Ironmen nail Panthers
DANVILLE — While everything was seemingly working for Danville, Bloomsburg struggled to get anything going Friday night.
It resulted in the Ironmen romping the Panthers, 46-0, putting a damper on Bloomsburg’s hopes of securing a playoff spot in District 4 Class 2A. It entered the contest seventh in the standings.
Not everything went bad for the Panthers (3-3) to start the game as Damon Rasmussen II intercepted District 4’s leading passer KJ Riley on Danville’s (5-1) first offensive snap of the game.
Rasmussen returned it to the Ironmen’s 2-yard-line, but after a 1-yard run on a quarterback keeper by Jack Howell, Luke Patora coughed the ball up to Brady Hill to give the Ironmen their second goal-line stop in as many weeks.
Bloomsburg wouldn’t get anywhere close to scoring for the remainder of the game as it was held to just one first down and 17 total yards of offense.
“Our kids move really well. They understand what we’re trying to do,” Danville coach Mike Brennan said. “The scheme that the defensive staff is putting together is really, really good and our kids are competing and playing with physicality. Not only are they running to the ball well, but tonight we got some big hits and a large number of orange jerseys to the ball.”
The fumble recovery not only showed what was in store but gave the offense a sense of rejuvenation.
It took the Ironmen eight plays to drive 98 yards via three passes for 58 yards and five runs for 40 yards, capping it off with a 2-yard keeper for Riley.
Bloomsburg then gave the ball back on its next offensive play with Patora fumbling again. Danville took care of the rest with Riley connecting with Jagger Dressler for a 32-yard strike on the ensuing play.
Then when it looked like things couldn’t possibly swing more in Danville’s favor, the Ironmen caught the Panthers off guard with Riley recovering his own onside kick.
Three plays later, he connected with Carson Persing for a 15-yard score, giving the Ironmen 19 points in 1 minute, 11 seconds.
Persing was a thorn in the Panthers’ side all night, reeling in 11 catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns. His second touchdown came on the next drive when Riley threw the ball over the top and right into Persing’s hands in the right corner of the end zone.
As for Riley, he accounted for six TDs — four passing and two rushing — on 324 total yards of offense.
The last two scores he accounted for occurred in the third quarter on an 8-yard scamper and an 11-yard pass to a wide-open Dressler — after buying time and rolling well out of the pocket — for the second time in the contest.
Not all was perfect for Riley who more than doubled his interception total, entering the game with two in the first five weeks and leaving with five.
“We’re obviously never happy with those turnovers, but we have to bounce back and have a short memory,” Brennan said. “We’re going to have to clean that up here in the next few weeks.”
If you had told Bloomsburg coach Mike Kogut before the game that his defense would come away with three interceptions, he would have liked the Panthers’ chances. He, however, had to take away something else despite the three interceptions.
“I got outcoached tonight and we got outplayed tonight,” he said. “We obviously had some miscues that hurt us. We have go back, take a good look at ourselves, and get ready for next week.”
Bloomsburg couldn’t catch a break all night. After getting its only first down of the night in the first quarter, it had to play the second half without leading receiver Brody Hock. It showed as Howell only threw three passes after halftime, completing one for minus-4 yards. He also threw an interception that hit off of another player’s helmet, bouncing right into the hands of Ian Persing.
With bad snaps and Howell under pressure for much of the night, he was held to 14 passing yards and minus-8 rushing yards.
Danville’s last score was set up on a blocked punt that Persing scooped up. It set up a shot at Bloomsburg’s 28-yard-line. Aaron Johnson finished the game’s scoring with a 1-yard run.
Bloomsburg 0 0 0 0 — 0
Danville 19 7 13 7 — 46
First quarter
D — K.J. Riley 1 run (Riley kick), 5:39
D — Jagger Dressler 32 pass from Riley (kick failed), 5:25
D — Carson Persing 15 pass from Riley (kick missed), 4:28
Second quarter
D — Persing 20 pass from Riley (Riley kick), 11:47
Third quarter
D — Riley 8 run (Riley kick), 3:34
D — Dressler 11 pass from Riley (kick failed), 0:14
Fourth quarter
D — Aaron Johnson 1 run (Brady Hill kick), 5:36
B D
First downs 1 25
Rushing-yds. 18-3 34-164
Passing 3-13-1 21-28-3
Passing yds. 14 281
Total yds. 17 445
Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-0
Penalties-yds. 5-25 4-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Bloomsburg: Mike Petock 1-7; Brody Hock 1-7; Nasir Heard 2-2; Luke Potora 5-1; Nasir Kelly 2-(-6); Jack Howell 7-(-8). Danville: Zach Gordon 13-63; Aaron Johnson 10-45, TD; K.J. Riley 6-43, 2 TDs; Sam Meloy 2-7; Ian Persing 1-4; Jack Gibson 1-5; Bronson Krainak 1-1.
PASSING — Bloomsburg: Howell 3-13-1, 14 yds. Danville: Riley 21-28-3, 281 yds.; 4 TDs.
RECEIVING — Bloomsburg: Damon Rasmussen II 2-8; Daniel Guzevich 1-6. Danville: Carson Persing 11-178, 2 TDs; Jagger Dressler 4-67, TD; Ian Persing 4-17; Hayden Winn 2-19.
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