The Redbank Valley Bulldogs (New Bethlehem, Pa.) rebounded from a crushing season-opening loss against Keystone on Friday night, dismantling Otto-Eldred by a score of 59-6.
But the blowout victory, Redbank’s first of the season, isn’t necessarily the story here.
Already leading 32-0, the Bulldogs fielded the second half kickoff and immediately made some magic happen. In a play deserving of a spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays, Redbank players gathered in a circle before dispersing in opposite directions.
The confused Otto-Eldred special teams unit had no idea who had the ball or what was going on. They helplessly watched as Aiden Ortz emerged from the bunch and took the ball 77 yards the house. A successful PAT put the Bulldogs up 39-0 and that was pretty much all she wrote.
Hey @SportsCenter how about giving some airtime to a small PA school in the woods for pulling off the hidden ball trick kickoff return tonight on tomorrow’s #SCTop10 ? pic.twitter.com/vkMGbvvTHc
— Redbank Valley Bulldogs Football (@RVBulldogs) September 4, 2021
“It’s not a bad thing to be humbled, it’s not a bad thing to be kicked in the rear or talked about any more as far as where you rank and all those sorts of things, because the only thing that matters is what our guys inside the locker room are saying, one game at a time,” Bulldogs head coach Blane Gold said after the game, via The Courier Express. “Our goal every single week is to go 1-0 and last week we didn’t make that goal. This week, we made it.”
It was a big win for Redbank, but the hidden ball trick turned kick return touchdown will likely stand the test of time. It was like something out of the film “Little Giants.”
