The State College offense proved to be just too fast for Altoona.
The Little Lions were hitting the gas like they were on a wide-open stretch of freeway Friday night at Memorial Field.
State College scored on 6 of 7 first-half possessions, with the longest drive taking just 2:48, and blew away the Mountain Lions 49-14 in the first meeting between the long-time rivals since 2009.
“I was happy,” said senior Cohen Russell, who caught three passes for 21 yards and scored a touchdown. “Our offensive line was blocking amazing. They’ve been practicing hard all week and it showed out on the field tonight.”
Russell and his teammates celebrated their Senior Night with a decisive win after two tough road games in Harrisburg.
“It was good to come out with my boys for the last time on Memorial Field,” Russell said. “It’s a sad day knowing this is my last year playing with my family. I’ve been with these boys since kindergarten.”
Isaiah Edwards had an impressive night for the Little Lions (8-1), rushing for 160 yards on 11 carries and scoring three touchdowns. His numbers could have been even better, with a 78-yard touchdown run wiped out by a holding penalty. Dresyn Green ran for 49 yards with two touchdowns on four carries, and Keaton Ellis had 79 yards on just two runs.
“They have so many weapons,” Altoona coach Nick Felus said. “They are very explosive. We just have to go back to the drawing board and it starts with tackling. I don’t think we tackled well in space.”
In all, State College racked up 385 yards on the ground an 507 yards of total offense. Tommy Friberg was 7 for 9 passing for 74 yards and a touchdown, as he, Russell, Ellis and Green didn’t play on offense after halftime.
“We’ve had two very tough games in a row, very physical games,” State College coach Matt Lintal said. “It was nice to come out here tonight … and this rivalry will get intense again.”
The Mountain Lions (3-6) did manage 304 yards of offense, including an 8 of 18 passing night for quarterback Conner McCarthy, seven catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns for Connor Adams, and 15 carries for 63 yards for Mitchell Lawhead.
State College closes the regular season at Cumberland Valley next Friday, and Altoona (3-6) is at Harrisburg, before the start of theDistrict 6 playoffs.
The Little Lions rolled up 309 yards by halftime with their up-tempo offense. Three of the drives lasted less than a minute, and the only drive that didn’t result in a score was a fumbled snap on fourth-and-goal at the Altoona 1 on their final drive of the half.
It began with a 90-yard march, with Friberg hitting Russell on a bubble screen pass to the right side, and the senior cut all the way back to the opposite side to find the goal line. It was the Little Lions’ longest drive of the first half at just 2:48.
After forcing an Altoona three-and-out, State College wasted little time scoring again as Green sprinted 53 yards just 42 seconds afterthe first score. A mere 1:44 after that, Edwards was scoring his first touchdown on a two-yard run.
It appeared Altoona had State College stopped on a three-and-out on its next drive, but a fake punt with Ellis lined up as the punter turned into a 55-yard run for the senior receiver, and Green raced nine yards on the next play for his second touchdown.
The Mountain Lions finally closed out a drive, covering 70 yards, with a fourth-down, McCarthy-to-Adams 23-yard connection netting the points.
State College needed just 1:27 to respond, however, with Edwards scoring again on a seven-yard run. A 34-yard punt return by Russell gave the Little Lions another short field, and another score came soon after. Friberg hit Russell on a short pass, but he fumbled just before he reached the goal line, and Brady Dorner pounced on the ball in the end zone for a 42-7 lead by halftime.
“We want a big-play offense, but we’ve got to be able to sustain drives,” Lintal said. “As the opponents get tougher, that’s one of those things where we’re not going to be able to have big play after big play after big play.”
McCarthy and Adams hooked up again for a 32-yard strike in the third quarter for Altoona’s other touchdown, and a 77-yard burst by Edwards to open the fourth quarter finished the scoring.
But Lintal was happy to see the rivalry renewed with Altoona. Though the schools battle in every other sport, and in other levels of football, the varsity teams hadn’t met since all of Friday’s players were in elementary school.
“There is still that competitive spirit with Altoona and State College,” Lintal said. “There’s no shortage of getting the guys fired up.”
Centre County Scoreboard
Bald Eagle Area 24, Jersey Shore 23
In a wild finish, Bald Eagle (8-1) erased an 11-point deficit in the final two minutes to win 24-23 at Jersey Shore (4-5). Down 23-12, quarterback Jaden Jones pitched to Nick Turner, who then lofted a 34-yard pass to Kaden Bittinger. On the next play, Jones connected with Turner to get the Eagles to the 2 and Jones punched it in to narrow the Bulldog lead to 23-18 with 1:42 left.
The Eagle defense stopped Jersey Shore on the ensuing possession and a bad snap on the Bulldog punt attempt gave Bald Eagle the ball at the Jersey Shore 19 with 13 seconds left. Under pressure Jones scrambled and threw into the end zone. The ball was tipped twice before Kael Gardner slid to his knees and came down with it for the winning touchdown with four seconds left on the clock. Gardner then made the tackle on the kickoff to seal the 24-23 win for the Eagles.
Turner had 189 yards receiving on the night.
Bald Eagle takes on rival Bellefonte in next week’s Curtin Bowl regular season finale.
Penns Valley 13, Tyrone 7
Visiting Tyrone (4-5) scored first but a second quarter touchdown run by Penns Valley QB Aaron Tobias and a third quarter scoring rush by Ryan Ripka gave the Rams (6-3) all the scoring they would need to win a 13-7 defensive battle.
It was the first win for Penns Valley over Tyrone. Rams linebacker Logan Snyder had two fourth quarter interceptions, both coming after fumble recoveries put the Golden Eagles in position to tie or take the lead. Snyder also had nearly 100 yards receiving.
After a 1-3 start to the season, Penns Valley has had an impressive turnaround winning five straight. The Rams close out the regular season next week at Philipsburg-Osceola.
Bellefonte 63, Bishop Carroll 14
Bellefonte (7-2) scored early, often and in a variety of ways against an outmanned host Bishop Carroll (2-7) to cruise to a 63-14 victory.
The Raiders got on the board in the first minute when quarterback Kyle Myers took a keeper 70 yards for a touchdown. Nick Capparrelle added a 15-yard TD run before the first quarter ended.
CJ Funk ran for touchdowns of 5 and 34 yards and returned an interception and a punt for scores. Reese Redman connected with Noah Badger for a 50 yard touchdown and Ethan Rossman hit Trae Bauman for a 73-yard score while Jalen Emel added a 40 yard scoring run
Bellefonte hosts rival Bald Eagle in the Curtin Bowl to close out the regular season next week.
Clearfield 62, Philipsburg-Osceola 0
Clearfield (9-0) continued its romp through the Mountain League, jumping out to a 35-0 first quarter lead and coasting the rest of the way to a 62-0 win over traditional rival Philipsburg-Osceola (1-8)
Philipsburg will wrap up the season next week hosting Penns Valley.
— Geoff Rushton
State College’s Cohen Russell with his family on Senior Night at Memorial Field. Photo by Gordon Brunskill
State College football seniors were honored with their families on Senior Night at Memorial Field. Photo by Gordon Brunskill
