By Andy Stine Sports Writer
SALTSBURG - Simply put, the Purchase Line football team had no answer for Saltsburg running back Brody Bieda on Friday evening.
The 5-foot-9, 200-pound Trojan senior rushed for a school-record 275 yards on 34 carries. He was complemented by Tyler Frassenei, who had 15 totes for 97 yards to help Saltsburg defeat the Dragons, 30-15.
Saltsburg attempted just one pass in the contest, but the throwing game was not needed due to its 386 yards on the ground.
"He's a good back," said Purchase Line head coach Brandon Overdorff of Bieda. "We made him look great. We just didn't tackle him. We had nobody getting to the football. There were times where he was stood up in the hole for a long period of time and nobody came to help the guy that had him.
"When you don't hustle and don't give any effort, you lose the ballgame and you make them look really good."
The Dragons didn't start the game on the right foot, as Saltsburg forced them into a safety on the third play from scrimmage.
A Trojan defender wrapped up the Purchase Line quarterback and almost recorded a sack, but the pass was thrown into an offensive lineman. Purchase Line was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in two points for Saltsburg.
But Saltsburg had its own troubles on offense. The Trojans fumbled three times in the first quarter and lost all of them.
"They turned the ball over five times," said Overdorff. "They gave us a bunch of chances, but it is what it is."
Purchase Line only capitalized once on the Saltsburg turnovers.
With just two seconds left in the first quarter, Alec Sunderlin hit Grant Syster on a screen pass. Syster picked up a block from a receiver and sprinted 39 yards on his way to the end zone to go up, 7-2, at the end of the first.
"They're a very well-coached ball club," said Saltsburg head coach Tim Frassenei. "They're a very young football team. They're disciplined and they made nice adjustments to start the second half. Their coach has them going in the right direction."
The Trojans came back and put in their first offensive score on a five-yard scamper from Frassenei to re-take the lead.
On the next possession, the Saltsburg defense came alive and forced two short losses from Dragon running back Josh Huey on two carries before Devin Morris picked off an errant Dragon pass and returned it to the Dragon 6.
The Trojans held Huey to just 10 yards on 12 carries.
"We wanted to keep pressure from the outside and force him (Huey) to keep it up the middle," said coach Frassenei. "You know he's going to make his plays. He's that good. We didn't want him getting in the open field. It's tough to bring him down when there's green grass in front of him.
"For the most part, the kids played pretty good defense against him tonight."
Bieda pounded in his first score on the first play after the interception to put the Trojans up 16-7, a lead they held at halftime.
"We have good leadership," Frassenei said. "In pregame, you could see the kids were focused. They came out and were disciplined and that comes from the seniors. The seniors teach them the right things."
Bieda punched in his second score early in the fourth quarter from seven yards out. After another Dragon interception, Bieda led his team down the field again and scored from 25 yards, often carrying a couple Dragon defenders with him.
"That's his M.O," said coach Frassenei. "If you give him a little bit of a crease, he drags two or three guys with him."
The Dragons made another big play with just 1:22 left in the game as Todd Greene was given his only carry of the night. Greene burst through a hole and found paydirt from 79 yards out to close the scoring.
After the kickoff, coach Frassenei sent out Bieda for an attempt at the school record. He set the mark on a 28-yard carry with just 30 seconds left in the game.
"I went over and talked to their coach before the kickoff," coach Frassenei said. "He (Bieda) needed the yardage to break the record. He wanted to do it. I wanted the boy to break the record. He's worked very hard for the three years he's been here and he deserved the attempt to do it."
Purchase Line fell to 1-8 and closes its season on Friday at home against Conemaugh Valley. Saltsburg (2-7) wraps up its season on Friday hosting Blacklick Valley.

Saltsburg 30
Purchase Line 15

Score By Quarters
Purchase Line      7   0   0   8-15
Saltsburg            2  14  0  14-30

First Quarter
S-Safety, intentional grounding in end zone, 10:17.
PL-G. Syster 39 pass from Sunderlin, (Patterson kick), :02.
Second Quarter
S-T. Frassenei 5 run, (Ritchie kick), 8:42.
S-Bieda 6 run, (Ritchie kick), 6:53.
Fourth Quarter
S-Bieda 7 run, (Ritchie kick), 11:19.
S-Bieda 25 run, (Ritchie kick), 6:01.
PL-Greene 79 run, (Sunderlin run), 1:22.

TEAM STATISTICS
PL S
Total First Downs 6 16
Rushes-Yards 23-91 56-386
Comp-Att-Int 6-18-2 0-1-1
Passing Yards 104 0
Total Plays-Yards 41-195 57-386
Fumbles-Lost 3-0 4-4
Punts-Avg 3-33.6 1-44
Penalties-Yards 7-64 12-80
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Purchase Line-Greene 1-79, Klingensmith 4-17, Huey 12-10, Team 1-(-1), G. Syster 2-(-4), Sunderlin 3-(-10).
Saltsburg-Bieda 34-275, T. Frassenei 15-97, Yard 1-9, McGinnis 1-6, Richards 3-5, Grguric 2-(-6).

Passing
Purchase Line-Sunderlin 6-of-18, 104 yds., 1 TD, 2 Int.
Saltsburg-T. Frassenei 0-of-1, Int.

Receiving
Purchase Line-G. Syster 2-48, Ewing 3-44, Pierce 1-12.