Bellefonte's Ashten Howell runs the ball as a Philipsburg-Osceola defender tries to track him down during Friday's game at Rogers Stadium. TIM WEIGHT/For The Express

BELLEFONTE– One of Bellefonte’s biggest goals heading into the season was taking down the opponents closest to it in proximity. Bellefonte had done that twice already this season with wins over Penns Valley and Bald Eagle Area. The Raiders (5-2) hit a great stride over the past two weeks and had no plans of allowing that momentum to fall short of the direction they started in.

In another county matchup, the Raiders faced a capable Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties team (2-5) coming off two consecutive losses. The Raiders didn’t allow P-O to get an inch of room to take advantage of it on Friday night, totaling 456 yards with five different Raiders scoring touchdowns in a 43-0 shutout victory at Rogers Stadium on Friday night.

Bellefonte reclaimed the Luther Trophy after surrendering it to the Mounties in a 14-13 nailbiter on the road one season ago. Before that, Bellefonte had defeated Philipsburg for eight consecutive seasons. The Raiders began turning the tide with two early-season victories. The Raiders were hoping to build on the last two wins it got, especially its latest on the road.

On a beautiful homecoming night where Bellefonte celebrated at halftime, it was just as good-looking on the field. QB Liam Halterman was 10-of-11 passing for 251 yards and three touchdowns, Aden Howell caught one touchdown and ran for one, Ashten Howell caught one and Jaeden Gabrovsek caught one to put an exclamation point on an all-around great performance.

“That the hard work pays off,” Bellefonte coach Tony Confer said when asked what he told his team after the win. “They (Bellefonte) have been working extremely hard for us, and it’s a testament to them the last two weeks, especially because we’ve had two big games. My staff has put together incredible game plans the past two weeks and the kids have done a great job going out and executing.”

Bellefonte's Jackson Long runs the ball as Philipsburg-Osceola defenders attempt to track him down during Friday night's game at Rogers Stadium. TIM WEIGHT/For The Express

Halterman had his best passing outing of the season, and multiple receivers caught many passes to help Bellefonte run the score up. Throughout Bellefonte’s past six games, the Raiders have been a run-dominant team. They came in averaging 269 total yards per game with 189 of those being rushing yards.

Not to mention the Raiders are coming off one of the biggest wins of its season–on the road at BEA–where Bellefonte rushed for 245 yards. Philipsburg was planning for the run, and Halterman and the Bellefonte offense pulled some new tricks out of its bags with 250-plus passing yards instead of rushing, making for an exuberant performance.

Bellefonte wasn’t just throwing its short, 3 or 4-yard plays, it was connecting on deep balls. Eight of Halterman’s 10 completions exceeded 10 yards. It set the tone when Bellefonte got off to a strong start by going 5-for-5 on its first five drives of the game. Halterman led the Raiders on an 11-play, 74-yard drive to kick off the game, chewing up almost five minutes of game clock.

Halterman found Aden Howell for his second TD of the night on a 35-yard play.

On Bellefonte’s third drive, the Raiders put together a six-play drive, as Halterman rushed for his first TD of the night. Bellefonte closed the half with two consecutive big plays after forcing Philipsburg into consecutive three-and-outs. Gabrovsek closed the half in style with a 36-yard reception for a TD three minutes after Aden Howell rushed 88 yards from Bellefonte’s own 12-yard line.

Bellefonte's Jaeden Gabrovsek catches a pass in the endzone for a touchdown during the first half of Friday night's home game against Philipsburg-Osceola at Rogers Stadium. TIM WEIGHT/For The Express

“It was nice because we were able to throw the ball more consistently (Friday) and get the deep ball a little bit. Liam (Halterman) did a nice job,” coach Confer said. “Our receivers did a nice job getting open and the offensive line did a great job protecting Liam.

“We’ve been known for running the ball this year so far and tonight we were able to come out and consistently throw it downfield. That’s a testament to our offense and our offensive staff putting together the game plan and executing it,” coach Confer added.

Philipsburg finished the night with 200 total yards of offense. Despite getting behind early and having to play catch-up the entire game, the Mounties didn’t lay down. P-O fought for 12 first downs–where Bellefonte had 13–and rushed for 118 yards on 27 carries. Sam McDonald led the Mounties in rushing with 39 yards while Robert Mcclenahan and Jayden Jones rushed for 28 and 27 yards apiece.

Philipsburg produced offense as the game went on, but couldn’t advance the ball deep into Bellefonte’s territory. The Mounties didn’t see the red zone all night due to Bellefonte’s swarming defense.

Noah Weaver and Logan Rarrick, a linebacker and defensive lineman, respectively, stuffed the Mounties’ rush attack on pivotal plays throughout the game to force the visitors to punt often, frustrating the road team.

Bellefonte quarterback Liam Halterman runs the ball and scores a touchdown during the first half of Friday night's game against Philipsburg-Osceola at Rogers Stadium. TIM WEIGHT/For The Express

“Our defense has been solid all year. If you take the BG (Bishop Guilfoyle) game out of the scenario, our defense has played really well all year,” coach Confer stated. “Coach B (Bumgardner) always has those guys ready to play. The kids come out and execute.

“I know D-line wise, up front, we were able to do a lot of what we wanted to do up front, and our skilled guys got themselves in position to make plays,” confer added.

Bellefonte put the icing on the cake in the third quarter when it came out and forced Philipsburg into a three-and-out on the opening drive after five plays. The Raiders came back with a 23-yard run by Smith-Kirk to essentially put the game out of reach.

Gall, who finished second in rushing yards on the night with 35, kicked off the drive with a 15-yard run down the far sideline. Halterman then hit Gabrovsek for a 20-yard connection which set up the rushing TD.

“That was the goal at halftime talking to those guys and challenging them to get a stop. With the running clock, that’s a big, big stop. It allowed us to get our offense in there and we were able to put one more on the board,” coach Confer said about the touchdown that put the icing on the cake.

Bellefonte's Ashten Howell (6) and Nathan Benner (34) celebrate a touchdown as Jaeden Gabrovsek looks on during Friday night's home game against Philipsburg-Osceola at Rogers Stadium. TIM WEIGHT/For The Express

After the game was much decided, both teams sent second-string guys to finish out the lopsided contest. Bellefonte hasn’t seen a shutout since the 2019 season, when the Raiders won five games in a season.

When Bellefonte’s young guys had a chance to preserve a shutout, they produced a goal-line stand by stopping Philipsburg at the half-yard line to put the finishing touches on a magnificent night as the clock expired.

Bellefonte has been waiting for this moment since the offseason. In the second season for coach Confer, he has the Raiders back to a winning program again. The Raiders haven’t won the entire county since the 2019 season.

Although the Laurel Highlands is a big conference, there is nothing like winning county games and taking down those who live down the road.

“This was our county, we needed to win the county,” coach Confer said. “That was one of our big goals.”

With the postseason around the corner, those county game victories could hold significance to how the Raiders play the rest of the season.

Bellefonte 43, Philipsburg-Osceola 0

PO 0000-0

BE 14 22 7 0–43

SCORING

First quarter

BE–Ashten HOwell 28 pass from Liam Halterman (Andy Gerasenko kick), 7:15

BE–Aden Howell 35 pass from Halterman (Gerasenko kick), 4:02

Second quarter

BE–Halterman 6 run (two-point conversion good), 9:18

BE–Aden Howell 88 run (Gerasenko kick), 3:42

BE–Jaeden Gabrovsek 36 pass from Halterman (Gerasenko kick), :38

Third quarter

BE–Ka’ven Smith-Kirk 23 run (Gerasenko kick), 6:38

TEAM STATISTICS

PO BE

First downs 12 13

Rushes-yards 27-118 23-205

C-A-I 12-17-0 10-11-0

Passing yards 66 251

Total yards 200 456

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-11 9-55

Turnovers 3 1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: PO-Sam McDonald 5-39 yards; Robert Mcclenahan 5-28 yards; Jayden Jones 5-27 yards. BE-Aden Howell 2-106, TD; Isaac Gall 5-35 yards; Liam Halterman 5-23 yards, TD; Quinn Park 2-22 yards.

Passing: PO- Archer Baughman 12-17, 66 yards. BE–Liam Halterman 10-11, 251 yards, 3TD.

Receiving: PO-Lucas Peterson 2-16 yards; Colton Chapman 3-12 yards; Sam McDonald 5-38 yards; Talon Kopchak 2-16 yards. BE-Jaeden Gabrovsek 4-63 yards, TD; Ashten Howell 2-69 yards, TD; Aden Howell 3-71 yards, TD; Jackson Long 1-48 yards.

Records: Bellefonte 5-2 (5-2 LHAC). Philipsburg-Osceola 2-5 (2-5 LHAC)

Next game: Bellefonte vs. Bishop McCort Friday 7pm.