Bloomsburg rallies, can't top Central as Isaac Gensemer set school career rushing mark.
By: BRAD PRICE
Fourth Quarter Media
SOUTH CENTRE TWP- Central Columbia (7-3) snuck away with a victory, 28-21, in a hard-fought rivalry game against Bloomsburg (5-5).
On a day where Central Columbia running back Isaac Gensemer broke the school record for career rushing yards, the Blue Jays won a close one against the Panthers.
Gensemer, who has been the main source of offense for the Blue Jays the last two seasons, cruised into the record books on the back of a 216-yard, two-touchdown day.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet to be honest,” Gensemer said. “It’s great for everyone on the team because we all play for each other and it’s even better to break the record against Bloom.”
Quarterback Trae Devlin said how getting Gensmer the rushing record had been the goal of the Blue Jays all year.
“Not just for Isaac but that was the whole team’s goal this whole year,” Devlin said. “It’s awesome to see him get the record, he definitely deserves it.”
Central dominated most of the first half up front and took control of the line of scrimmage early.
Central went right down the field and scored off a quarterback sneak to take the one-score lead. Two drives later, following a punt bouncing off a Panthers’ player, Central took advantage of the short field and scored again on one of Gensmer’s two touchdowns on the day.
Bloomsburg struck before the half ended as Jack Howell and Brody Hock connected on two jump balls for long gains over Central’s Zach Smith. The second Hock catch made it a one-score game.
Central then got the ball back made them pay with a two-minute drive that ended with a Devlin passing score to Smith as time was winding down and regained the two-score lead into the half.
Bloomsburg came out playing hard in the second half, following the second Gensemer touchdown.
Bloomsburg running back Hunter Coulter took his first carry of the game 84 yards to the house, outrunning all the Central defenders to the end zone.
Bloomsburg eventually scored when Devlin threw an interception on a drive in the fourth quarter which was returned by the Panthers’ Aiden Klinger 99 yards to make it a one-score game.
“I just tried to squeeze it in on an out route and the linebacker jumped,” Devlin said. “ I shouldn’t have thrown it but thank god to the defense for saving me at the end of this one.”
Central head coach Scott Dennis took the blame for making the call.
“I wanted to get the first down there but looking back on it, I probably should’ve just kicked the field goal and put it out of reach,” Dennis said. “ That was my mistake on that one.”
Bloomsburg got the ball back with one last chance to tie the game. The Panthers’ benefited from a controversial unnecessary roughness penalty on a pass across the middle that put them deep in Blue Jay territory, only down by 7.
The Panthers eventually took it all the way to the Blue Jays’ 20 and on the final key play of the game, Coulter took a handoff on a fourth-and-1 and was stopped short of the line.
The Blue Jays took a knee and ended the game with a big win against their rival.
“The resiliency impressed me, they made mistakes, they knew they made mistakes and when they play like that against a big rival you have to be happy with that especially when a game is as chippy as that one was,” Dennis said.
Bloomsburg 0 7 7 7 - 21
Central 14 7 7 0 - 28
First Quarter
CC- Trae Devlin 2 run (Brendan Gregory kick), 9:02
CC- Isaac Gensemer 11 run (Gregory kick), 1:14
Second quarter
BL- Brody Hock 39 pass from Jack Howell (Torsten Hartman kick), 2:31
CC- Zach Smith 6 pass from Devlin (Gregory kick), 0:10
Third quarter
CC- Gensemer 6 run (Gregory kick), 7:26
BL- Hunter Colter 84 run (Hartman kick), 3:18
Fourth quarter
BL- Aiden Klinger 99 interception return (Hartman kick), 6:16
Bloomsburg Central
First Downs: 6 22
Rushing-yds: 17-85 51-250
Comp-Att-Int 9-19-0 12-17-1
Passing- yds: 117 122
Total yds: 202 372
Fumbles-lost: 3-2 1-1
Penalties-yds: 10-105 10-90
Individual Statistics
Rushing- Central: Isaac Gensemer 33-216, 2 TDS; Jack Schechterly 7-36; Troy Johnson 4-12; Ky Seesholtz 1-7; Trae Devlin 6-(-21), TD. Bloomsburg: Hunter Coulter 4-90, TD; Jack Malatesta 4-5; Gage Klinger 3-(-1); Aiden Klinger 2-(-3); Jack Howell 4-(-6).
Passing- Central: Devlin 12-17-1 122 yds, TD. Bloomsburg: Howell 9-19-0 117 yds, TD.
Receiving- Central: Eli Morrison 3-51; Zander Bradley 3-26; Jared Verse 3-25; Johnson 1-11; Zach Smith 2-9, TD. Bloomsburg: Brody Hock 3-70, TD; A. Klinger 1-14; Owen Lewis 2-11; G. Klinger 1-8; Colter 1-7; Malatesta 1-7.