Beaver hoping to maintain momentum
Go to a Beaver football game this season, and chances are you will get your money’s worth.
“Our kids are playing four quarters plus, no doubt,” coach Cort Rowse said.
Not often do you see a team not only play two overtime games in a row, but win them both. But that was Beaver the past two weeks as it went the extra mile to beat Chartiers Valley and Montour. A week before that two- game stretch, the Bobcats slipped by New Castle by six points in a game that was suspended due to lightning on a Friday night and finished the following morning.
So here Beaver is now, sitting at 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Class 4A Parkway Conference heading into its regular- season finale against Blackhawk (2-7, 0-4). The Bobcats are playoff bound for the first time since 2018. They had gone 28 in 2019 and 2-5 last season.
“I think it’s the fact that the kids have bought into the culture and bought into the things that we’ve been preaching,” Rowse said. “It’s about controlling the little things because they add up to be big things. ‘Win the day’ is what we talk about.”
Winning has quickly become commonplace for Beaver under Rowse, a retired steelworker who is in his first season as head coach. Rowse had been an assistant on Jeff Beltz’s staff since 2007. Beltz stepped down in the offseason to take an assistant superintendent job at Moon.
Much of what Beaver does offensively revolves around the talents of senior quarterback Wyatt Ringer, who ranks fourth in Class 4A in rushing with 999 yards and is tied for fourth with 15 touchdowns. Call him “Wyatt the workhorse,” as his 210 carries are the most of any player in the WPIAL. He had 48 carries for 164 yards and four touchdowns in the 3528 overtime win against Chartiers Valley. Ringer has also passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns.
“Wyatt is an amazing, selfless kid,” Rowse said. “He’s a running back by trade. We came in being thin at quarterback, so we’ve tailored the offense around the run and he’s done it without batting an eye.”
Ringer has stood out in a big way most weeks, but an unlikely star had the biggest play in last week’s 14-7 overtime triumph at Montour. Backup quarterback Isaac Pupi used a play-action pass to find Mitchell Lang for the winning touchdown in the extra period.
Beaver’s only losses this season have been to Class 2A Western Beaver (20-14) and Aliquippa ( 35- 7). Aliquippa is 7-1 and ranked No. 2 in Class 4A. It appears that the Bobcats will likely open up the playoffs at home. They have not hosted a home playoff game since 2014.
“I like where we’re at,” Rowse said. “I like the kids’ mentality. They said, ‘We’re not done. We’re just getting started.’ They’re not content. I like the fact that they’re driven.”
Moon
With starting running back Dylan Sleva expected to be limited to playing just defense due to an ankle injury, Moon coach Ryan Linn sought a player who could pick up some of the rushing load last week against Bethel Park.
“Going into the week, it was, ‘Who’s going to be the big back, the short-yardage back?,’” Linn recalled. “And we said, ‘What about Ben? We could use Ben back there.’”
As usual, Moon’s “Big Ben” came through. Ben Bladel, a 6-foot, 235-pound standout defensive lineman and an H-back on offense, moved into the “big back” role and responded by rushing for 63 yards on five carries in a 30-0 win. His performance was highlighted by a 26-yard touchdown run to open the scoring in the first quarter.
“He just exploded through the line almost untouched. He saw the daylight and hit it,” said Linn.
It was Bladel’s first career rushing touchdown, but his fifth touchdown of his senior season. Bladel also has a touchdown catch, a return of a blocked punt for a touchdown, a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown and a fumble return for a touchdown. Oh, and he has a touchdown pass, as well. He has also heavily impacted games via sacks, TFLs and blocked kicks for the undefeated Tigers ( 9- 0), the No. 1ranked team in WPIAL Class 5A.
“It’s been fun to watch,” Linn said. “Just to see him turn his game to a different level. He’s heard people say, ‘If you want to be one of those guys, you have to lead your team to a championship.’ He has that mindset of taking us there.”
Chartiers Valley-Montour
Officially, the WPIAL playoffs kick off next Friday. But for Chartiers Valley and Montour, they essentially begin this Friday when the two square off with a postseason berth on the line.
“The playoffs start now. That’s how we’re looking at it,” Chartiers Valley coach Dan Knause said.
Host Chartiers Valley (45, 1-3) and Montour (3-6, 1-3) are vying for the fourth playoff spot in the Class 4A Parkway Conference. Both own wins against Blackhawk, lopsided losses against Aliquippa, and narrow losses to Beaver and New Castle.
“We told them, ‘We love the kids that we have in the locker room, and when we play clean football, we’re a very good football team,’” added Knause. “When we play team football, we like the room we have. You watch us and Montour, you don’t see two losing football teams.”
Chartiers Valley has been playing without standout quarterback Anthony Mackey, who suffered a torn ACL against Beaver on Oct. 15 and will miss the remainder of the season. Junior Gavin Owens made his first start last week at New Castle. He passed for 199 yards, accounted for two touchdowns ( one passing, one rushing) and led a pair of 99yard touchdown drives in the Colts’ 28-21 loss. The Colts have a couple of excellent receivers in Abe Ibrahim and Penn State recruit Lamont Payne.
Montour is hoping to get its offense in gear after getting shut out by Aliquippa and being limited to seven points by Beaver the past two games. Running back Caleb Williams rushed for 153 yards and a touchdown against Beaver, which pushed his season totals to 768 yards and eight touchdowns.