller 6-yard run, Hoover kick, 7-0
BM – 2:00 Russo 1-yard run, Hoover kick, 14-0
BM – :29 Smith 16-yard run, Hoover kick, 21-0
2nd Quarter
PAL – 7:18 Cook 12-yard rec., Oglialoro kick, 21-7
BM – 6:59 Hoover 50-yard rec., Hoover kick, 28-7
BM – 4:04 Hoover 60-yard rec., Hoover kick, 35-7
BM – :28 Kirby 6-yard run, Hoover kick, 42-7
3rd Quarter
PAL – Trickle 35-yard run, Oglialoro kick 42-14
4th Quarter
PAL – Cook 8-yard rec., Oglialoro kick, 42-21
