The third week of Centre County high school football includes two big county matchups, a State College game at Hollidaysburg and a long trip for St. Joseph’s Academy to Pennsburg for a game against the Perkiomen School.
Penns Valley (0-2) at Bald Eagle Area (2-0)
The records of these two county rivals might be deceiving.
Penns Valley has lost two games so far to defending District 11 Class A champion Marian Catholic, 27-21, in overtime and to perennial power Clearfield on Sept. 2 by a score of 21-7.
PV scored first in the Clearfield game, only to see the Bison tie it up on a 90-yard pass play from Isaac Rumery to Ryan Lezzer in the second quarter. Clearfield scored again in the third quarter, and then put the game away with another touchdown with just over two minutes to play.
The Rams were there all the way, however, with running back Takota Bubb gaining 73 yards on 17 carries and Andrew Tobias completing 13 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown.
BEA, on the other hand, went over the century mark in points in only its second game of the season — a 55-0 victory at Philipsburg-Osceola on Sept. 2.
The Eagles have unveiled a no-huddle, spread offense that is stocked with dangerous skill people.
It all starts with dual-threat quarterback Tanner Kresovich, who so far has passed for 359 yards and five touchdowns and run for another 96 yards in two games.
Kresovich is surrounded by productive skill people in his offense: Ethan Moore, Hunter Hockenberry, Andrew Dubbs, Blake Roberts, Derek Henry, Andrew Cohen, Rilee Bechdel and freshman Gage McClanahan.
Hockenberry and Dubbs lead the runners on the team with 135 and 125 yards respectively, while McClanahan (107 yards) and Bechdel (104) lead the receivers.
Penns Valley won this game last year, 32-20, but this is a much more dangerous—and confident—BEA team that will show up at home this week. Look for PV to try to control the tempo and keep the BEA offense off the field. If the Rams do that, and punch in a few scores of their own, this will be a close game decided late in the final quarter.
Philipsburg-Osceola (0-2) at Bellefonte (1-1)
After a disheartening loss to Jersey Shore in its opener, Bellefonte traveled to Huntingdon and picked up its first win, 21-20, over the Bearcats.
Dexter Gallishaw had a breakout night for the Raiders, running 27 times for 137 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with just over two minutes left in the game.
Raider quarterback Chase Gardner completed 11 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown, but it was Gallishaw’s 19-yard, fourth-quarter run that stood up for the Raiders.
Just barely, though. Huntingdon scored a few seconds later after a long kickoff return by Jonathan Price and a 13-yard run by Ian Border. The Raiders won when the Bearcats’ try to tie the game was fumbled and their subsequent desperation pass fell incomplete.
Close or not, it was the kind of big win the Raiders have been searching for since head coach Shannon Manning took over three years ago.
In contrast, things have not yet begun to turn around for the Mounties. In two home games so far, P-O lost to West Branch, 54-28, and BEA, 55-0.
In fairness, both West Branch and BEA have high-powered offenses with multiple ways to score, but Philipsburg is still giving up turnovers and big plays at precisely the wrong times.
There’s ability there with quarterback Dan Slogosky, running backs Matt Johnson, Brandon Anderson and Levi Hughes, and receivers Emarion Wallace, T.J. Thompson and Noah Jefferies.
But the Mountie defense needs to make some stops, something that will again be very difficult against Gallishaw, Gardner and the rest of the Raiders.
State College (1-0) at Hollidaysburg (1-1)
It’s been a tale of two games so far for the Hollidaysburg Golden Tigers.
Game one was a forgettable, 35-7 trouncing at the hands of Central on Aug. 26. Hollidaysburg fell behind by 14 at halftime, and Central just kept it up throughout the second half. The Tigers managed just 102 yards rushing, 49 through the air, and were never in the game.
On Sept. 2, Hollidaysburg turned it around against Silver Oak Academy from Maryland. Behind 13-10 at the half, the Tigers outscored Silver Oak 28-6 in the second half to pick up the 38-19 win.
With 370 yards of offense — 243 on the ground — the Tiger offense was much improved. Senior Cory Storm led the way with 157 yards and two touchdowns, but there were also four other backs with double-figure numbers for HHS.
Senior quarterback Jarrett Cavalet completed nine passes for 117 yards, most of which was to fellow senior Vybomy, who grabbed six balls for 98 yards.
Last week, State College held on in its first game for a 24-13 win at J.P. McCaskey in Lancaster.
The Little Lions broke out 14-0 at the half, but McCaskey cut that lead to 14-7 in the third quarter. A 33-yard field goal by Jack Sheehan to begin the fourth quarter and then a 6-yard pass from Tyler Snyder to Noah Woods saved the day for the Little Lions.
Still, 303 yards of offense and 16 first downs were not a bad start, but SC was slowed down by two lost fumbles and an interception.
SC will be looking to improve on both sides of the ball this week, but the Lions should expect another round of improvement with the Tigers as well.
St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy (0-2) at Perkiomen (0-0)
St. Joe’s had has two difficult weeks, and the long trip to Pennsburg will likely not help the Wolves.
However, Perkiomen has just 23 players on its roster, and it has yet to play a game this season. Last year, the Panthers were 8-2 with wins over teams like Calvary Christian, Academy of the New Church and Pennington, N.J., but nine seniors are gone from that team, including the quarterback, two running backs and two wide receivers.
St. Joe’s looks to improve on both sides of the ball, but especially on defense, while quarterbacks Brendan Robinson and Christian Chirieleison, running back Jake Stormer and wide receiver Zach Decarmine will have to help the Wolves put up some points.
Photo: Bellefonte head coach Shanon Manning will be trying to guide the Red Raiders to a 2-1 start, which would mark their best during his tenure. Photo by Tim Weight for the Gazette.
