Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Northern Bedford’s Aidan Miller (8) gets caught between lineman Josiah Bowser and Claysburg-Kimmel’s Mark Lattieri (24) and Mason Campagna (4).
By Michael Boytim
Northern Bedford has won District 5 titles before.
The Black Panthers have even won state playoff games, many of the upperclassmen on this year’s squad played major roles in a win over Reynolds in the PIAA playoffs in 2021.
But mostly everyone around the program agrees tonight’s matchup with Steelton-Highspire at Claysburg-Kimmel High School at 7 p.m. is a different kind of challenge.
“At the end of the day, for me, I’m treating this like a state final, because it is,” Northern Bedford coach Garry Black said. “If you don’t win, you’re done. You’re playing the team that’s the favorite to win it, and you’re playing the team that has won it. If you’re able to knock them off, maybe you become the favorite to do that. For us, we get to play in what I want to create as a state-championship atmosphere for our kids Friday night.”
The Rollers are ranked No. 1 in the state in the PennLive rankings and have won two of the last three PIAA Class 1A championships.
Their quarterback, Alex Erby, is hoping to cap off his senior year with his third state championship before he heads to Division I Navy, but his father Andrew, the Rollers’ coach, said Steelton isn’t looking ahead or focusing on the history it can create.
“Right now, we’re not really looking at the long end,” Erby said. “Our kids understand that this goes day by day, week by week. You can’t really look too far in advance, because you play some really good football teams. Throughout the years, we learned that records and history really go out the window. You really have to be playing good football every week and every night. Anybody can beat anybody at this time of the year.”
Black believes his team, which is ranked No. 3 by PennLive, can win Friday’s game.
“We have to have some things go our way,” Black said. “We can’t lose the turnover battle, that’s a definite. We preach about playing good defense and try to really focus on that. Obviously, we have to do that, but we can’t get down on ourselves. We know they are going to score. They score on everybody. You can play really good defense, and kids can still make plays. You can’t have something bad happen and have that impact the next play and the play after that. If it does, then it can spiral on you.”
Steelton-Highspire comes into Friday’s game averaging 47.3 points per game and has scored at least 29 points in each game.
“In order to have a chance, we have to find a way to put up four touchdowns, 28 points,” Black said. “That’s how good they are offensively and how good we have to be offensively to match them.”
Northern Bedford, which has a quarterback in Eion Snider that has thrown 20 touchdown passes and a running back in Adam Johnson who has run for more than 1,000 yards, has caught Steelton’s attention.
“Across the board, they are a solid football team,” Erby said. “They have good football players at all positions and are a good football team up front. They have an experienced group of skill guys that make plays. They will be by far one of the better football teams we have faced over the last couple years.”
During Steelton-Highspire’s first state championship in 2020, the Rollers defeated Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic with the help of a late pass interference call that set up a go-ahead field goal in the PIAA semifinals.
A year later, BG beat Redbank Valley for the PIAA title, a team Northern Bedford had played neck-and-neck with just a couple weeks earlier.
“These kids have played against Reynolds. They have played against Redbank Valley twice,” Black said. “They played Windber last year, and this year we played a really good Berlin team. They have been on the field against great competition and been in tough situations. They know how to play the game, and that’s definitely a comforting feeling from our standpoint.”
Northern Bedford has had to deal with plenty of injuries this season, including one involving Johnson, but other than losing a player last week, is relatively healthy now.
“We lost one of our linemen, Brian Amick, on (Thursday), and he’s getting results and trying to figure out what’s going on with his knee,” Black said. “Outside of that, we just have your typical bumps and bruises you get throughout a season.”
Black is hoping playing so close to home gives his team an advantage.
“Our fans have really shown up all year for us, and the community has been incredible,” Black said. “I’m hoping that’s an edge. I told our kids I’m hoping that’s a one-touchdown advantage that we get to start in our backyard with a crowd full of Northern Bedford people.”
Erby’s team hosted District 5 champion Windber in this round last year. In the second year of the cycle, the teams hosting are switched.
“We have to travel,” Erby said. “We have to go to their backyard, and it will be a tough environment to be in. If you don’t play, they can embarrass you and make you look real bad quick.”
Black has a lot of respect for his opponent on Friday.
“They really don’t have any weaknesses,” Black said. “They have a quarterback that’s a Division I player (Navy). They have a two-way lineman that is his brother that is a Division I player (Ohio). They also have a handful of kids who have offers from schools like Saint Francis and Long Island. We just know they are athletes. They are like our team in that they have been around the block and played for four years. The biggest difference is they have been playing for state championships, and we have been playing for district championships and early-round state playoff games. Their experience is even greater than ours.”
Even with all that, Steelton-Highspire will need to be on its game to advance.
“We have to play as a team, and we have to be mentally and physically focused on the task at hand,” Erby said. “I think they are a really good football team, and I’m going to be very honest — if you don’t play a solid football game and give max effort against them, they are a team that can beat you by three touchdowns.”
