By Jon Fleck For The Progress
LOYSBURG - Northern Bedford's passing attack has given opponents problems all season. It proved particularly troublesome for West Branch on Friday.
Blake Over threw for 326 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Panthers to a 33-6 homecoming win at Panther Community Stadium. Kyler Diehl caught nine passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns as Northern Bedford remained undefeated at 7-0.
"I don't know what adjectives to use to describe it," Northern Bedford coach Jeff Batzel said. "The first offensive play we scored and didn't let our foot off the throttle until the third quarter."
Over and Diehl connected for a 77-yard score on the Black Panthers' first play from scrimmage. A play action fake sucked in the West Branch defense, and Over found Diehl wide open for a 6-0 lead 19 seconds into the game.
It's the longest completion in school history, according to statistics posted on maxpreps.com.
Later in the quarter, Over laid a pass right into Diehl's hands along the sideline, and he took it in for a 43-yard touchdown and a 13-0 lead.
"They kicked our butts," West Branch coach Lester Smeal said. "We came out a little flat, and we got burnt. They did a great job."
After two more touchdowns in the second quarter, the Panthers took a 26-0 lead to the locker room.
Another Over to Diehl completion good for 52 yards set up Caleb Ebersole's 4-yard touchdown run, and Over finished off a spectacular first half with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Tayler Pressel.
Over completed 11 of 14 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.
"Blake has great instincts. He knows when to lay it in there and when to zing it," Batzel said. "He anticipates well and sees where the window of opportunity is at to make a play."
Nine of Over's completions went to Diehl for 250 yards and a pair of scores.
Defensively, Northern was just as dominating. The Panthers held the Warriors' potent running game to 109 yards on 49 carries and forced four turnovers. West Branch finished with just 132 yards total offense.
"They have a great running game. They move people off the ball. Coach (Garry) Black came up with a great plan, and the kids executed it," Batzel said.
The win sets up a showdown next week with 7-0 Bellwood-Antis for the Inter-County Conference Gold Division title.
"It'll be a lot of fun. It's the game everyone wants to see," Batzel said. "I wasn't sure we'd be 7-0 when we played them. That just it makes it all the more juicier."
NOTES: Over's 326 yards passing is the second-highest in school history. John Love holds the school record with 334 yards passing against Glendale in 2006, according to statistics posted on maxpreps.com ... West Branch lost starting quarterback Jonathan Sanker to injury following a tackle midway through the second quarter. He was taken off the field in an ambulance. His injuries are not serious, according to coach Smeal. The move was more precautionary, and he should recover quickly, Smeal said.

Northern Bedford 33
West Branch 6

Score By Quarters
West Branch   0    0   6  0- 6
No. Bedford   13  13  0  7-33

First Quarter
NB-Diehl 77 pass from Over, (kick failed), 11:41.
NB-Diehl 43 pass from Over, (Bequeath kick), 1:48.
Second Quarter
NB-Ebersole 4 run, (Bequeath kick), 8:10.
NB-T. Pressel 17 pass from Over, (kick failed), 1:29.
Third Quarter
WB-Speigle 6 run, (kick failed), 4:34.
Fourth Quarter
NB-Diehl 12 pass from Over, (Bequeath kick), 4:57.
TEAM STATISTICS
WB NB
Total First Downs 11 12
Rushes-Yards 49-109 16-28
Comp-Att-Int 4-11-1 15-24-1
Passing Yards 25 326
Total Plays-Yards 60-134 40-354
Fumbles-Lost 3-3 0-0
Punts-Avg 5-35.6 4-29.8
Penalties-Yards 7-61 7-75

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
West Branch-Speigle 25-74, L.G. Smeal 4-21, K. Smeal 11-17, Emigh 3-5, Williams 4-0, Sanker 2-(-8).
Northern Bedford-Kagarise 10-48, Ebersole 4-0, Over 2-(-20).
Passing
West Branch-Sanker 0-of-1; Williams 4-of-10, 25 yds., 1 Int.
Northern Bedford-Over 15-of-24, 326 yds., 4 TDs, 1 Int.
Receiving
West Branch-Pennington 1-15, Emigh 2-8, L.G. Smeal 1-2.
Northern Bedford-Diehl 9-265, T. Pressel 2-31, Z. Pressel 3-17, Miller 1-13.