Tom Palfey has been in a back brace all summer, so his Altoona Area High School Mountain Lion football team on Friday night helped him out by removing the 800-pound gorilla he's been carrying around for the last season and a half.
Instead, it was Rafeeq Barnes, in his return game for the Lions, breaking the backs of Hollidaysburg by rolling up 220 yards receiving and rushing as Altoona snapped a 14-game losing streak resoundingly, 55-13, in the season-opener at Mansion Park.
"Big. It's big,'' said Palfey, who had back surgery in early May because of cumulative wear and tear over the course of his life. "It's big for our confidence. It's big for the city. And, it's a great way to start our school year off on Tuesday. Now, everybody can just be happy.''
Senior running back Danny Moyer found the end zone three times for the Lions. It was the first win of which he'd been a part since Altoona upset Central Dauphin at home on Oct. 2, 2009 and only the third of his three year varsity football career. Altoona was 0-9 in 2010.
"It was very important,'' Moyer said of the win. "We knew right off the bat we had to come out and get off to a good start and start off 1-0.''
One of the players who had the biggest hands in accomplishing that was Barnes, who caught four passes from Louis Bettwy for 163 yards and ran six times for 57 yards. He scored once each way, taking a jet sweep around the left side for Altoona's second touchdown from 27 yards out, then turning a short pass from Bettwy into an 85-yard dash to the end zone midway through the second quarter.
Ironically, Barnes, a District 6 Class AAA sprint champion, didn't play football last year.
"I just really wasn't feeling it that year, and I wasn't going to go out if I wasn't feeling it. because I wouldn't have given it my all,'' Barnes said. "But this is my senior year, and I wanted to go after it and do the best I can to help the team win.
"I thought I could score, but I didn't think I could do as good as I did.''
Palfey was extremely happy to have Barnes back, and the Lion coaches even put in some new plays Sunday that they thought would increase his impact.
"It's very nice,'' Palfey said. "We've always adapted. When we have athletes, we'll use them to the best of our ability, and we'll figure out ways to get them the ball.''
Barnes also had a 57-yard jaunt off a rocket screen inside the Golden Tiger 5 that led to Moyer's 3-yard touchdown plunge with just 16 seconds left in the second quarter, staking Altoona to a 27-6 halftime lead. However, it was his 85-yarder, when he took a short out pass and cut it up inside, that was pivotal - it came two plays after Hollidaysburg had pulled within seven points on a 15-play, 75-yard drive.
"If we're a grind it out kind of offense, like we think is going to be our identity, then we have to be able to play defense and not allow things like that to happen. That was huge,'' Hollidaysburg coach John Barton said. "They're very athletic. We knew that. They found a nice job of finding ways to take advantage of that athleticism.''
Hollidaysburg actually rushed for 241 yards, and, afterwards, Barton reminded his team of the 37-0 pounding it took in the first game of 2008 before running off 10 straight wins.
"We have to remember what you should remember, forget what you should forget,'' Barton said. "We have to forget that score.''
Moyer also scored on a spinning 49-yard run up the middle in the third quarter before Tyler Garman's 78-yard interception return for a score brought the running clock into effect. Moyer's first score, though, loomed very large - on third-and-18 he hauled in a swing pass from Bettwy, juked one defender and raced to the end zone to give Altoona a confidence-building 6-0 lead.
"My buddy, Rafeeq, came down and trapped the safety. I told him, if I was one on one with the corner, I was getting to the end zone,'' Moyer said. "There were never any doubts coming into this game. We were bigger, stronger and faster.''
Altoona travels to McKeesport next week, and Palfey doesn't plan on getting complacent after one big win.
"We're looking for perfection. We're going to McKeesport. We knew what happened against them last year,'' Palfey said, referring to a 60-0 defeat. "Hopefully we continue the success. I know it's going to be a great weekend.''
Game notes: Bettwy finished 7-for-8 for 216 yards. ... It was Altoona's largest margin of victory since the Lions routed Central Dauphin East, 49-7, on Sept. 9, 2005. ... Hollidaysburg hosts Valley next Friday. ... Evan Ruggles, who scored the Tigers' first touchdown, injured his left in the third quarter and didn't return. Tiger quarterback Brandon Gallagher also left the game twice with injuries. ... Altoona recognized members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines as honorary captains. ... Neither team fumbled.
A-Moyer 42 pass from Bettwy (kick failed), 9:11.
A-R. Barnes 27 run (Caracciolo kick), 2:10.
H-Ruggles 8 run (pass failed), 6:39.
A-R. Barnes 85 pass from Bettwy (Caracciolo kick), 5:47.
A-Moyer 3 run (Caracciolo kick), 0:16.
A-Moyer 49 run (Caracciolo kick), 7:32.
A-Garman 78 interception return (Caracciolo kick), 2:36.
A-Steinbugl 10 run (Caracciolo kick), 9:42.
A-Henninger 32 run (Caracciolo kick), 3:20.
INTERCEPTIONS: Hollidaysburg-none. Altoona-Garman.
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