Previewing Week 6 of Centre County High School Football

We’ve been waiting to see this game for a few weeks now, so let’s get right to it:

CLEARFIELD (5-0) AT BELLEFONTE (4-1)
SEPT. 27 7 P.M.

Both Clearfield and Bellefonte emphatically made sure that the stage was properly set for this week’s massive showdown between the two Mountain League leaders.

Last Friday, the Bison kept their unbeaten record in order with a 42-20 warmup against Central Mountain, and Bellefonte held up its end with a 55-10 league romp over short-handed Tyrone on the same night.

Clearfield and Central Mountain were actually tied at one point in the second quarter, but quarterback Oliver Billotte and tailback Brett Zatoni sparked a 28-0 run that essentially put the game away.

Billotte scored three touchdowns on the ground and threw for another one while Zatoni scored two and ran for 150 yards on 21 carries in the game.

Billotte started the rally with a 34-yard touchdown pass and then scored just before halftime on a two-yard run.

Zatoni picked it up in the third quarter with runs of 11 and 10 yards, putting the final touches on Clearfield’s fifth win without a loss.

In those five wins, the Bison have averaged 35 points and run up 375 yards in offense per outing. Billotte accounts for 253 of those yards per game, including 205 though the air.

Incredibly, Bellefonte’s numbers are even better. The Raiders gain more than 540 yards every time out — including 397 on the ground — and score almost 50 points (46.6).

Against Tyrone, CJ Funk’s 145 yards and four touchdowns led a running game that totaled 475 yards. The Raiders led 21-2 at the half and then 34-10 by the end of the third quarter.

It was Bellefonte’s fourth win in a row after a Week 1 loss to Jersey Shore.

Now both teams will be putting it out there for the top spot in the league, but it may not be the only time they see each other. They are presently 1-2 in the AAAA playoff rankings and are likely on a post-season collision course.

Don’t look for either one to save anything though because as it is, this one’s too close to call.

STATE COLLEGE (5-0) AT CENTRAL DAUPHIN EAST (2-3)
SEPT. 27, 7 P.M.

Good teams find wins in many different ways.

Take the State College Little Lions. After weeks of running up big scores and big yardage, SC had to turn to its defense to pull out a tough, 27-17 win at Chambersburg.

The Little Lions led just 13-10 in the third quarter when Isaiah Edwards and Dresyn Green came up with interceptions on consecutive Trojan possessions.

Both led to fourth-quarter scores, and when Edwards pushed across a third score with just two minutes to play, the Lions had their fifth win without a loss.

SC quarterback Brady Dorner did have 210 yards passing and two touchdowns on 12 completions, but the Lions couldn’t get any separation until the two interceptions turned the momentum in their favor.

Next for State College will be another road trip, this time to face Mid Penn foe Central Dauphin East.

CDE is 2-3 so far this season, and as with any Mid Penn Conference team, the Panthers will present a number of problems for Lions.

Problem No. 1 will be lightning-fast running back Bryce Baker.

In East’s 35-19 victory over Altoona last Friday, Baker scored three touchdowns on runs of 70 yards or more. His touchdowns came on runs of 70, 78 and 89 yards, and the final two put the game away for CDE after Altoona drew to within a score. All told, Baker ran for 270 yards (out of 330 for the team) and also caught two passes for 15 yards.

Altoona, however, gained 400 yards of its own, mostly through the air, and had East in its sights going into the fourth quarter. But Baker took care of that.

For State College, stopping Baker will be a big priority. But CDE only threw six passes and had three turnovers against Altoona, so there will be some chances for the Lions to break through in both those areas.

BEA (4-1) AT TYRONE (2-3)
SEPT. 27, 7 P.M.

So when one of the best passers in the area, BEA’s Jaden Jones, went down with an injury two weeks ago, there was a bit of hand wringing in Wingate. BEA head coach inserted wide receiver/running back Kaden Bittinger in Jones’ spot, hoping to hold down the fort, so to speak, until Jones could return.

“Holding down the fort,” as it turned out, was a gigantic understatement, given what Bittinger has done since he took over.

In two games, he ran the ball 38 times for 325 yards and six touchdowns along with completing 14 passes for another 163 yards. And, oh yeah, there were two big wins over Bishop Carroll by 29-6 and last Friday over Central by 30-7. In the victory over Central, Bittinger scored twice — from 11 and 5 yards out — as the Eagles built a 29-0 lead before Central scored with two minutes to play.

Of course, the BEA defenders had a lot to say on both nights — allowing just 13 points in two games and scoring a defensive TD against Central — but Bittinger more than held his own.

Now, Jones did appear against Central, and he may be ready to return full time, so it will be interesting to see which one comes out to start at Tyrone on Friday.

Tyrone also has injury problems, but the Golden Eagles have not been able to overcome them very well so far. In its 55-10 loss to Bellefonte last week, Tyrone was trying to put its team back together, according to head coach John Franco, and actually had defensive backs playing at linebacker.

Not a good way to face a team as good as Bellefonte — or BEA for that matter. Tyrone will have to prepare for either a wide-open, spread offense run by Jones, or a running power game engineered by Bittinger. And all the while trying to piece together a defense beset by injuries. Either way, it will be a tall order for Tyrone.

MIDD-WEST (2-3) AT PENNS VALLEY (4-1)
SEPT. 27, 7 P.M.

Midd-West High School, out of Middleburg, will bring its 2-3 record into Penns Valley for a non-league contest on Friday. The Mustangs have wins so far over Marian Catholic, 39-6, and Shenandoah Valley, 54-6, to go along with losses to Blue Mountain, 50-19, Springfield; Montco, 20-19; and Jim Thorpe, 41-0.

Going strictly by the numbers, the Rams have a big advantage in this game. PV gains more than three times the number of yards per game than Midd-West (130 to 490) and scores twice as many points (50 to 26).

In addition, Penns Valley’s only loss was a last-second heartbreaker to undefeated Clearfield in Week 2. I

n last week’s 43-28 win over Huntingdon, the Rams built a 28-7 lead after Huntingdon scored the first touchdown of the night. From there, it was 43-14 at halftime, and the Rams held on for their fourth win of the season.

Midd-West will be a good, non-league interlude before the Rams get back, big time, into the Mountain League with a trip to Bellefonte the following week.

CENTRAL (2-3) AT PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (1-4)
SEPT. 27, 7 P.M.

Things did not go well for the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties last Friday night against Bishop Carroll.

First, after a scoreless first quarter and a subsequent 7-0 Carroll lead, there was a game-ending injury to quarterback Ryan Whitehead. Then, in quick succession, Carroll broke two long touchdown runs — one by Jake Zazvrskey of 86 yards and one by quarterback Hunter Dumm of 46 yards.

It seemed that before P-O could get its feet on the ground, the score was 19-0 and BC was firmly in control. The Huskies added two more touchdowns in the third quarter and completed their third win of the season, 32-0.

P-O finished with just 93 yards of offense, and actually finished with negative 4 yards running.

This week the Mounties will face long-time rival Central on Friday night. The Dragons are 2-3 and have suffered three straight losses to top teams — Clearfield, Penns Valley and BEA. So it’s a sure bet that the Dragons will be looking to end that streak in Philipsburg on Friday.

For the Mounties, there will have to be some regrouping after an injury-filled loss to Carroll, but they have shown flashes of being very competitive at times this season. This Friday will have to be another one of those nights.