Bobbles don't benefit Bloomsburg
BLOOMSBURG — What could go wrong went wrong for Bloomsburg on Friday night.
The football hit players in the hands or chest, only to find it bouncing on the turf or a Warrior Run player coming away with an interception. The Panthers also coughed up the pigskin on their two most explosive plays.
The Defenders were thankful for the giveaways -- six altogether -- as they led to two scoring drives and turned another into a pick-six. Living up to their nickname, the Defenders routed the Panthers, 42-6.
"A lot of things didn't go our way, especially bounces," Bloomsburg coach Mike Kogut said. "I felt like we were just a person away here, a person away there. The fumbles cost us 14 points on the board. It was a great effort by Brady (Horan) both times, but it's just part of the game.
"The turnovers just unfortunately went against us tonight."
They began to sting in the first quarter. With the Panthers trailing, 7-0, Horan took an end-around 54 yards to the Defenders' 6-yard line, where on the tackle, he fumbled the ball. It rolled into the end zone where Warrior Run came up with it.
On Bloomsburg's next possession, Cole Davis lobbed a pass into a sea of Defenders. This time, the offense doubled their lead. On the first play from scrimmage, Ryan Newton threw the ball just out of the reach of a leaping Krue Wheadon and into the hands of Carter Marr for a 71-yard strike.
It was Newton's second TD pass of the game, finding Samuel Hall in the first quarter on a 26-yard fade. The Defenders saw the deep working with the Panthers doing a great job getting after the ball carriers and closing up running lanes.
Hall later did damage defensively by making Wyatt Brosious' first of three interceptions the costliest. Hall returned it 43 yards for a touchdown, putting the game on the verge of mercy rule just before halftime with the Defenders leading 28-0 as Colby LeBarron sandwiched a rushing touchdown between Hall's scores.
The Panthers, though, even as they wished they could establish a run game, turned to Brosious to attempt a double-digit comeback against Warrior Run for the second straight year.
It wasn't meant to be, but the Panthers sure closed out the half with some excitement. A nine-play 57-yard drive was capped off with Brosious — playing past the halftime buzzer — finding Jack Katulis in the corner of the end zone for a 3-yard strike.
Katulis finished with a team-high five catches for 37 yards.
"We scored with a minute, minute and half and I told them we could do that again," Kogut said. "We had a great opportunity, but then we had that fumble, interceptions, and too many balls going through our hands. We can't do that. That killed our confidence, but we'll continue to work and go back to the drawing board."
The two teams traded interceptions on consecutive plays in the third, but another fumble by Horan came back to hurt Bloomsburg.
This time, he had a 56-yard reception punched out at the Defenders' 15-yard line. Warrior Run scooped it up and marched down the field on five plays, capping off the scoring drive on Marr's 30-yard reception from Newton.
Not all was bad for Horan. He ended the night as the Panthers' leading rusher (54 yards) and receiver (82 yards).
Newton finished 11 of 18 for 266 yards and an interception. His favorite target, Marr, accounted for six of those receptions and 181 yards.
"Marr is a heck of a receiver and we tried playing a two-high safety to try and take that away," Kogut said. "Our run defense was pretty good for the most part. ... They made plays when they had to and credit to them."
Warrior Run's final touchdown came via a 5-yard rush by Eli Butler.
Scary moment
Bloomsburg lineman Dawson Robbins-Crane had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance in the third quarter after collapsing on the sideline following a third-down play on defense.
The senior was coming off the field and mentioned his head didn't feel right. When doing such, the coaching staff said he was talking but not being himself before going completely quiet and falling to the turf. Kogut paused the game and had him looked over by medical personnel.
No medical status was given after the game.
"He was awake and responsive and that's our primary concern right now, not the football game. We are praying for him, his family is in our thoughts," Kogut said. "We were all shaken up, and it's so hard to ask young men, let alone us adults as coaches to go back and try to coach and play.
"... Dawson is a great kid and an emotional leader for us. He works really hard for us. It's very difficult, especially considering what's happened in recent weeks — you start thinking the worst and try not to."
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