CUMBERLAND — It was a ground-and-pound type of football game on Friday at Greenway Avenue Stadium, led by No. 4 Allegany’s Khiante Bible and Jackson Resh.
The duo of Camper backs combined for 383 yards on 47 carries, leading Allegany to a 34-23 win over Northern.
“Just a good team win, we made things hard for ourselves at times,” Allegany head coach Bryan Hansel said. “We gotta clean up some penalties, but those kids fight, they work together, they fight together and that’s good to see.”
The Campers (4-4, 2-1 WestMAC) took the ball first and drove down to the Huskies (3-5, 0-3 WestMAC) four-yard line.
Northern’s Caleb Hinebaugh forced a fumble and the Huskies recovered.
Northern failed to capitalize, however, as each of the remaining drives for both teams in the first quarter ended in punts.
“Kinda deja vu,” Northern head coach Phil Carr said. “Two weeks in a row our kids played their butts off, nothing really to show for it. Frustrating, it’s the kind of game we thought it would be. It comes down to some critical mistakes in key moments for us.”
Early in the second quarter, Alco took over on its own 30.
Bible got the drive going with a 27-yard run, then Resh picked up 15 on the next play to the Northern 41.
Three plays later, Bible scored from 21 yards out to give the Campers a 7-0 lead.
“I just think it got our kids that extra energy back,” Hansel said. “You get that sudden change when you fumble at the four, you gotta reassert yourself.”
On the Huskies ensuing drive, a pair of runs from Evan Graham and Luke Ross combined for 27 yards and set Northern up in the red zone.
Two plays later, Ross took a toss and reversed field for a 17-yard touchdown.
The Campers responded with Resh and Bible combining for six first downs.
Facing second-and-goal at the six, Bible scored, but the extra point sailed right to keep the lead 13-7.
With under two minutes left, Northern took over and picked up two first downs.
Out of timeouts and with three seconds left, the Huskies lined up for a spike, however, Allegany burned a timeout.
Hansel said it was because he expected Northern to go for it.
It allowed Wally Brands to convert a 47-yard field goal that would’ve been good from at least 52, sending Northern into halftime down 13-10.
“I thought Wally’s field goal was huge there going into the half,” Carr said. “It was a nice kick by him and we had momentum going into the second half.”
On Alco’s opening drive of the third quarter, the Campers picked up four first downs, two each from Bible and Resh.
From the Husky 10, Bible dived for the end zone in the left corner for a touchdown, then scored a two-point conversion to push the lead to 21-10.
Northern answered with three first downs on the next drive, setting up a counter to Caleb Hinebaugh for a 18-yard touchdown.
The Huskies went for two and was stuffed, keeping the score 21-16 heading into the fourth.
“We clean up a couple plays last week and this week, we win these games,” Carr said. “It’s nice to know we’re there too. That’s two teams we can play with come playoff time.”
Allegany took over to open the fourth and two plays in, Bible took off for a 57-yard run down the right sideline to Northern’s 12.
However, consecutive penalties on the Campers set up fourth-and-21 at the 24.
Nick Riley intercepted a pass and returned it over 30 yards to the 44.
Two plays into the Northern drive, Resh recovered a fumble, and on the ensuing drive, scored a three-yard touchdown with 4:05 left.
“I thought when we get the turnover, we got a chance to drive it in, take a lead,” Carr said. “We turn it right back over, we audible into another play, not everyone was on the same page.”
Resh finished with 30 carries for 163 yards and a score.
“He’s just a football player,” Hansel said. “That’s who he is, that’s who he’s been. He takes whatever challenge we give him and would say, ‘yes sir’ no matter what.”
On the kickoff, the kick was bobbled and recovered by Alco.
Facing fourth-and-six at the 18, Sebastian Stewart found a wide open Bible for his fourth touchdown.
Bible finished with 220 yards on 17 carries, three rushing touchdowns and another through the air.
“As a freshman, you’re not supposed to run like he does,” Hansel said. “I think you saw him being in shape today because that’s the most explosive I’ve seen him. When he sticks a foot in and bursts, it’s hard to catch him.”
Trailing 34-16 with 2:52 left, Northern made it interesting, running a hurry-up offense and adding a late touchdown on an Evan Graham two-yard run.
Graham led the Huskies with 15 carries for 87 yards and a score.
The Huskies recovered the onside kick, but turned it over on downs.
Allegany outgained Northern 497-302 including 479-181 on the ground.
Next week is rivalry week for both teams.
Northern heads to Southern on Friday at 7 p.m. for the 68th meeting between the Huskies and Rams (2-6, 0-3 WestMAC).
“It means a lot, our kids are chomping at the bit to go,” Carr said. “We’re a little frustrated, we wanna get on the field as soon as possible.”
Allegany faces No. 1 Fort Hill (6-2, 3-0 WestMAC) for the 88th edition of Homecoming next Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
“It’s a good football team, they’re always good,” Hansel said. “We just gotta be physical, and we haven’t put a perfect game together yet. Maybe that’s something we can do Saturday, not get turnovers, not get penalties in dumb situations. Stay in front of the sticks, really give them a run for their money.”