Chambersburg — The State College Little Lions defense dominated the Chambersburg Trojans on a chilly evening Friday at Trojan Stadium, earning them a share of the Mid-Penn conference title.
The Little Lions defense held Chambersburg to 115 total yards in the 46-14 State College victory.
State College pulled away in the second half, scoring 19 unanswered points in the third quarter. Alex Kenney, a Penn State commitment, returned an interception 58 yards for a touchdown, capping off a near perfect third quarter for State College.
Kenney intercepted the pass and immediately turned on the jets toward the end zone and scored without a Trojan player placing a hand on him. He has taken an interception for a touchdown in each of the last three games.
“I was lucky enough to have a play on the ball,” said Kenney. “The quarterback kind of lobbed the ball up there and I was just fortunate to come down with it.”
Kenney took a jet sweep in the second quarter toward the Chambersburg sideline and bounced the run outside after the initial hole closed for a 33-yard touchdown. Kenney struck again on the same play with the same result in the third quarter to extend the State College lead to 32-14.
“He has evolved into a really fine player,” said Little Lion head coach Al Wolski. “He takes pressure off the offense when he makes big plays.”
The Little Lions continued to rotate quarterbacks, and both Matt Mazzara and Dom Mills had success. Mazzara received the majority of the snaps and had 83 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the night.
“Dom plays defense and Matt doesn’t, so sometimes Matt is a little fresher,” said Wolski. “Matt runs the ball pretty hard for a guy who doesn’t have the greatest speed in the world, and he seems to always pick up good yardage.”
State College (8-2) scored on its first drive of the night on a keeper from Mazzara to take a 7-0 lead. The Trojans responded immediately on the ensuing kickoff. Conroy Smith received the kickoff for Chambersburg and ran 93 yards down the home sideline for a touchdown to even the score.
Smith provided most of the offensive production for the Trojans, as he scored both touchdowns for Chambersburg.
State College trailed 14-7 after the first quarter, but the Little Lions rattled off 39 unanswered points with Shane Dorner scoring the final touchdown to secure the lopsided victory.
Chambersburg (5-5) will now need outside help to make the postseason after the loss to State College.
The win for State College will likely secure the No. 1 seed when the playoffs begin. The Little Lions’ next game will be determined by the amount of teams participating in the playoffs.
“The win feels good,” said Kenney. “It’s a shame that it’s my last (regular season game), but I am going to enjoy it.”
