Northern Bedford Ready to 'Grow and Develop' This Season

Nearly a year later, Northern Bedford High School quarterback Eion Snider still reflects on what the Black Panthers accomplished last season with amazement and pride.

"It was a dream, basically," Snider said.

Snider and his teammates regrouped after a 1-3 start to win eight straight games and make it all the way to the PIAA Class 1A quarterfinals before falling to eventual state runner-up Redbank Valley, 21-14. Now Northern Bedford, with a stable full of proven skill players and a line filled with new bodies, is about a week away from finding out if it can ride the momentum of one magical run to just as great of heights, or even better.

The Black Panthers kick things off on Friday, Aug. 26, when they host Southern Huntingdon in an Inter-County Conference matchup.

"It was one of the better endings in school history. We made it to the final eight in Class A, and we had a blast doing it," said Panther coach Garry Black, who is embarking on his eighth year at the helm. "We had a veteran offensive line last year with a bunch of sophomores in the skill positions. This year the roles are reversed.

"Our big goal is to build up our offensive line and let them grow and develop together."

Heading into camp, Black was looking at a new starting offensive front comprised of 6-foot-4, 265-pound junior Jake Bowser; 6-1, 265-pound junior Brock Beach; 6-5, 285-pound senior Kalvan Gochnour; 5-10, 210-pound senior Nick Price; and 5-10, 220-pound junior Brian Amick.

"That's been the key in the offseason," Black said. "Over the summer, they got together once a week with the offensive line coach and put in the work. We're just trying to get them to gel and to mesh so they can be where we need them to be."

Beach is slated to play left tackle. He's eager to have the chance to carry on what last year's all-senior line was able to help Northern Bedford achieve.

"It's pretty big shoes to fill, but I think our line's good. We've been working hard," Beach said. "I think we have good chemistry, we communicate and we just have a lot of strength on our line."

If that group can hold its own, the Panthers are primed for a big year, because the returning skill players all were playing big by the end of last year.

After a course-altering 7-6 victory over Juniata Valley, Northern Bedford found its offensive groove, scoring at least 34 points in five straight games before Redbank finally put a stop to the Panthers in the postseason.

Back from that starting unit are Snider, 5-10, 195-pound junior running back Adam Johnson, 6-2, 190-pound junior fullback Ashton Detterline, 6-3 sophomore wideout Aaron Bowers and 6-1, 190-pound senior Jestin Fernandez, who will play tight end but also can be flexed out to a wide receiver, too.

Johnson's coming off a sophomore campaign in which he rushed for a team-high 807 yards on 160 carries, scoring seven touchdowns. He enters the year with a string of four straight 100-yard rushing performances and reached the century mark in five of the Panthers' last six contests after reaching 40 yards on the ground in just one of the first seven games.

Bowers, meanwhile, topped the team with 29 catches for 503 yards. Seven of his catches ended up in the end zone.

Bowers' success coincided with the emergence of Snider as a passer midway through the season. All five of the 6-2, 180-pound junior's 100-yard passing games came after Oct. 15. He tossed 12 touchdowns over that span and, at one point, completed at least 63 percent of his throws in four consecutive games.

He finished the season 86-for-153 for 1,148 yards and 14 touchdowns with nine interceptions. Only three of his picks were thrown in the last seven games.

"I just got comfortable. I just figured out, 'Oh my gosh, I can actually do this,' and then everything started clicking," Snider said.

Now Snider's looking to take the next step.

"I feel a lot better," Snider said. "I feel a lot stronger. I've gotten bigger. I've put in a lot of work in the offseason to be able to throw the ball."

Juniors Ben Gable and Rece Dibert are competing with sophomore Aidan Pittman for the open starting receiver spot.

Northern Bedford will work from a 4-4 set on defense. Fernandez and either Bowser or 6-4, 220-pound sophomore Joey O'Brian will be the defensive ends. Price and Gochnour are battling at one D-tackle spot, with Beach and junior Keyan Guyer fighting it out at the other.

Dibert, Johnson and Detterline will man three of the four linebackers. The fourth stands to be either Noah Baker or Brian Amick, both juniors.

Gable and Snider are the cornerbacks. Bowers is the safety.

Senior Collin Yeats will handle the place-kicking, while Bowers punts; both are returnees. Pittman and Johnson will run back kicks.

Kevin Gable, Ryan Cherry, Larry Corle and Mike Wiand fill out Black's staff. Barry Crawford, Tom Foor, Jason Free and Andrew Foor coach the junior high.

"What we did last year, we can do it again. It just pushes people to work harder," Snider said.

Editor's Note: Philip Cmor will be writing in-depth previews of each Cove football team. Over the next few weeks, readers can read about Central, Claysburg, Juniata Valley and Hollidaysburg football for the 2022-23 season.

The Herald's Fall Sports Preview will be included in the Aug. 25 edition.