It seems there are extremely interesting matchups involving Centre County high school football teams every week, and the first weekend of the 2019 season is no exception.
Bellefonte taking on Jersey Shore and Philipsburg-Osceola traveling to arch-rival West Branch headline the action, but the three other county teams are beginning their seasons as well. State College will open Mid Penn play at Mifflin County, Penns Valley is taking on Fairfield and Bald Eagle Area is at Troy on Saturday, Aug. 24.
Here’s a brief rundown of the games:
JERSEY SHORE (0-0) AT BELLEFONTE (0-0)
FRIDAY, AUG. 23, 7 P.M.
Every time Jersey Shore and Bellefonte tangle the game seems to come down to the final minute, if not the final play. That’s what happened last season when Bellefonte’s Chris Persiko kicked a 26-yard field goal with just over 30 seconds left on the clock and gave his team an exciting 17-14 victory.
Jersey Shore went on to record a 7-6 record in 2018 that included two playoff wins — over Colombia-Montour Vo-Tech and Selinsgrove — and a close loss to Pottsgrove in the first round of the PIAA playoffs. The good news for the Bulldogs is that they return virtually all of their skill people from that team. That includes quarterback Tanner Lorson, who passed for 1,694 yards and 14 touchdowns and ran for another 308 yards and three scores. The team’s top three running backs all return as well — Kyle Tomb (746 yards), Josh Malicky (659 yards) and Dawson Sechrist (584 yards). The top receiver graduated, but five of the next six receivers all are returning for 2019.
For Bellefonte, even though quarterback Kyle Myers, DE Caleb Rockey and Persiko graduated, there are eight starters back on offense and eight on defense from an 8-3, playoff team. So right from the start, this looks like a game between two of the best teams in the area. It also looks like another down-to-the-wire thriller.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (0-0) AT WEST BRANCH (0-0)
FRIDAY, AUG. 23, 7 P.M.
No Landon McDonald. No Derek Yingling or Bubba Slogosky. But nevertheless an important game for both of these teams no matter how early in the season it takes place. McDonald, Slogosky and Yingling were mainstays for their respective teams over the past four years, but they have moved on and so will the Mounties and Warriors.
West Branch, after rallying for a 32-14 win last season over P-O, went on to finish 5-6. But Yingling accounted for 2,000 all-purpose yards (1,847 rushing), 19 touchdowns and 118 points. Yingling will be difficult to replace, even though quarterback Ayden Gutierrez (1,192 yards, 12 TDs) will be back to run the offense.
For Philipsburg-Osceola, the Mounties are again coming off a one-win season, but with many returning players on both sides of the ball, there is a resolve coming out of the P-O training camp to begin turning things around. Thus, neither of these teams can squander an opportunity for a win, and both plan to be all in. Look for another close one that could also go down to the final plays, especially if the Mounties can avoid the big plays.
STATE COLLEGE (0-0) AT MIFFLIN COUNTY (0-0)
FRIDAY, AUG. 23, 7 P.M.
Mifflin County got off to a terrible start in 2018 – thanks in part to a 35-12 Week 1 loss to State College — but the Huskies eventually got it together in a big way. After starting 0-4, Mifflin ran off six straight wins and improved its record to 6-4. In the process, the Huskies qualified for the District 6, 6A playoffs. That, unfortunately, meant another matchup with State College and another loss (42-7), but the season as a whole had MC pointed in the right direction. Now, in the opener of the 2019 season, it will be another game against State College that the Huskies can use to test their progress.
The Huskies graduated quarterback Noah Wright, but top rusher Gage Schaeffer returns as well as two of last year’s top receivers. For State College, coming off a 12-2 record and a District 6 championship, losing Keaton Ellis, Tommy Friberg and Cohen Russel will hurt, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t players lined up to replace them. There are two 1,000-yard rushers back — Isaiah Edwards and Dresyn Green — and a talented young quarterback in Brady Dorner. Those three, and large senior and junior classes, could mean that the team will be right back in the hunt for Mid Penn and District 6 honors.
This game will be interesting in that both teams have lots of questions to be answered and both will be looking to start off with a league win.
FAIRFIELD (0-0) AT PENNS VALLEY (0-0)
FRIDAY, AUG. 23, 7 P.M.
Penns Valley opened its 2018 season at Fairfield in Week 1, and the Rams dominated the game from the very first minutes. It was 42-6 by halftime as the Rams piled up 400-plus yards of offense and held Fairfield to less than 150 and just 6 points. The Rams return most everyone from that team on offense and defense and will no doubt be looking to start 2019 with an equally impressive performance.
For the Knights, things did not improve very much after that game — they finished 2-8 — and they are now faced with another difficult opener, this time away in Spring Mills. Not only that, Fairfield will be breaking in a new quarterback and two new running backs, which will be a lot to ask against a very big and experienced Ram defense.
BEA (0-0) AT TROY (0-0)
SATURDAY, AUG. 24, 5 P.M.
Perhaps the only thing important to begin with here is the fact that BEA’s Jaden Jones passed for 487 yards and five touchdowns in last season’s 50-6 victory over Troy in Wingate. Blake Roberts added another 83 on the ground as the Bald Eagles dominated from beginning to end. Roberts graduated, but Jones is back for the Eagles as well as most of the BEA offense and defense. And Gage McClenahan will be back on the field after an injury seriously curtailed his 2018 season.
Troy nonetheless finished with a 7-5 record and qualified for the playoffs in 2018, but the Trojans will be hard pressed again against Jones and the BEA spread offense.
