Natalie Dell Day - Part 1

 Above - Bedford County Commissioner Kirt Morris hands Natalie Dell a proclamation naming September 28 as Natalie Dell Day in the county.



Natalie was honored first at a breakfast this morning at UPMC Bedford Memorial, hosted by the Bedford County Chamber of Commerce. She discussed all her training leading up to making the Olympic team, showed a television replay of the Olympic Final, and displayed her medal and signed autographs for those in attendance.

Natalie Dell Day is nearly here!

Olympic Medalist Natalie Dell is back in Pennsylvania (She was so excited to walk into a Sheetz again) and will be in Bedford County tomorrow.

The Women's Quadruple Sculls rowing bronze medalist and Everett Area High School graduate is being honored by her native area in an all-day celebration. Open to the general public is a meet and greet session at the high school gymnasium around 3:40 p.m. Natalie will also be on hand at Friday night's home football game, where she will take part in a ceremonial coin toss.

Pick up Saturday's Bedford Gazette for my complete coverage of Natalie Dell Day as well as the football game between Everett and West Branch, or subscribe online at www.bedfordgazette.com. I also expect to add more about Natalie's day on this blog over the weekend.

And for football talk, I will be on Prep Nation Radio's 12th Man Show live late tomorrow night, breaking down action in District 5 and 6 that will include the big showdown between Berlin and North Star. To listen to it, check out prepnationradio.com. The show is also available whenever you like at the website.

Football Week 4 Wrap

Northern Bedford stayed unbeaten at 4-0 with another impressive performance in a 28-7 win over Claysburg. Everett picked up its first win in a big way, 46-12, for first-year coach Mark Kirk, and Tussey Mountain regrouped to defeat Southern Huntingdon, 26-6.

Local Standings
Northern Bedford, 4-0
Tussey Mountain, 2-2
Chestnut Ridge, 1-3
Claysburg, 1-3
Everett, 1-3
Bedford, 0-4

Spring Into Sports Player of the Week - Darrin Sipes, Tussey Mountain.
Sipes scored on two long runs and totalled 150 yards in rushing during the Titans' rout of the Rockets.

This Week's Games (Winners selected in bold)
Westmont at Bedford
Philipsburg at Chestnut Ridge
Claysburg at Glendale
West Branch at Everett
Northern Bedford at Southern Huntingdon
Tussey Mountain at Williamsburg

By the way, I didn't get on the air this week on Prep Nation Radio due to car trouble on the way to Wingate on Friday night for the Chestnut Ridge at Bald Eagle Area game.

On the Air

I will be a featured guest on this week's 12th Man Show on Prep Nation Radio, discussing District 5 football. The show runs from 10:30 pm - 1am every Friday night. Listen for my segment during the final hour. The link to www.prepnationradio.com is below.

12th Man Show

Week 3 Football Wrap

Local Standings
Northern Bedford, 3-0
Chestnut Ridge, 1-2
Claysburg, 1-2
Tussey Mountain, 1-2
Bedford, 0-3
Everett, 0-3

Commentary: Northern Bedford has firmly established itself as the best team in the county and one of the top two or three in District 5-A. Having seen the Black Panthers in person for the first time this past Friday, I came away very impressed with their offensive balance and their overall defense.

Everett went to a four-man line on defense to try and shut down the Northern Bedford passing game, and the Panthers countered with a very solid running attack that featured a pair of touchdown rushes for Caleb Ebersole in the 21-8 victory.

"It was a chess match," said Northern Bedford coach Jeff Batzel. "We took what they were giving to us."

Spring Into Sports Player of the Week - Zach Helsel, Claysburg RB/LB. This one was pretty much a no-brainer. Helsel scored six touchdowns and had 165 yards rushing in the Bulldogs' heartbreaking 51-44 loss to Juniata Valley.

Helsel scored four touchdowns on the ground, caught another, and also had a pick six interception.

Week 4 Picks (winner in bold)
Bedford at Bishop McCort
Chestnut Ridge at Bald Eagle Area
Claysburg at Northern Bedford
Everett at Williamsburg
Southern Huntingdon at Tussey Mountain

Sam Felix works his magic

If you read my story from Bedford's 5-1 boys soccer victory over Richland on Thursday night, you read a lot about Bedford senior Sam Felix, who scored three goals and added an assist as the Bisons stayed undefeated in the early part of this 2012 season.

Felix possesses some of the best footwork any soccer fan might see at the high school level. Honestly, I found myself at times watching him with or without the ball, both on Thursday and in Tuesday's win over Chestnut Ridge. And his movement is so fluid that my lede of the story about him doing the tango may not have given Sam enough justice.

Former Bedford head coach Tom Otis, who coached a collection of great players in his day, told me two years ago that Sam Felix had as good of footwork and first touch on the ball as anyone he had ever coached. Can't remember the time exactly, but I believe it was a night where Sam came off the bench to score and/or assist on a goal or two. Either way, that was high praise for someone who was a sophomore at the time.

Sam has been playing for seven or eight years, he wasn't sure exactly. He says he was probably born with the talent.

"I think it's just natural," Felix said after Thursday's win. "I've worked a lot at home and in the offseason too."

Last year as a junior, Felix scored nine goals from his wing/striker position. Through five contests this fall, he has already matched that number and leads the Gazette coverage area so far.

Felix is just one piece of a very strong Bedford team that returned so much from last year's District 5/6-AA championship squad. The Bisons were 18-2-2 a season ago. Can they or any other of the local teams get an elusive state playoff win?

Bedford has come close a couple of times recently, including a heartbreaker two years ago after leading District 3's Palmyra late in the second half only to give up two goals in what became Otis' final head coaching effort with the Bisons.

And back in 2008, an upstart Northern Bedford side played very well in a first round PIAA loss in the Class A playoffs.

Felix believes the time can be now.

"We have a great team," he said. "I definitely think we can win multiple state playoff games and get all the way to Hershey (for the championship)."

Soccer Goal Leaders

Bedford Gazette Goal Scoring Leaders through Wednesday, September 12

Boys Soccer
Sam Felix, Bedford, 6
Tanner Russell, Northern Bedford, 6
Trenton Barnes, Northern Bedford, 4
Coltin Ebersole, Northern Bedford, 4
Blake Baer, Bedford, 3
Stephen Calhoun, Bedford, 3
Steven Stroup, Bedford, 3
Garrett Thomas, Bedford, 3

8 players have 2 goals

Girls Soccer
Paige Diehl, Bedford, 6
Taylor Easter, Bedford, 5
Olivia Claycomb, Tussey Mountain, 4
Hannah Grimes, Bedford, 4
Bethany Cronrath, Northern Bedford, 3
Mylee Dull, Chestnut Ridge, 3
Jarica Seese, Chestnut Ridge, 3

4 players have 2 goals

Week 3 Picks

Northern Bedford over Everett
Tussey Mountain over Moshannon Valley
Richland over Bedford
Berks Catholic over Chestnut Ridge
Juniata Valley over Claysburg

Week 2 Football Wrap

Local Standings
Northern Bedford, 2-0
Chestnut Ridge, 1-1
Claysburg, 1-1
Tussey Mountain, 1-1
Bedford, 0-2
Everett, 0-2

Spring Into Sports Player of the Week - It's been the year of the receiver through the first two weeks. This week's top player award is a tie between Claysburg's Devin Weyandt and Northern Bedford's Tayler Pressel. Weyandt caught 9 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown, while Pressel nabbed six passes for 167 yards and a score.

Players of the Week
Week 1 - Kyler Diehl, Northern Bedford
Week 2 - Devin Weyandt, Claysburg and Tayler Pressel, Northern Bedford

Local Wrapup - Wednesday, September 5

In Thursday's Gazette, I'll have the game story from Chestnut Ridge's boys soccer battle with McConnellsburg, while Codi Weyant recaps Windber and Chestnut Ridge in girls tennis.

Stat Stars - Trenton Barnes, Northern Bedford and Olivia Claycomb, Tussey Mountain. Each scored three goals in soccer action on Wednesday, Barnes against Southern Fulton, and Claycomb against Hancock (Md.).

Local Wrapup - Tuesday, September 4

Tuesday's Stat Star - Bedford's Hannah Grimes, pictured below, scored three goals to lead the Lady Bison soccer team to a 9-1 rout of Cambria Heights in the season opener.

I have the full report on the LHAC matchup in Wednesday's Bedford Gazette. Also look for Codi Weyant's story on Chestnut Ridge vs. Johnstown Christian in girls soccer and Sam Shuss' report from Everett at Claysburg in volleyball. Plus, we round up all the other local action.

Pick up a copy or subscribe online at www.bedfordgazette.com

Photo credit/Ryan Spring - Bedford Gazette

A full week of events

Now that the Labor Day holiday has come and gone, the other fall sports get underway in earnest.

In Wednesday's Bedford Gazette: a look at high school girls soccer contests at Bedford and at Chestnut Ridge, plus volleyball action from Claysburg.

Week 1 High School wrap

Opening with a win - Claysburg, Northern Bedford, Tussey Mountain
Still looking for a win - Bedford, Chestnut Ridge, Everett

Spring Into Sports Player of the Week - Kyler Diehl, Northern Bedford: Diehl made eight catches for 183 yards as the Black Panthers beat Glendale, 20-13.

Looking Ahead - The big game this week is Tussey Mountain at Northern Bedford in the county's "Backyard Brawl."

Other games
Penn Cambria at Bedford
Carrick at Chestnut Ridge
West Branch at Claysburg
Glendale at Everett

Penn State-Ohio wrap

Photo credit/Ryan Spring - Bedford Gazette
Key play of the game - With Penn State leading 14-3 in the third quarter, this underthrown pass was nearly intercepted by two Nittany Lions, left, but the ball was eventually caught and taken the rest of the way for an Ohio touchdown. That really shifted momentum to the Bobcats, who shut Penn State down on offense from there and scored twice more to score the 24-14 victory and spoil Bill O'Brien's head coaching debut.

All credit to Ohio. Quarterback Tyler Tettleton was sensational. And the Bobcats were 11-for-12 on third downs in the second half. Penn State's defense could not get off the field and wore down.