Small, but mighty Panthers
BLOOMSBURG — Bloomsburg has been playing the numbers game all season with its roster, and again found itself having to adjust.
Losing three players before Friday night’s game, the Panthers had just 18 athletes dress, forcing coach Mike Kogut to make adjustments with personnel on every side of the ball.
The defense, though, didn’t miss a beat. The Panthers swarmed to the ball on nearly every play for a 20-5 win over Hughesville.
“What a great effort. They really executed the game plan,” Kogut said of the defense. “[Brendan Knight] is one heckuva runner. ... We wanted to put them in situations to pass the ball, and we pressured them a lot. Hats off to our kids for executing defensively.”
Running lanes weren’t there and passing attempts were snuffed out so frequently, it felt like the Panthers could force a turnover at any moment.
The turnovers, however, didn’t come until the second half, with the Panthers recovering a Spartans’ fumble late in the third quarter. Damon Rasmussen sealed the win for Bloomsburg with a 68-yard pick six off Luke Kaiser early in the fourth quarter to stretch its lead to 13-2. Parker Jones then came down with one of Tyler Wetzel’s two passes, giving the Spartans three turnovers on three consecutive possessions.
“We did not make any adjustments on defense [for the second half] other than asking them to be aware of reverses, more screens and some things they would be adjusting,” Kogut said. “Other than that, we asked them to keep doing what they’re doing.
“... Rasmussen’s pick was huge by making that a two-score game for us.”
The Panthers didn’t need the takeaways to make the night long for the Spartans, holding Hughesville to no yards or less (pass incompletions included) on 31 plays.
None were bigger than after Spartans’ Landen King blocked and dropped on a punt attempt, setting them up at the Panthers’ 8-yard-line midway through the third quarter. After a 3-yard gain by Knight, the Spartans were stuffed for no gain on second- and fourth-down attempts and Kaiser was sacked on third down.
The defensive push allowed the Panthers to sustain their slim 7-0 lead at the time.
That lead was set up on Michael Widom’s shovel pass to Jake Fogelsanger for 53 yards just as the Spartans defense closed in.
“Mike made a great read and after seven yards, it was really all Jake,” Kogut said. “He epitomizes what our kids are about — being tough-nosed, hard fighting and never quitting.”
Fogelsanger finished with a game-high three catches and 79 yards.
The drive was capped off with Widom, on the run, finding Rasmussen in the front right corner for a 7-yard touchdown.
Offensively, it wasn’t a pretty sight for the Panthers either as they were held to no yards or less on 27 attempts. As a team, the Panthers were also penalized 12 times for 106 yards — more than twice as many offensive yards given up by Bloomsburg.
“They went man and were packing the box,” Kogut said of Hughesville’s defense. “We wanted to run the ball coming in, but they took that away. We tried stretching the field, they blitzed a lot and we hurt ourselves with penalties again.”
Rasmussen led the Panthers with 57 yards on 19 carries while Widom finished with 97 yards passing. Widom was removed from the game due to injury, only to return and help the Panthers score their last points.
The Panthers drove 62 yards on 10 plays with Rasmussen picking up the majority of those yards. Then, facing fourth-and-goal from the 13-yard-line, Widom threw a pass only Daniel Guzevich could get to as the wideout managed to keep his feet inbounds in the back of the end zone.
“When we asked our kids to make plays, they did under a very adverse situation,” Kogut said. “We were able to get some of our kids in space and Rasmussen and Guzevich stepped up big.”
All of Hughesville’s points came from its special teams in the fourth quarter. The Spartans were awarded a safety after a snap went over Bloomsburg’s punter and out of the end zone. They then got a 33-yard field goal from Josh Heiney in the final minute.
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