2008 West Perry

Week 5

A New Streak Begins

Northern gets healthy against West Perry

Robbie goes for 301 Yards as Bears move to 4-1

September 19, 2008

Northern 43 – West Perry 16

On a rain-soaked field in Elliottsburg, PA, the Northern Polar Bears closed out the first half of their season with a decisive victory over Conference foe West Perry. What began as relatively close game ended up becoming a blowout as the Polar Bear defense picked off 4 Mustang passes and Robbie Bleiler compiled 301 total yards on the night.

The big question coming into the night was how would Northern respond after a heartbreaking loss to unbeaten Mechanicsburg one week ago. The question was answered in the first minute of the game when Robbie Bleiler broke off a 70 yard run for a touchdown showing a burst of speed and strength that had been missing since week one. Slowed by a nagging ankle injury for most of the first half of the season, Robbie, nearly 100%, busted out last night with 221 rushing yards on 15 carries and two scores. He added 62 receiving yards on three catches and also scored. Defensively, he had a pick 6 for 28 yards. The Polar Bear defense as a group was susceptible to the big play early but clamped down in the third quarter assaulting West Perry QB Tony Miller repeatedly forcing him into mistake after mistake. Once again the Bears personnel was a little different than the previous week with new players at new positions stepping up. Kelton Mehls started the game at defensive tackle and Robert James worked in the backfield. James scored on a knifing 11 yard run in the 3^rd quarter essentially putting the game out of reach for the Mustangs so again, as Polar Bears are called on to step up, they deliver.

This game saw a bit of everything. An acrobatic interception off of a knee kicked high into the air, a defensive lineman’s dream of an interception by Ian Kuykendall, punishing sacks by Antonio Myers and Kelton Mehls, big-time de-cleating blocks by the O-line, and a punishing drive late in the game to kill the clock with Jake Boone and Robert De Muro carrying again and again, and again.

The win moves Northern to 4-1 overall, 2-0 in the conference with a big game looming this week at Hershey Park Stadium against Hershey High School. Kickoff at the stadium is set for 7:00 p.m.