JOHNSTOWN —
The Greater Johnstown football team proved on Friday night that it lives by the team concept in defeating visiting Bedford Area 35-8.
Ten different Trojans touched the ball as Greater Johnstown (6-0) rolled up 368 yards of total offense against the Bisons. And defensively, the Trojans limited Bedford to just 219 yards of total offense and forced five Bisons’ turnovers.
But even in the Trojans’ team-focused system, senior Calvin Anderson managed to stand out with perhaps his biggest performance of the season.
Anderson accounted for 100 yards of total offense, including a 5-yard touchdown reception to open the game’s scoring in the first quarter, returned a kick for a touchdown and on defense chipped in with three interceptions.
“I was really happy for Calvin because the bounces really haven’t been going his way the past couple of weeks,” said Trojans coach Tony Penna Jr.
“We really preach a team concept around here and it seems like every week we have someone new stepping up to make the big plays. Today was Calvin’s day, and who knows who it might be next week?”
Johnstown built a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter when Gervon Simon capped a four-play,
34-yard drive with a 6-yard run around right end. The drive was set up by the first of Bedford’s turnovers.
The Bisons responded with a big play of their own when quarterback Marcus Shippey kept on an option play, evaded two tacklers and fended off a third to score from 55 yards out. The two-point conversion try failed, leaving Bedford trailing 14-6.
But the Bisons immediately lost their momentum when Anderson took the ensuing kick, made a cut left and turned on the speed to outrace everyone to the end zone from 92 yards out. Michael Brooks’ extra point kick gave Johnstown a 21-6 lead with 8:12 remaining in the first half.
“When you look at the first half, if you take away the kickoff return, we’re right in it,” said Bedford coach Kevin Steele. “That really took the wind out of our sails.”
Bedford’s second turnover also proved to be costly and again stemmed some momentum the team had built after forcing a safety against Johnstown to end the previous series.
Johnstown got the ball at its own 40 with
2:04 remaining in the first half, but quickly moved down the field thanks in large part to a 40-yard reception by Anderson and a 17-yard run by Tyler Arsenault. Arsenault finally capped the drive with a 1-yard scoring run with just 1:06 remaining in the first half, putting Johnstown ahead 21-8.
“We had some kids stepping up to make some big plays, but I thought the touchdown right before half was huge,” Penna said. “That gave us a lot of momentum that carried over to the second half.”
Bedford managed to continue to hang around in the second half and had a number of opportunities to get itself back into the game. But the Bisons’ three second-half turnovers kept them from really threatening the Johnstown lead.
The Trojans also struggled to put away the Bisons until a late fourth-quarter touchdown reception by DaQuan Minter did the job. A good portion of Johnstown’s struggles were also self-inflicted as the Trojans committed 12 penalties for 110 yards.
“We were undisciplined tonight,” Penna said.
“We’ll take a look at the film and address that issue. It’s really unacceptable, and I’ll take full responsibility for it.”
High School Sports
Related Photos
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Greater Johnstown’s Calvin Anderson looks for running room on Friday night during the Trojans’ game against Bedford. Larry O'Reilly/For The Tribune-Democrat
Discussion
Johnstown blasts Bedford
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