Football Preview: Bedford Bisons vs. Penn Cambria Panthers
Bedford has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will welcome the Penn Cambria Panthers at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Bedford will head into Friday's game hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big last Friday (they won by 35) but on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 10-7 victory over Central Cambria.
Among those leading the charge was Quincy Swaim, who rushed for 97 yards, and also threw for 113 yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave him a new career- in total yards.
Bedford wouldn't let Central Cambria keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force four fumbles. Jacob Wilson led the group effort, picking up two of those forced fumbles all by himself. Treg Nave also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, forcing a fumble and making 19 total tackles.
Meanwhile, Penn Cambria put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They walked away with a 30-22 win over Forest Hills. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 108th, while the Rangers are ranked 257th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Penn Cambria's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Gavin Harrold led the charge by rushing for 97 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries, while also picking up 37 receiving yards. Harrold also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, making eight total tackles and defending a pass in addition to snagging an interception. Thomas Plunkett was another key player, rushing for 93 yards and a touchdown.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Penn Cambria's defense and their four sacks. Mason Mento was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up twohimself. He is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season. Another thorn in Forest Hills' side was Corbin Vinglish, who picked up a sack, made 11 total tackles (3.0 for loss), and defended a pass.
Penn Cambria was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 321 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 200 rushing yards in three consecutive contests.
Bedford's victory bumped their record up to 3-0. As for Penn Cambria, their win was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-0.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Bedford has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 213 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Penn Cambria struggles in that department as they've been averaging 249.7. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Bedford couldn't quite finish off Penn Cambria when the teams last played back in September of 2023 and fell 21-19. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Penn Cambria's Brady Jones, who threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Now that Bedford knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
