Albright Hopeful After Game Against Bellefonte

Friday night marked a new chapter for the Central Scarlet Dragons as Jerry Albright took the helm as head football coach.

Albright stepped into the shoes of veteran coach Dave Baker, who retired at the end of last season.

Central hosted the Bellefonte Red Raiders for their season opener. Bellefonte took home the victory with a final score of 18-7.

“In the opening game, usually the team that makes the least mistakes wins. Friday night’s game was a perfect example of that,” Albright said.

Bellefonte fumbled their opening play of the game.

The Dragons only needed three plays to push in the opening score by Eli Muthler on a one yard run. Aidan Steele followed with the extra point and the Dragon’s led 7-0.

The entire game was a defensive struggle. Central could only muster 160 yards on 40 plays while Bellefonte gained 269 on 55 plays.

“Our defense was tremendous — for three and a half quarters they bent without breaking, keeping Bellefonte out of the end zone,” Albright said.

He said because of their mistakes, Bellefonte was able to push in two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

“We had a couple of fumbles and an interception in the second half that put our defense in disadvantage,” Albright said. “ They fought their best, but were unable to keep the Raiders out of the end zone.”

He said the Central’s linebackers did a great job last Friday night.

“Lukas Black had 20 tackles, Braydon Beach had 12 tackles,” Albright said. “Our defensive line did their job in engaging blockers, opening things up for our linebackers to make the play.”

Albright said overall Central’s team made too many errors, missed too many assignments in their block schemes, dropped too many passes, and missed too many tackles.

“But the good news is these are all mistable that can be corrected, and I am sure our senior leaders will make sure they get addressed,” he said.

Central will make its first roadtrip of the season to Somerset on Friday.

“Even though they lost to Chestnut Ridge last week, they are a much improved team from a year ago,” Albright said. “ Their quarterback is a multi threat. Loves to throw the ball deep while also carrying half of their running plays. Their line is much improved on both sides of the football.”

Albright said he believes if they keep improving each week, Central’s football team can be successful this season.