Even after a troubling defeat to Blackhawk October 26 which lost them home-field advantage, the Beaver Area Bobcats came back and played the game of their lives against Belle Vernon Area November 2.

Not off to a great start, sophomore Anthony George got ejected early in the first quarter for unsportsmanlike conduct.

It didn’t look so good after the first quarter either; Belle Vernon was up 14-0.

In the second quarter, however, senior wide receiver Mason Rose turned a dropped ball into a 45 yard touchdown run. The extra point attempt was a little wobbly, but was transformed into an amazing two-point conversion instead when junior kicker Beckett Connelly rifled the ball to senior George Peroni.

“Kicker can throw,” exclaimed linebacker Peroni.

With 7:37 left in the second quarter the referees called back a Belle Vernon 90 yard touchdown run attempt. On fourth and third Beaver went for 3 points instead.

In the last five minutes of the half Belle Vernon threw a long ball to their right wide receiver for a touchdown, and in the last 30 seconds another touchdown throw connected with the Belle Vernon right wide receiver making the score 28-11 Belle Vernon at the of the half.

The third quarter was scoreless until the last 3 minutes when Belle Vernon punched in off the one-yard line.

The final quarter was also the final challenge of the season for the Bobcats; with 8 minutes remaining the Belle Vernon Leopards scored again, then at 1:46, seemingly unwilling to stop at nothing short of total humiliation, Belle Vernon scored one final touchdown before getting completely shut down by Beaver’s desperate defense, turning the score into a painful 49-11.

“It’s not how we wanted to finish, but I’m proud of our guys for stepping into quad-A. Shout-out to the boys in the trenches,” said senior running back Gino Mavero.

“For playoff football teams, the end of the season usually encompasses a downtrodden mood following a loss, but we had many high points to celebrate throughout the year. Our football team concluded the 2018 season with a ‘Top 5’ win percentage as a 4A classification school. That has been a customary occurrence over the past 13 seasons. However, our seniors completed that task in three separate classifications during only four years of high school football, which is truly commendable,” exclaimed head coach Dr. Jeff Beltz.