The State College High football team is starting its season on Friday night.
Well actually, the Little Lions started three weeks ago and are 1-2 so far in 2014. But that’s not how head coach Matt Lintal is looking at it.
With his team kicking off its Mid Penn conference schedule Friday at home against Carlisle at 7 p.m., Lintal knows that this is when the games truly start to matter.
“This is huge,” Lintal says of Friday night’s game. “It’s a whole new season for us starting right now. We’ve had two scrimmages and three games but we’re looking at the three games almost like the preseason.”
Now that the “preseason” is over, the Little Lions will face division opponents in all seven of their remaining games.
Their opponent on Friday, Carlisle, presents an interesting challenge. The Thundering Herd won just one game from 2012 to 2013. However, Carlisle has already eclipsed that total by starting out this season 2-1.
“They’ve got some really good athletes on offense,” Lintal says. “They move fast and spread you out and get the ball into their kids’ hands in a hurry. They can move the ball on a lot of teams.
“Defensively, they’ve got a lot of those same kids going both ways and flying around out there.”
The Thundering Herd’s attack is spearheaded by senior quarterback Billy Burger, who has already thrown for 806 yards (269 yards-per-game) after three games.
His top target is Deonte Ramsey, who is exactly the type of two-way threat that scares Lintal. The senior already has 22 catches for 462 yards and three touchdowns, while doubling as the team’s top defensive back.
However, it’s not like State College doesn’t have a star of its own who can play both ways. Running back Jordan Misher has been sensational this season, rushing for 433 yards with five total touchdowns at 6.4 yards-a-carry while also playing cornerback.
Having drubbed the Thundering Herd 34-0 last season, the Little Lions know they will be facing a team looking for payback.
“Our league is really competitive and on any given day, any team can beat anybody,” Lintal says. “We want to finish our runs, finish our blocks, and finish our quarters…our goal is to finish because last week we were nearly able to but weren’t.”
Last Friday, the Little Lions were nearly able to upset four-time defending West Virginia State Champion Martinsburg but came up short, 27-21.
Still, Lintal believes his team’s performance that night has proved they are ready to take the next step and improve upon last year’s 5-6 mark.
If anything, last Friday night showed that the Little Lions can play with the best competition around.
“We’ve seen some great athletes already this year so it won’t be a shock when we see [Carlisle’s] speed,” Lintal says. “We’ve just got to keep focusing on ourselves and what we can control.”
A week after traveling nearly three hours to play Martinsburg, the Little Lions will enjoy being back home at Memorial Field on Friday night.
Pulling out a victory for the first time since week one would be pretty enjoyable too.
“Our kids are pretty used to those long trips but nothing beats Memorial Field with our fans and the band and everything,” Lintal says. “We’re always happy to be home.”
