BY ERIC KNOPSNYDER
Dan Smith heard the comments and read articles about how his Bedford squad, which went 3-6 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference, didn’t deserve a spot in the playoffs.
He didn’t worry about it. He just went about his business coaching the Bisons.
He continued to do that after consecutive wins over Chestnut Ridge – including one in the District 5 Class AA title game. He didn’t panic when his team faced District 8 champ Westinghouse or when it needed three overtimes to beat District 9 winner Karns City last week.
Now that Bedford (7-6), which will face Greensburg Central Catholic in a PIAA quarterfinal game tonight at Windber Stadium, has made it to the final eight in the state, Smith isn’t about to change his ways.
“We’re not a big-city team,” Smith said. “We’re just a little, country team, and we like to play football. And we wanted to keep playing.”
The Bisons have done that with an offense that has leaned heavily on the running of Paul Detwiler and Marcus Shippey and a defense that has been good enough to win six out of seven games.
But Smith knows that his team’s biggest test yet will be in 11-2 Greensburg Central Catholic, which beat Aliquippa 33-7 to win the WPIAL title last week.
“The tale of the tape will be this Friday,” Smith said. “This will be a premier team – not to say that Karns City wasn’t. We participate in the Laurel Highlands conference, and that’s one of the best around. There are three teams from it still playing.”
And, as impressive as Greensburg Central Catholic has been, Smith thinks the competition in the LHAC was just as good.
“I don’t think they’re better than a Bishop McCort or Forest Hills,” Smith said of Greensburg Central Catholic. “I think they’re comparable.”
Bedford lost 41-7 to Forest Hills in Week 3 and 48-13 in Bishop McCort, but that was also before the Bisons got rolling.
“I think every week that you play (you gain confidence),” Smith said. “This is something rare, that we’re one of the eight teams that are still playing in Double-A. I think it’s confidence for us, and we’re going to try to keep going. I think our kids realize it’s going to be a very tough team.”
David Miller leads the Centurions’ high-powered offense. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound senior has rushed for 2,143 yards and
34 touchdowns this season. No other Greensburg player has rushed for more than 175 yards on the season.
“They have a dominant running back in the Miller boy,” Smith said. “He doesn’t have the breakaway speed that we do in Paul Detwiler, but he’s a hard runner.”
Greensburg also has a potent passing attack. Quarterback Trent Hurley, who has committed to Bowling Green, has thrown for 1,673 yards and 26 touchdowns with just three interceptions. At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, he’s also strong in the pocket.
Evan Marshall is his top target, with
41 catches for 822 yards and 10 touchdowns. Miller has added 321 receiving yards and three scores while Ross Deglau has
15 catches for 232 yards and a touchdown.
Smith sees his team as similar in style than Center, Greensburg’s opponent in the first-round of the WPIAL playoffs. He’s just hoping for a different outcome, as the Centurions won that game 30-3.
He’s also hoping that the surface at Windber will helped slow Greensburg’s offense.
“I hope they’re used to playing on turf, and now they’re on grass,” Smith said of tonight's game which will be played at Windber Stadium.
Detwiler, Bedford’s speedster, is used to playing on grass. The 5-foot-8, 155-pounder has played most of his games on the natural surface while rushing for 1,261 yards and 16 touchdowns. Shippey, the Bisons sophomore quarterback, is also a threat with 661 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
Smith is hoping to get Shippey and Detwiler in space where they can use their speed, which Smith sees as an advantage.
“I think our team speed might be better than them but their size is better,” he said.
