Champions?
The 2022 Beaver Bobcats Football season is underway under second year Head Coach Cort Rowse.
The Bobcats hosted the 2022 game opener August 26 at Pat Tarquinio field against the Western Beaver Golden Beavers who are one of the Bobcats’ biggest rivals.
Sadly, the Bobcats came up short 20-7 with the only touchdown being scored by number 7, starting quarterback Isaac Pupi, and the Bobcats snagging one interception by senior Gerrell Leeper.
“It was a hard fought game against some of my close friends. Sadly, they came out on top, but I think the loss made us hungrier for the weeks to come,” said senior Jack Korhman about the season-opening loss.
After the disappointing loss the Bobcats got back to practice and started to prepare for their next game against the Beaver Falls Tigers.
The Bobcats faced the Tigers in Beaver Fall September 2 where the Bobcats came up with a huge win beating the Tigers 19-16.
The Bobcats recorded in impressive six interceptions: two by senior Josiah Santiago, one by senior Dylan Porto, one by sophomore Brady Mayo, and one by senior Diego Gutierrez, and finally one by senior Omari Smith.
The Bobcats scored three touchdowns: one by senior Liam Gibson, one by Korman, and one by Leeper.
“Our defense stepped up in a tough game to give us the win and moral we needed for the rest of the game,” said Gibson on the Beaver Falls game.
After the big non-section win by the Bobcats they geared up to face the Freedom Bulldogs.
The Bobcats were on home turf against the Bulldogs September 9 where the Bobcats came up with another win moving their record to 2-1 by beating the Bulldogs 28-18.
The Bobcats found the end zone four time: two by Santiago, and one each for Pupi and Leeper. Porto also added another interception to his season stats.
“It was a good win against a good team and I got very hype afterwards,” said Smith about the Beaver Falls game.
The Bobcats wrapped up their non-conference play until week 6. They are now entering the section play which will determine where they will be placed in the playoffs. Their first section game was against the South Park Eagles.
The Bobcats geared up for the Eagles game September 16. And their preparation and winning attitude paid off making the Bobcats 3-1 on the season.
The Bobcats won 25-7 scoring three touchdowns: two by Leeper and one by Santiago, and junior kicker Evan Baker had a 32 yard field goal.
Leeper came up with the Bobcats’ ninth interception on the year. With the Bobcats big win over the South Park Eagles the Bobcats move to 1-0 in section play.
“Big conference win!” exclaimed Pupi about the South Park victory.
“I believe we are starting to understand mentally what it takes to prepare and be successful. I’m proud of the work our young men have put in, but we have not yet played our best football. The goal every week is to go 1-0, and to be better than we were the day before,” said Head Coach Rowse.
The Bobcats’ next game was their homecoming game home against the West Mifflin Titans September 23 with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Check the next issue of the ECHO for game coverage.
Photos courtesy of Abby Kohrmann