Gavin Bell catches a touchdown pass over Michael Chisolm.
By John Hartsock
In terms of overall team performance, Hollidaysburg football coach Homer DeLattre couldn’t have expected better from his Golden Tigers in their 27-14 win over Altoona on Friday night at Mansion Park.
Veteran quarterback Maddox Bainey completed 15 of 22 passes for 206 yards and scored three touchdowns in the first half – two of 9 and 19 yards to veteran wide receiver Gavin Bell and one of 35 yards to another veteran wide receiver, Brady Steiner – to extend Hollidaysburg’s lead to 21-14 at halftime.
Bell finished with six catches for 82 yards and Steiner caught five passes for 78 yards.
Hollidaysburg’s defense played a strong performance in the second half, keeping Altoona from scoring and limiting the Mountain Lions to just 59 total yards in the second half.
The Golden Tigers’ special teams also provided support: Senior kicker Paul Wedel kicked field goals of 37 yards in the second half of the third quarter and 36 yards in the fourth quarter, and Hollidaysburg senior Ty Szynal recovered a fumbled punt on the special teams unit, paving the way for the Golden Tigers’ decisive touchdown – the 19-yard pass from Maddox to Bell – just before halftime.
“As far as the rivalry goes, both teams gave it their all on the field tonight,” said DeLattre, whose Golden Tigers have now won five of their last seven meetings with Altoona. “It was a fantastic high school football game tonight in a great atmosphere.”
“We got a lot of good performances from a lot of different guys tonight, which is great,” DeLattre added. “Maddox played a nice game and we were able to find some (opportunities) with our passing game and we were able to combine the running and passing game very well. I thought we played extremely well defensively and our special teams played great — Paul kicked two field goals and we recovered the fumble that gave us a turning point in the game.”
Bainey was pleased with the performance of his team and his receiver team.
“We just played really well on both sides of the ball,” Bainey said. “We made a few mistakes here and there, but for the first game of the year, we played really well. Gavin had a hell of a game and Brady did really well, as did all of our other receivers. Even though they weren’t getting the ball thrown to them, they still made some really good and really valuable blocks tonight.”
Altoona opened the scoring with a 27-yard pass from senior quarterback Mark Harrington to junior back Julian Hazelwood in the first quarter before Hollidaysburg launched a 74-yard drive in the first quarter that ended when Bainey Bell found the middle with the 9-yard touchdown pass.
With the score tied 7-7 at the start of the second quarter, the two teams took turns making big plays. Bainey threw a perfectly thrown 35-yard touchdown pass to Steiner to put Hollidaysburg ahead 14-7 before the Mountain Lions responded when Harrington found senior Amar Emeigh-Ballos in the middle of the field on a seam route that made a 72-yard touchdown play to tie Altoona at 14-14.
After Szynal recovered the fumbled punt at the Altoona 14-yard line, Bainey found Bell behind an Altoona defender in the right corner of the end zone and threw him a 19-yard pass that gave the Tigers a 21-14 lead at halftime.
“They made some plays tonight and you have to give them credit where it’s due,” Altoona coach Vince Nedimyer Jr. said of the Golden Tigers. “It was an up and down, back and forth game and our defense gave us a chance to win it, but we just have to move on from this week to the next.”
Nedimyer’s nephew, senior Mark Harrington, completed five passes for 112 yards and both touchdowns while rushing for 82 yards on 20 carries. This was his first start as a quarterback on the college team after playing tight end and wideout last year.
“I made a few mistakes tonight, but our linemen deserve credit,” Harrington said. “Our line played well on both sides of the ball.”
Plays of the game: All of the important plays came in the second quarter, as Hollidaysburg broke a tie and took a halftime lead. Bainey’s touchdown pass to Steiner preceded Harrington’s electrifying touchdown pass play to Emeigh-Ballos, and Szynal’s recovery of the fumbled punt set up Bainey’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Bell.
Player of the Match: Bainey, Bell and Steiner shared this honor.
Unsung Heroes: Hollidaysburg’s defensive unit held Altoona scoreless in the second half and limited the Mountain Lions to a total of 59 yards in the second half.
Key stats: Altoona lost the ball five times, three times due to interceptions and twice due to fumbles, while Hollidaysburg did not record a single turnover.
Bell: “Maddox threw the ball brilliantly and got it exactly where it needed to go. This is an incredible win, especially for the seniors.”
Steiner: “We lost to Altoona my sophomore year, but we beat them last year, and it’s a great feeling to have this last game against them before the other seniors and I graduate.”
Notable: Josh Banks recovered a fumble and made an interception for Hollidaysburg, while Bell and DeLattre also made interceptions on defense.
Records: Hollidaysburg (1-0), Altoona (0-1).
Next Friday night: Hollidaysburg travels to Allderdice; Altoona visits State College.
RESULT AFTER QUARTER
Hollidaysburg 7 14 3 3–27
Altoona 7 7 0 0–14
First quarter
A-Hazelwood 27, pass from Harrington (Chathams kick), 5:34.
H–Bell 9 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 1:40.
Second quarter
H–Steiner 35 pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 3:21.
A-Emeigh-Ballos 72 pass from Harrington (Chathams kick), 3:03.
H–Bell 19, pass from Bainey (Wedel kick), 1:02.
Third quarter
H–Wedel 37 FG, 2:32.
Fourth quarter
H–Wedel 36 FG, 3:50.
TEAM STATISTICS HA
First Downs 14 11
Total yards 294 210
Mileage 31-88 33-98
Yards passed 206 112
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 15-22-0 5-16-3
Punts/Average 4–39.8 4–36.5
Fumbles lost 1-0 4-2
Penalty yards 10-82 4-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Hollidaysburg, Baronner 20-73, White 4-14, Bell 1-3, Bainey 6-(-2). Altoona, Harrington 20-82, Hazelwood 4-20, Patterson 2-6, Dark 1-3, Emeigh-Ballos 6-(-13).
PASS–Hollidaysburg, Bainey 15-22-0-206. Altoona, Harrington 5-16-3-112.
RECEPTION – Hollidaysburg, Bell 6-82, Steiner 5-78, Albarano 2-5, DeLattre 1-39, Baronner 1-2. Altoona, Hazelwood 2-25, Chisholm 2-15, Emeigh-Ballos 1-72.
