Last Friday night, Bald Eagle Area outdueled Penns Valley and improved to 4-1 while Philipsburg-Osceola edged non-league opponent Moshannon Valley at home.
Bellefonte and State College, however, both suffered league setbacks to conference leaders.
Everyone is back on the field this week, and here’s a brief look at what’s coming up:
BELLEFONTE (1-4) AT PENNS VALLEY (2-3)
OCT. 1, SPRING MILLS
Both Bellefonte and Penns Valley surrendered tons of yardage in league losses last week and both will be fervently looking to turn their seasons around in this week’s local rivalry game.
Penns Valley fell to BEA, 14-0, and Bellefonte lost to undefeated Clearfield, 48-0, at home.
Bellefonte was plagued with turnovers against the Bison — including a pick-six — as it fell behind early and was not able to recover.
Penns Valley, in its loss to BEA, gave up just two scores late in the first half, but the Rams were not able to move against the Eagle defense and gained less than 100 yards in the game.
Both teams have young rosters and are rebuilding after successful seasons in 2019 and 2020, and both have struggled so far this year.
A victory here for either one would be a big boost going into the final games of 2021.
CENTRAL DAUPHIN (2-1) AT STATE COLLEGE (3-2)
OCT. 1, MEMORIAL FIELD
Last week, State College squared off with a very talented Central Dauphin East team that featured 4-star athlete and Penn State recruit Mehki Flowers.
But it wasn’t Flowers who inflicted the most damage in East’s 34-13 win over the Little Lions. It was running back Marcel McDaniels who ran 24 times for 220 yards and two touchdowns.
Flowers did score on a 30-yard reception in the first half as the Panthers built a 21-0 lead, but as State College began to threaten in the second half, led by quarterback Finn Furmanek, it was McDaniels who answered the call.
He scored twice on long runs in the second half, giving his team leads of 28-6 and then the final score of 34-13.
Furmanek led the two SC scoring drives in the second half and scored touchdowns in both of them on runs of 5 and 12 yards.
State College was unable to stop the Panther attack, however, and East was able to maintain its lead and hold on for its fourth win of the season.
This week, the Lions will not be able to rest with perennial Mid Penn contender Central Dauphin coming to Memorial Field.
The Rams have now won two games in a row after a 27-21 loss in Week 1 to Wilson West Lawn.
In their first Mid-Penn Conference debut last week, they demolished 2-3 Chambersburg, 50-21, in Chambersburg.
CD ran out to a 36-7 halftime lead, extended that to 50-7 by the end of the third quarter, and then coasted out from there.
Senior quarterback Max Mosey completed 11-of-18 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns, while senior running back Tyrell English ran 17 times for 95 yards and 3 touchdowns. And senior receiver Juice Selby caught 8 passes for 190 yards and 2 scores.
In all, the Rams piled up 502 yards of offense in the game, with 278 of those on the ground.
State College then, hobbled recently with injuries, will be facing another conference rival with a potent, balanced offense and a tough defense.
The Little Lions gamely hung with CD East and actually climbed to within two scores of the Panthers, but the 21-point early deficit was too much to overcome.
So keeping things close in the early going against the Rams will be important. If SC can take this game into the fourth quarter, anything can happen.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
BALD EAGLE AREA (4-1) AT TYRONE (2-3)
OCT. 1, TYRONE
Any football team that runs for over 300 yards in a single game would likely feel pretty good about itself, but for a single player to do it, well, that would be a striking achievement.
That’s what happened in Bald Eagle Area’s 14-0 victory over Penns Valley, when Garrett Burns ran the ball 32 times for 302 yards and a touchdown.
Burns, who switched from quarterback to running back this season, ran up and down the field against the Rams. The Eagles, however, only scored twice in the game and both touchdowns came seconds apart in the last minute of the second quarter.
Other than that, neither team was able to cross the goal line.
Burns spearheaded the drive that gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead late in the second quarter with a 65-yard run and then took it in from two yards out.
After recovering the ball deep in PV territory on the ensuing kickoff, quarterback Carson Nagle threw a touchdown pass to Camron Watkins that gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead at halftime.
It turned out those would be the only points they would need — or get.
BEA’s defense kept the Rams at bay all night, holding them to less than 100 yards of total offense and giving the Eagles their fourth win of the season.
This week, BEA will travel to 2-3 Tyrone for a Mountain League game against two old rivals.
Tyrone now has two wins after Huntingdon forfeited Friday night’s game that was to be held in Huntingdon.
So the Golden Eagles now have two league wins, over the Bearcats and Bellefonte, and losses to Bellwood-Antis, Juniata Valley and Clearfield, 42-12, on Sept. 17.
Tyrone averages just under 200 yards per game on offense, with 137 of those yards coming through the air.
Senior Keegan Gwinn and freshman Ashton Walk have been splitting the duties at quarterback and have combined to complete 48-of-101 passes for 528 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Sophomore Brady Ronin is the leading runner with 161 yards on 39 carries and a touchdown, while senior Cort Rhoades tops the receivers with eight catches for 147 yards and a touchdown.
Tyrone started slowly this season with two straight losses, but it since has been steadily improving, while BEA has been difficult to stop all season. This shapes up to be an important game for both teams.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Tyrone.
CLEARFIELD (5-0) AT PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (2-3)
OCT. 1, PHILIPSBURG
Philipsburg-Osceola took on close rival Moshannon Valley for the first time in many years last Friday night, and the Mounties ran out to a 21-7 lead at halftime.
But the Black Knight defense tightened in the second half, and the Mounties had to hold on for a tense, 21-14 win in front of a large crowd in Philipsburg.
P-O’s Luke Hughes, Nick Johnson and Matt Martin scored the Mountie touchdowns in the first half, but they were unable to break through the Knights in the second half.
And when Niko Smeal (107 yards, 2 TDs) ran it in from four yards out in the fourth quarter, things began to get interesting.
Fortunately, the Mountie defense was up to the challenge and didn’t allow Mo Valley to threaten again as P-O clinched its second victory of the season against three losses.
This week, another local rival will visit the Mounties, and this one has been nothing less than overpowering this season.
The Clearfield Bison are undefeated at 5-0 and have not really been challenged in any game.
Their closest margin of victory was 27-7 over DuBois. Other than that, every game was won by at least three touchdowns, including 42-12 over Tyrone, 48-0 over Bellefonte, and 53-7 over Penns Valley.
The Bison average 36 points per game and they gain over 400 yards every outing.
For P-O, a team improving by increments under second-year head coach Jeff Vroman, this game will be a major challenge, although he has been happy so far with his team’s effort and physical play.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Philipsburg.
