Bethlehem Catholic battled until the end in Friday night’s PIAA Class 4A playoff football game at Catasauqua’s Alumni Field, but ultimately Selinsgrove senior Tucker Teats running behind a powerful Seals’ offensive line was too much for the Golden Hawks to handle.
Teats rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns to spark unbeaten District 4 champion Selinsgrove to a 28-13 win.
Coach Derek Hicks’ Seals (12-0-1) advance to play District 6 champion Juniata in next weekend’s PIAA 4A quarterfinals at a site and time to be determined.
Bethlehem Catholic (7-6) was within 16-13 late in the third quarter when Teats hit a huge hole through the heart of the Hawks’ ‘D’ and sprinted 71 yards for a back-breaking touchdown. Teats added his third TD, an 11-yarder with 2:04 left, to set the final score.
“A big gap opened up,” Teats said of the 71-yarder, “and it was off to the races. That got momentum back on our side. Eventually, we were able to finish this one off.”
“I think if you look at this game as a whole,” Bethlehem Catholic coach Tyler Ward said, “we really had plenty of opportunities. We were in the red zone three or four times and couldn’t score. They had the fourth-down conversion on a fake punt with our defense on the field and we fumbled it a few times. We did things that kept us from winning the game.”
The Golden Hawks, who turned the ball over three times, had two second-half possessions stall at the Selinsgrove 35 and two others end at the Seals’ 29.
They also missed a first-quarter field goal.
Mekhi Lapierre and Jacob Sutton, Becahi’s senior backfield tag-team, combined for 117 yards rushing on 27 carries. Freshman wideout Carter Vassa caught eight passes for 103 yards and a touchdown.
“It was a tough game,” Teats said. “Some little things were going wrong for us in the first half but once we figured that out and started to move the ball, we were good from there.”
The Golden Hawks played from behind in the opening half.
Selinsgrove’s Carter Young converted a 22-yard field goal with 70 seconds remaining in the first quarter to put the Seals ahead 3-0. The teams traded touchdowns in the second period, with Selinsgrove scoring on run plays and Bethlehem Catholic finding the end zone on pass plays.
Senior Devin Greene-Williams’ punt block set up the Hawks with a short scoring drive in the final 60 seconds of the first half.
Sophomore Cayden Vassa lofted a perfectly placed pass to his brother, Carter Vassa, for the 5-yard score and Becahi trimmed its deficit to three at intermission.
Selinsgrove continues on in the PIAA playoffs while the Golden Hawks will reflect on an unexpected championship season.
Bethlehem Catholic started off Ward’s first season as coach with five straight wins. The Golden Hawks then dropped five games in a row before reeling off back-to-back District 11 playoff wins over Blue Mountain and Central Catholic.
Their most impressive victory, of course, was last week’s 29-0 Class 4A championship shutout of the rival Vikings, who won the EPC matchup 24-14 on Oct. 27.
The Hawks will graduate 15 seniors, including standouts Lapierre, Sutton and lineman Sammy Ayache.
“My hat’s off to our whole staff and this whole team,” Ward said. “They battled all year. What I told them in the huddle at the end is the seniors set an amazing foundation and it’s going to live on for a while here. The family we’ve built, what we have coming up, it’s going to be a lot of good things for Becahi football.”
Michael Blouse is a freelance writer.
SELINSGROVE 28, BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC 13
Selinsgrove 3 13 6 6 – 28
Bethlehem Catholic 0 13 0 0 – 13
First quarter
S: FG Carter Young 22, 1:10.
Second quarter
S: Tucker Teats 36 run (Young kick), 10:23.
BC: Jacob Sutton 8 pass from Cayden Vassa (Jeremy Fyrer kick), 5:15.
S: Ethan Miller 2 run (kick failed), 3:05.
BC: Carter Vassa 5 pass from Cayden Vassa (kick failed), :51.
Third quarter
S: Teats 71 run (pass failed), 2:35.
Fourth quarter
S: Teats 11 run (kick failed), 2:04.
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Selinsgrove (41-265), Teats 27-223, 3 TD; Miller 9-47, 1 TD; Mark Pastore 5-(-5). Bethlehem Catholic (34-131), Mekhi Lapierre 16-77; Sutton 11-40; Cayden Vassa 7-14.
PASSING: Selinsgrove (6-13-0), Pastore 6-13-0 for 91. Bethlehem Catholic (14-31-1), Cayden 14-31-1 for 148.
RECEIVING: Selinsgrove (6-91), Gavin Bastian 5-43; Andrew Sassaman 1-48. Bethlehem Catholic (14-148), Carter Vassa 8-103, 1 TD; Sutton 2-12, 1 TD; Bryce Medina 2-19; Lapierre 2-14.
