Previewing Week 5 of Centre County High School Football

Four wins and a heartbreaking, fourth-quarter loss at Tyrone for Philipsburg-Osceola highlighted Week 4 in Centre County high school football.

Most encouraging was Bald Eagle Area’s 29-6 win over Bishop Carroll a week after losing starting quarterback Jaden Jones to injury in the Penns Valley game.

There’s another full slate this week, and here’s a brief look at the matchups:

STATE COLLEGE (4-0) AT CHAMBERSBURG (3-1) FRIDAY, SEPT. 20

State College met its second Mid Penn foe of the season in Carlisle on Sept. 13, and the Thundering Herd stuck around until the Little Lions got going.

Carlisle was within 14-12 late in the second quarter when SC’s Lokey Howell sprinted 87 yards for a touchdown and gave his team a 20-12 lead at the half. From there, it was all State College.

The Little Lions added two touchdowns in the third quarter — both on quarterback Brady Dorner runs — and then put it away in the fourth with three more. All the while, the SC defense was holding the Herd scoreless.

The final was 53-12, which might be a bit misleading, but the Lions put up 510 yards of offense for the night, including three running touchdowns and 138 yards passing by Dorner.

This week, the Little Lions will again be on the road for another Mid Penn game at Chambersburg. The Trojans are 3-1 so far (1-0 in conference) with wins over Greencastle-Antrim (56-13), South Western (35-7) and Altoona (56-24) to go with a close, 26-21 loss to Red Lion.

Against Altoona, the Trojans turned Mountain Lion mistakes into a big, 49-0 halftime lead and coasted home from there with a 56-24 win. In the second quarter alone, Chambersburg recovered three Altoona fumbles, blocked a punt and scored on an 85-yard pick-6. Altoona kept playing, to its credit, and scored 24 in the second half, but the mistakes, turnovers and just five yards passing in the game were too much to overcome.

State College, of course, does not have the offensive problems Altoona does, but the Lions will have to be wary of a very aggressive Trojan defense.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Chambersburg.

CENTRAL (2-2) AT BALD EAGLE AREA (3-1) FRIDAY, SEPT. 20

Bald Eagle Area lost one of the most dangerous passers in the area when Jaden Jones was injured against Penns Valley, so the Eagles had to go to Plan B against Bishop Carroll on Sept. 13.

BEA inserted senior running back Kaden Bittinger into the lineup for Jones and Bittinger did what he does best — run the ball. He carried 16 times for 234 yards and all four of the Eagles’ touchdowns, including the first touchdown of the night on a 61-yard run and the second on a 59-yard run. His efforts resulted in a one-sided, 29-6 BEA victory.

Bittinger did complete six passes for 60 yards, but after his team had built a 23-point third-quarter lead, there was no need to put it up much more.

Along with Bittinger, the BEA defense stepped up with a strong performance, especially up front. BC managed just six first downs, 183 total yards (80 on the ground) and was forced to punt seven times.

This week, BEA will need another strong performance when perennial Mountain League contender Central comes to visit on Friday. The Dragons are 2-2 for the season, but the two losses came against powerhouses Clearfield and Penns Valley.

Against Penns Valley last week, Central was within striking distance into the third quarter, but the Rams scored 22 second-half points and pulled away, 41-21. Still, Central had 257 yards of offense, led by a 17-for-29, 240-yard performance by quarterback Braden Kitt, who passed for one touchdown (16 yards) and ran 33 yards for another as the Dragons stayed within 19-14 going into the second half.

The Rams, however, completely stopped the usually solid Central running game, which was the story of the night.

BEA will have to do the same as well as try to balance its offense a bit more against the Dragons. Bittinger will no longer be a surprise, and this game will come down to the people up front for both teams. Looks very close from here.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Wingate.

PENNS VALLEY (3-1) AT HUNTINGDON (1-3) FRIDAY, SEPT. 20

One-win Huntingdon may have had its share of misery so far this season, but the Bearcats played Clearfield to the hilt on Friday at Clearfield.

Down by just five points late, Huntingdon fumbled on its own 46 and the Bison’s Nick Dimico recovered it and took it in for the deciding touchdown in a 28-16 loss to the Mountain League front-runner.

Huntingdon pulled to within 21-16 on a fourth-quarter touchdown pass by Nick Troha, and the Bearcats had the ball again with a chance to take a late lead. But the fumble, and Dimico’s return, closed the door on their upset plans.

Penn Valley will now come in with a 3-1 record and a team perhaps just as strong as the Bison. The Rams lost in the final seconds at Clearfield two weeks ago, but otherwise they have had their way with everyone else, especially offensively.

How well the Bearcats can keep their emotions high against another contender two weeks in a row will be the key in this game.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Huntingdon.

Penns Valley’s Stephen Ripka (24) blocks for running back Shane Baney (40) during the Rams’ Sept. 13 clash with Central. Penns Valley improved to 3-1 with the 41-21 victory. Photo by Heather Weikel/For the Gazette

BISHOP CARROL (2-2) AT PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (1-3) FRIDAY, SEPT. 20

So close.

Philipsburg-Osceola outgained Tyrone 350-283 on Friday night in Tyrone, led deep into the fourth quarter, and played error-free football without a fumble or interception. But the Mounties dropped three passes in the end zone, had some untimely penalties, and ultimately gave up the final 15 points to the Eagles in a 22-16 loss.

Tyrone quarterback Brandon Lucas scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter and then a 13-yarder late in the fourth and brought his team from behind to secure the victory.

P-O meanwhile, despite 200-yards passing by quarterback Ryan Whitehead and 150 yards rushing (Kaleb Stamm had 130), could not score in the second half and took its third loss in four games.

This week, the Mounties will host Bishop Carroll, 2-2, which lost on Sept. 13 to BEA, 29-6. Carroll, with just 185 yards against the Eagles, nevertheless can score points.

Even with the sub-par numbers against BEA, Carroll scores 24 points per game and gains just over 375 yards. Quarterback Hunter Dumm is a dual threat for BC with 216 yards passing and 68 yards on the ground each time out. He has scored 40 points so far this year for Carroll.

This is another game and another chance for P-O. But the Mounties need to keep up the intensity from the Tyrone game and continue to play without mistakes. Sooner or later, some things will begin to break in their favor.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Philipsburg.

BELLEFONTE (3-1) AT TYRONE (2-2) FRIDAY, SEPT. 20

Bellefonte took a week off from the rigors of the Mountain League and kept warmed up with a 41-14 non-leaguer over Central Mountain.

The Raiders led by 27-0 at the half and totaled an impressive 585 yards for the night. CJ Funk ran 14 times for 182 yards and quarterback Ethan Rossman completed 7-of-20 passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns.

Central Mountain did gain over 300 yards against the Raider defenses, but most of that came after halftime when the game was solidly controlled by Bellefonte.

Now, Bellefonte will take its unbeaten conference record into Tyrone for a Friday night Mountain League game. Tyrone, 2-2, edged P-O on Sept. 13, has two wins overall and is 1-1 in the league.

Bellefonte scores more than twice as many points per game as Tyrone (44 to 22), so the pressure will be on the Eagle defense to keep this close. If Bellefonte can get off to an early lead, Tyrone will find it very difficult to recover.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Tyrone.

Bellefonte junior tight end Isaiah Nadolsky looks to make a catch during the Red Raiders’ 41-14 victory over non-league opponent Central Mountain on Sept. 13. Photo by Tim Weight/For the Gazette