With Week One of high school football in the books, we take a look ahead at the Week Two matchups:
Bald Eagle Area (1-0) at Philipsburg-Osceola (0-1)
Bald Eagle Area’s 54-0 victory over St. Joseph’s Academy on Aug. 26 was a rousing start to new head coach Jesse Nagle’s tenure in Wingate.
The Eagles’ spread offense, led by senior quarterback Tanner Kresovich, moved the ball virtually at will against the Wolves and was a welcome sight to Eagles’ fans who held on through last season’s 1-9 record.
The BEA defense showed up as well. St. Joe’s managed only four first downs, had negative rushing yards and finished with just 24 yards of offense. Much of that was due to the size and numbers gap between the two teams, as BEA quickly wore the Wolves down on both sides of the ball.
Kresovich did most of the damage on offense for BEA. He completed seven of nine passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, and then added another 52 yards rushing. Hunter Hockenberry (74 yards, two TDs), Blake Roberts (68 yards, TD) and Andrew Dubbs (32 yards) did the bulk of the running out of the backfield, while Kael Gardner, Mathew Reese and Gage McClenahan each caught touchdown passes.
This week, it’s on to Mountain League play for BEA against another rebuilding program at Philipsburg-Osceola.
The Mounties’ frustrations over the last three seasons have been well documented, and they dropped their season opener, 54-28, to West Branch on Aug. 26.
P-O’s performance in that game nonetheless brought some guarded praise from new head coach Mike Mann. The Mounties did score 28 points, and they fought back into contention twice from double-digit deficits.
West Branch’s big plays, however — coupled with some P-O lapses — were too much to overcome, and the Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Both BEA and P-O look like improved teams over last season, but like it was against St. Joe’s, the Eagles size advantage up front may be the difference.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
State College (0-0) at J.P. McCaskey (0-0)
There have been a lot of good things being said about the 2016 version of the State High football team.
Coming off a successful 2015 in which the Little Lions went 9-4, tied for the Mid-Penn Colonial championship and advanced into the AAAA state tournament, head coach Matt Lintal thinks his team is ready for another big run.
“We think we’re ready to get over the hump,” said Lintal, who enters his third season with a 15-11 career record. “I’m really excited about these guys. We lost quite a few players to graduation, so we have some big shoes to fill, but these kids have really stepped it up. We have a great group of skill kids on both sides of the football, and of course, we have the returning defensive league MVP of our league.”
Those skill people include quarterbacks Tyler Snyder and Drew Friberg, running back Tristen Lyons and receivers Noah Woods and Brandon Clark.
The defensive Mid-Penn MVP is senior linebacker/fullback Pete Haffner, who has blossomed into a major force on both sides of the ball.
J.P. McCaskey finished with a 4-6 record in 2015, beating rivals Conestoga Valley, Warwick, Penn Manor and William Penn. Harrisburg, the only common opponent with State College, beat the Red Tornadoes 40-6.
McCaskey averaged 17.5 points per game, but it gave up 28.
McCaskey presents an opportunity for SC to get off on a positive note for this season, but the Red Tornadoes are home and will be looking to erase a poor season in 2015.
Clearfield (0-1) at Penns Valley (0-1)
Penns Valley more than held its own against defending District 11 Class A champion Marian Catholic on Aug. 26 in Tamaqua.
The Rams came back from a 21-14 deficit to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter, but a Marian Catholic touchdown pass in overtime handed PV a tough, 27-24 loss.
Penns Valley quarterback Andrew Tobias lived up to his billing with 255 yards passing and two touchdowns in the game, but the Rams were held to just 66 yards on the ground. A second-half interception and two lost fumbles hurt PV’s chances as well.
There will be no rest in Week 2 for Penns Valley, with the Clearfield Bison coming in for a Mountain League contest Friday, Sept. 2.
Clearfield lost its opener to arch-rival DuBois, 30-20, on Aug. 26 and will be desperate to get back on track against the Rams.
Clearfield took the lead in the third quarter against DuBois, 20-16, but DuBois countered with a touchdown late in the quarter to take a 23-20 lead. The Beavers added the clincher midway through the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by Braden Pauinellie.
Three of the four DuBois touchdowns came after Clearfield mistakes — a blocked punt and two fumbles — something the Bison will be keen not to repeat against the Rams.
Clearfield was led in the game by new quarterback Isaac Rumery, who was making his first varsity start. Rumery threw for 166 yards and a touchdown and ran for 35 yards on another touchdown in the game. Seth Caldwell is the featured back for the Bison, while Micah Heishel and Ryan Lezzer are the top receivers.
Both Penns Valley and Clearfield are coming off tough losses, and both teams made mistakes in those games. The team that can avoid making those mistakes again will have the upper hand.
Bellefonte (0-1) at Huntingdon (1-0)
There is no way to lose a football game more disheartening than to have the winning points come off the board because of a penalty.
But that’s what happened to Bellefonte on Aug. 26 in its loss to Jersey Shore.
What made matters worse was the fact that the Raiders came all the way back from a 27-point deficit to take the lead, only to see the game slip away by the score of 33-28.
Now the Raiders have to somehow regroup against Mountain League foe Huntingdon on Friday, Sept. 2, in Huntingdon.
The Bearcats began their season by building a 29-0 lead and then hanging on for a 29-15 win at Mount Union on Aug. 26.
Huntingdon put up just short of 350 yards of offense in the game, including 225 on the ground.
Junior tailback Ian Border ran for 118 yards and three touchdowns, and sophomore Andy Hudy completed eight of 12 passes for 112 yards in the game.
Bellefonte’s Chase Gardner was 17 for 25 through the air for 225 yards and two scores, but the Raiders will have to work up front to improve on just three yards net in rushing. Gardner was caught for 46 yards in losses by Jersey Shore.
This game will be all about how Bellefonte can recover after Jersey Shore and how well the Raiders can control the Bearcats’ running attack.
Fairfield (0-0) at St. Joe’s (0-1)
St. Joseph’s Academy had a long night in its opening game at Bald Eagle Area on Aug. 26.
Given the numbers disparity between the teams (and schools) that might not have been totally unexpected.
Still, head coach Steve Guthoff and his team have some work to do after struggling to get just 24 yards of offense against the Eagles.
This week, on Friday, Sept. 2, Fairfield comes to visit, and the Knights are a team that SJCA can show some progress against.
Fairfield was 1-9 last season and will be opening the 2016 this week at St. Joe’s. The Knights’ only win last season came against James Buchanan from Mercersburg in Week 2 by a score of 32-6.
Other than that, Fairfield’s closest game was a 16-point loss to York County Tech.
SJCA’s Jared Stormer and Zac Sechler did put up some running yards against BEA, and quarterback Brendan Robinson completed a 28-yard pass to Zach Decarmine.
The Wolves need a lot more of that this week against a Fairfield team that has shown that it can score some points.
