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Juniata’s second half pulls Indians over Lions

By Kenny Varner
LEWISTOWN- Battling against any team with a strong runner can be tough enough but add to it two more hard-nosed running backs and the results will be a good one.
Just ask the Juniata Indians Pee Wee football team.
Playing with runners Joseph Bomberger, quarterback Daylyn Kennedy and Javier Lopez, the Indians were well prepared for the State College Maroon team when they met in the 2017 Juniata Valley Football League’s Pee Wee Super Bowl.
The trio mixed with a strong defense was too much for the the Lions as the Indians came out with a 32-6 victory and the title.
“We were ready! We weren’t quite as ready as we wanted them to be. We had a rough first half there but they came around the second half,” Juniata coach Joe Dowling said.
Kennedy led the team in the running department scampering for over 100 yards while Lopez and Bomberger finished both with over 50 yards.
State College was led by Rhett King who tossed a touchdown pass and had the most yardage for his team.
Juniata cane out pumped and ready from the first defensive series as they drove the Lions backwards and got the ball to the Indians at the 50 to start their first offensive possession.
The State College defense put up some opposition forcing the Indians to work for every yard.
But on the eighth play of the drive, Juniata took the lead as Kennedy got around the outside end and scrambled for a 23-yard touchdown run. However, the PAT was stopped by State, making it 6-0.
After running out the first quarter, State College was forced to give the ball back to the 3-headed monster of the Indians.
Again, Kennedy got the call and broke loose for second time,running 29-yards for the score and a 12-0 advantage with 7:02 left in the first half.
State College cane back and cut the lead in half, when it took just one play for King to find a wide open Brian Kriley for the 13-yard hook up, making it 12-6 as the two teams went into the intermission.
“We have a great group of kids. They fought all season and worked really hard and got back to the Super Bowl. We got better every week,” said State College coach Rob Johnson. “We had a couple of kids we lost at mid season but these kids picked it up, filled in the gaps, next man up and gave it everything they had.”
After the intermission, the Juniata offense went right back to work and pulled themselves away from the Maroon team.
Juniata’s defense helped early on when Ayden Dowling picked off a State pass and put his team on the 50.
Eight plays later, Bomberger muscled it in from seven out, upping it to 18-6 with 2:39 left in the third.
Again, the Indians forced a turnover.
Brodie Uhler was at the right place at the right time and picked up a fumble.
Having only 45 ticks on the clock, the Indians cashed it in when Lopez picked up his first touch down from seven-yards out. On the PAT Kennedy found an open Connor Boreman to increase the Juniata lead to 26-6.
Rounding out the scoring on the night was Kennedy as he marched in from 10 yards out, ending the scoring and clinching the title, at 32-6.

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