STATE COLLEGE – Apparently, the question is: What can’t Keaton Ellis do?
Catch passes? Yep. He had five of them for 192 yards Friday night at Memorial Field.
Score touchdowns? He had five of those too.
Interceptions? Check. He had just one, but it was spectacular.
Recover a fumble? Got that. Return a blocked field goal for a touchdown? He had one of those too.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever had anybody have a game that matches something like this,” State College football coach Matt Lintal said. “He’s on special teams, he’s on defense, he’s on offense and he makes plays every single time he’s around the football. He’s special.”
In an already impressive high school athletic career, the Little Lion senior had without a doubt his best night in a 56-17 thumping of Carlisle.
“It’s at the top,” the Penn State-bound athlete said. “I had a really good day. My teammates did a really good job getting me the ball and getting me into open space so I could really make those plays.’
Senior quarterback Tommy Friberg also had an impressive evening, connecting on 12 of 18 passes for 300 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for another 51 yards on six carries, playing only one series after halftime.
“We definitely could run our plays and we did a really good job executing,” he said. “Our plays were working, we were moving the ball, and the (offensive) line was doing a great job holding their blocks.”
While he had his pick of open receivers most of the night, the biggest highlights went to the teammate in the No. 3 jersey.
“He was running great routes and he was open for me,” Friberg said. “I just delivered the ball to him. Throughout the whole game he was making plays.”
Ellis’ first touchdown saw him wide open on a quick 14-yard slant from Friberg. Minutes later he picked off a pass on Carlisle’s first possession with a spectacular snare, falling back and reaching high to grab the overthrow, hanging onto the ball as his back hit the turf.
A fumble as State College was driving for another score set up the Thundering Herd’s opening tally, with Tristyn Sulich breaking 54 yards to tie the game. Sulich was a workhorse with 28 carries for 169 yards, and Carlisle racked up 252 yards on the ground.
The Ellis show continued when a short pass from Friberg bounced off receiver Cohen Russell right to a sprinting Ellis, easily beating the Carlisle defense for a 63-yard score.
“We just kind of met there and I just got lucky and it came to me,” Ellis said. “That would be really cool if we could draw that up. We might have to add that (to the playbook).”
A blocked punt put the Little Lions deep into Thundering Herd territory again, and the next play saw Friberg hit Ellis leaping high over a defender in the end zone for a 34-yard strike.
“He had an amazing game,” Friberg said. “He really just tore it up.”
Another blocked kick delivered the fourth score, with Sammy Knipe denying a Caleb Richwine field goal attempt, and Ellis scooping up the ball for a 65-yard burst.
The only Little Lion possession of the third quarter saw Ellis’ final score, and the final series for the starting group. Friberg hit Ellis on a short pass, and the senior spun out of attempted tackle at the 50 and blazed his way to a 62-yard score.
“I like that last one,” Ellis said when asked to pick his favorite personal play of the night. “That spin move – Tommy made a great throw, the line protected and it was good stuff.”
Ellis could have had a sixth score, when the Herd muffed a kickoff and the ball bounced into the senior’s hands with an open 20 yards to the end zone, but the kicking team is not allowed to return a fumbled kickoff.
Russell added to the point total, hauling in a 33-yard strike from Friberg over his shoulder in the end zone just before halftime. Russell’s performance also was pretty impressive, with six catches for 83 yards.
Isaiah Edwards broke off touchdown sprints of 50 and 25 yards in the second half, and finished with 77 yards on the ground. If it wasn’t for Ellis’ grand night, Edwards would have been leading the highlight video packages, with a collection of broken tackles, stutter steps and quick cuts on his two scores.
“We’ve got a lot of talented kids that have speed that you just don’t have every day,” Lintal said. “We’re very fortunate with that.”
Richwine did connect on a 25-yard field goal late in the first half for Carlisle, and the Herd trudged down the field to open the second half, using most of the time in the period, before Cole Wolaver plunged in from the one for the team’s final score.
Centre County Scoreboard
Bald Eagle Area (4-0) 35, Bishop Carroll (1-4) 6
Penns Valley (2-2) 31, Central (1-3) 29
Tyrone (4-0) 32, Philipsburg-Osceola (0-4) 14
State College coach Matt Lintal, center, talks with his offense during a timeout early in the Little Lions’ 56-17 win over Carlisle at Memorial Field on Friday. Photo by Gordon Brunskill
State College’s Tommy Friberg (8) and Cohen Russell (2) leave midfield after the pregame coin flip with kindergarteners Nathan Crispell and Erica Nelson on Friday night at Memorial Field. Photo by Gordon Brunskill
