It is a pretty good bet that the Bellefonte Raiders didn’t mind putting in some extra time in their epic 34-31 victory over Central Mountain at Rogers Stadium on Sept. 15. They actually seemed quite happy about how the win unfolded and the momentum it will provide going into Week 5’s Mountain League showdown with Tyrone.
State College was all smiles as well after the Little Lions took apart Mifflin County, 56-7, in their first game in defense of their 2016 Mid-Penn Conference championship.
Elsewhere in the county, things were not as bright. Bald Eagle, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola all fell to league opponents, while St. Joseph’s Academy spent a bye week trying to get healthy after an 0-3 start.
Here’s what is coming up in Week 5:
State College (3-0) at Mechanicsburg (2-1)
State College receiver Keaton Ellis committed to play for Penn State after he graduates, and on Sept. 15 he went out against Mifflin County and celebrated his decision.
Ellis scored three touchdowns against the Wildcats — two receiving and another on a recovered blocked punt — and led the Little Lions to a 56-7 wipeout of Mifflin.
SC was ahead 49-0 by halftime and racked up a total of 455 yards of offense — 270 on the ground — in its first Mid-Penn win of the year and third overall.
Ellis had three catches for 78 yards, quarterback Tommy Friberg completed all four of his passes for 135 yards and a total of 11 running backs contributed to the 270 rushing yards.
This week, State College will travel to Mechanicsburg for a matchup with the Mid-Penn Keystone Wildcats.
Mechanicsburg is a surprising 2-1 so far with wins against Spring Grove (41-28) and Northern York (33-30). The loss was a close one, 27-20, to highly regarded Carlisle in Week 1.
Mechanicsburg did not win a game in 2015 or 2016, but the Wildcats are now on a two-game winning streak entering the State College game.
Against Northern York, Jermaine Hull caught a touchdown pass from Justin Stine with 1:02 left to clinch the 33-30 win, but it was sophomore running back Joseph Bruno who was the real difference.
Bruno returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in the game — of 93 and 94 yards — ran for 102 yards from scrimmage and scored another touchdown on a 62-yard run. Bruno’s 300-plus all-purpose yards lifted Mechanicsburg to its first two-game winning streak since 2013.
For SC, the plan would seem to be to just keep doing what it is doing — and slow down Bruno, of course. After so long on the losing end of games, Mechanicsburg will be more than pumped to take on the visiting Lions.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Tyrone (1-3) at Bellefonte (3-1)
At first glance, the tables would seemed to be turned for this Mountain League clash.
Tyrone, so long a league power and contender, got off to a rough start this season and lost its first three games. Bellefonte, meanwhile, is trying to re-establish itself among the league leaders and already has three impressive wins in 2017.
Bellefonte’s four-overtime victory over Central Mountain on Sept. 15 is an indication of how far the Raiders have come in the past two years. Central Mountain led twice in regulation before the Raiders tied the game in the fourth quarter and sent in into overtime.
And then the Wildcats led twice in overtime and had a chance to win it in the third overtime (missed field goal), but Bellefonte persisted. Down 31-28 in the fourth overtime, Dexter Gallishaw finally blasted in from the 1-yard line to finish off the 34-31 win.
At the same time, Tyrone was getting itself back together in a 42-21 win over Philipsburg-Osceola. The Golden Eagles opened up a 42-0 halftime lead and coasted home from there, piling up 345 yards of offense along the way.
Quarterback Denver Light (200 yards passing) and running back Brandon Loose (95 yards) were the movers on offense for Tyrone while the Tyrone defense picked off two P-O passes in the first half and returned one of them for a pick-6. RaShawn Hicks’ interception and 47-yard return made the score 35-0 late in the second quarter and essentially put the game away for Tyrone.
Last season, Bellefonte made two huge defensive plays in the second half to spark an upset in Tyrone, and the Raiders may to do the same thing again to pull out a win in this one.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Chestnut Ridge (3-1) at Philipsburg-Osceola (1-3)
It was all about Logan Hauk in Chestnut Ridge’s 43-6 victory over Bald Eagle Area on Sept. 15.
The senior quarterback scored five touchdowns against the Eagles and ran for 199 yards on 10 carries in the Lions’ third win of the season. Hauk scored on runs of 6, 31, 66, 4 and 57 yards, and it was his three touchdowns in the third quarter that broke open what had been a close 7-6 game at halftime.
In all, CR ran for 356 yards in the game, but BEA held fast for most of the first half. Hauk got the Lions moving in the third quarter with a 31-yard touchdown and then followed that with a 66-yarder just five minutes later.
For its part, BEA moved the ball well in the game — the Eagles had more than 300 yards of offense — but three interceptions kept BEA from breaking into the end zone.
On Sept. 15, P-O ran into a Tyrone team that was better than its 0-3 record and fell 42-21 in a Mountain League contest. The Mounties committed two turnovers — including a pick-6 — that directly led to 14 unanswered Eagle points in the first half.
P-O will have to address that issue and try to contain Lauk and the CR runners in order to stay close in this one.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Central (3-1) at BEA (3-1)
Central lost its first game of the season to Hollidaysburg by 10 points, but since then the Scarlet Dragons have been on a tear.
Central recovered from the 30-20 loss with wins over Tyrone (31-14), Clearfield (42-14) and Penns Valley (51-8), and the Dragons now have their sights set on 3-1 Bald Eagle Area.
Central does not throw the ball much. The Dragons threw just four times against Clearfield and just seven against Penns Valley, but when they do throw, they are very effective. The seven passes against PV included six completions, 155 yards and two touchdowns.
It is on the ground where the Dragons are most effective. They ran 46 times for 396 yards against the Rams and were led by Trystan Detwiler with 185, Ian Deterline with 90 and Luke McConahy with 79.
Bald Eagle held the line against Chestnut Ridge in the first two quarters before Logan Hauk broke loose Sept. 15, and the Eagles will have to be just as wary of Detwiler, Deterline and McConahy on Sept. 22.
BEA can move the ball and cause trouble, but it can’t turn the ball over like it did against Chestnut Ridge and stay in this game.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Penns Valley (1-3) at Huntingdon (4-0)
If there were any doubts about Huntingdon’s undefeated record, they were completely dispelled after the Bearcats’ 45-27 victory over Clearfield on Sept. 15.
Huntingdon was led with a phenomenal performance by senior running back Ian Border. Border ran the ball 24 times for 277 yards and four touchdowns against the Bison. He scored the first touchdown of the night in the first quarter on a 54-yard burst and was essentially unstoppable after that. The outburst increased his season total to 663 yards and 12 touchdowns, with Tyrone being the only team to hold him under 100 yards (80 in that game).
Huntingdon has other playmakers like quarterback Andrew Hudy and wide receivers Jonathan Price and Jacob Wagner, but slowing Border is priority No. 1 for anyone wanting to stay with the Bearcats.
For Penns Valley, this is another tough test in a wicked streak of games against Clearfield, BEA, Central and, now, Huntingdon. Running back Ryan Ripka gained 91 yards and scored a touchdown against Central and also hauled in three passes for 23 more yards.
Quarterback Justin Sands completed 8 for 19 passes, but for just 39 yards, and four other players caught passes in the game.
The Rams will try to avoid a terrible start like they endured against Central, but how they fare against Border will in the end determine how this game goes.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
St. Joseph’s Academy (0-3) at Bucktail (2-2)
These two teams already met this season in Week 1 — a 12-0 for Bucktail at SJCA. Now, in Week 5, the Wolves will be traveling to Farwell for the second meeting.
St. Joseph’s has run into injury problems, and with a small roster to begin with, the Wolves have been slowed because of them. SJCA did score 21 points in its last outing Sept. 8 against Perkiomen, which was encouraging, but it will still be important to keep everyone on the field.
Bucktail, after that initial win, lost its next two to Towanda (47-20) and Canton (32-6), but then the Bucks came back to take a 22-20 win over Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech on Sept. 15.
This game is probably too close to call, and the winner will likely be the team that makes the fewest mistakes.
Kickoff at Bucktail is at 7 p.m.
