The 2024-25 football season has just started and Bellefonte High is off to a great start. They have started off the season 4-2, and expect to have an impressive record by the end of the season.
The team grinded out a big game to start off the year with an 18-7 win over Central. They followed up with a 28-11 win over the Chestnut Ridge Lions, marking the first time in years that the Bellefonte Red Raiders went 2-0 to start off the season. Although these were followed by losses to Bishop Guilfoyle and the Clearfield Bison, the Bellefonte football program plans to snag several more wins this season.
More importantly, the Red Raiders have hired new coaching staff and acquired a new athletic director. Two new additions to the coaching staff are Offensive Coordinator Coach Matt Masullo and Coach Shannon Manning along with others. Many people believe this is making all the difference for the team’s success.
“I believe the new additions to the coaching staff has helped tremendously but the offseason work that the players put in has played a huge factor in how we have played so far this season,” Coach Confer said.
With success brewing in the program, there seems to be a new energy brought to Bellefonte football, a new sense of hope in the new coaching staff and in the players. A new outlook on Raiders Football could make all the difference for this year’s football program.
“I think the biggest problem in years passed was the lack of belief the team had in themselves,” senior Noah Weaver said.
The team has shown lots of determination and grit so far throughout the season, having big wins and tough losses. However, their main goal is proving themselves as a credible football program.
“Our team is most excited about proving to everyone that we are a good football team and having the chance to turn the entire program around,” Noah Weaver said.
Coming up on their next game, Bellefonte seems to be very poised. When describing how they think their next game will look like, Noah Weaver and Coach Confer have a positive outlook.
“Prediction is that we will win, I know that our coaching staff will have the players prepared to do their best and have success. How well we execute determines how we do,” Noah said.
In the past couple weeks, Bellefonte has knocked off two Centre county rivals. They beat Penns Valley, 34-13. This marked the first time in 7 years that the Red Raiders have beat Penns Valley. They also defeated their cross town rivals, Bald Eagle 21-12 with big plays coming from Isaac Gall, Kaven Smith-Kirk, and Jaeden Gabrovsek.
With the Bellefonte Raider football season underway, the program seems to be in amazing hands with the new and improved coaching staff and the new found confidence of Bellefonte football.
