In Week 7 of high school football action in Centre County, Bellefonte kept up its winning ways, although Penns Valley had a plan that very well could have pulled off an upset.
Speaking of upsets, if it can be called that, Cumberland Valley made big plays both on offense and defense and outlasted State College in Mechanicsburg, 36-21. It was the Little Lions’ first loss of the season.
In Philipsburg, the Mounties ran into a Central Dragon team on the rebound, and at BEA the Eagles hung with Huntingdon for the first half before a torrent of touchdowns led to a 45-0 loss. And, St. Joseph’s Academy could not keep up with Halifax in a 40-7 loss.
Week 8 games will be Friday, Oct. 13, except for SJCA on Saturday, Oct. 14, and here’s what’s lined up:
Bellefonte (6-1) at Central (5-2)
Friday, Oct. 13
Yes, Central has lost two games — to Hollidaysburg, 20-10, in Week 1 and then (unbelievably) 42-2 to Chestnut Ridge in Week 5.
That said, the Dragons have had a chance to reflect and refocus (and win big at P-O) since that loss to Chestnut Ridge and will be more than ready for a visit by the Raiders.
Bellefonte had a bit of a taste of what it is like to be a frontrunner Oct. 6 against Penns Valley. The Rams were all in, and Bellefonte needed a strong fourth quarter to finally subdue them, 35-20, and keep their winning streak intact.
Now, traveling to Central will be at an even more challenging level, and there is little doubt that the Dragons will be ready with their A-game.
Despite the losses, Central is scoring at a 28 point-per-game clip and averages just under 400 yards of offense each time out.
Junior Noah Muther and senior Preston Karstetter share the quarterback duties, and they have combined for 830 yards and fivetouchdowns so far. Muther also has added another 192 yards rushing.
Senior Trysten Detwiler is the leading runner on the team, with an average of 138 yards per game and 12 touchdowns. Jared Smith is next with 305 yards and four scores, and 6-foot-5, 241-pound senior Austin Garner is the leading receiver with 186 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, the Dragons play an aggressive style, with 46 tackles for loss, 25 sacks and eight interceptions. Except for the two losses, Central has not allowed more than 14 points, and that only happened once.
For Bellefonte, this will be the most high-pressure situation so far, but the Raiders have shown amazing resilience and have owned the second half of every game this year.
It will be important for the Raiders to weather the storm that Central will certainly create early on and keep this one close going into the fourth quarter.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Martinsburg.
Central Dauphin East (5-1) at State College (5-1)
Friday, Oct. 13
After last week, it would probably be best to hold off with the predictions about the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Conference.
It sure looked like State College, Harrisburg and Central Dauphin were on collision courses to decide the title winner, but that was before both SC and CD both lost Oct. 6. State College fell at Cumberland Valley, 36-20, and sister-school Central Dauphin East beat Central Dauphin, 35-31.
Harrisburg, meanwhile, remained undefeated with an 82-3 (really) win over Chambersburg.
CD East scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter — both on touchdown passes from quarterback Kane Everson to receiver Terrance Danner — to complete the Panthers’ come-from-behind win.
Central Dauphin was ahead, 31-21, going into the period, but Danner’s second score, with just a minute left to play, lifted CD East to the win.
Now, with the Panthers coming to State College on Oct. 13, the standings have Harrisburg ahead with a 2-0 record in the conference (6-0 overall), with State College, Cumberland Valley, Central Dauphin and CD East all following at 2-1.
No need then to explain much about the importance of this game to either the Panthers or the Little Lions.
CD East rightfully joined the party with the win over the Rams and will be looking to keep pace with a win in State College. The Little Lions, on the other hand, are coming off a loss that didn’t sit well with them and will be prepared to turn it around against the surprising Panthers.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
Bald Eagle Area (3-4) at Clearfield (4-3)
Friday, Oct. 13
It has been an unusual, up-and-down ride for the Clearfield Bison football team in 2017.
After two stirring wins over DuBois and Penns Valley to open the season, there were losses to Central (42-14) and Huntingdon (45-27), a win at Central Mountain (49-10) and then a big loss to Bellefonte in Week 6 by a score of 55-28.
Last week, the Bison were back on top with a one-sided win at home against Tyrone, 35-7.
Wins and losses aside, Clearfield’s numbers are still impressive. The Bison put up 432 yards per game, 262 passing and 170 running, and are scoring 30 points each time out.
Isaac Rumery is responsible for almost all of those passing yards, 1,573 total with 18 touchdowns, and he’s also run for 315 yards and another five touchdowns.
In the backfield with Rumery is Ty Bender, with 52 yards per game, and Brett Zattoni, with 43 yards per game. The leading receivers are Michah Heichel (563 yards, seven touchdowns), Spencer Graham (295 yards, four touchdowns) and Taye Lynch (283 yards, four touchdowns).
In all, Clearfield has eight players with more than 250 all-purpose yards, led by Heichel and Bender.
On defense, Clearfield has 27 tackles for loss, nine sacks and two interceptions.
BEA has now lost its last four games after starting 3-0. Against Huntingdon on Oct. 6, the Eagles played even up with the Bearcats until mid-second quarter, but a 52-yard touchdown pass from Andy Hudy to Jonathan Price opened the gates for Huntingdon. By halftime, it was 21-0, and then the Bearcats put the game away with 24 more in the third quarter. The final was 45-0, as the Huntingdon defense limited BEA to just 87 total yards from scrimmage.
Clearfield, although slightly less consistent than Huntingdon, will present many of the same problems for the Eagles. BEA will be hoping to carry that defensive effort into the second half against the Bison and see what happens from there.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Chestnut Ridge (6-1) at Penns Valley (2-5)
Friday, Oct. 13
Chestnut Ridge has been doing it all this season. The Lions are 6-1 and have only lost to powerful Musselman, W.Va., in Week 2, and since that game have been on a five-game winning streak.
Chestnut Ridge averages 347 yards of offense per game — 201 running — and are scoring 37 points. In their current winning streak, the Lions lowest point total was 42, and that was in the incredible 42-2 victory over Central in Week 5.
Quarterback Logan Hauk leads the team in both passing and running — 945 yards passing and 666 rushing — and along with running back Noah Dillow has totaled more than 1,000 yards on the ground.
The CR offense in general is big, fast and, with a mobile Hauk in control, can put up points in bunches.
Penns Valley pushed Bellefonte to the limit Oct. 6 and was within one score deep into the final quarter. Bellefonte scored with less than a minute in the game to set the final score at 35-20, but the Raiders had to stop the Rams on a fourth-and-8 to final wrap up the win.
Now, the Rams will be faced with another challenge just as daunting with Chestnut Ridge. The Rams have just two wins so far, against Punxsutawney and P-O, but a win here and it will still be possible to finish at .500. But, it will take another maximum effort for the second week in a row.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Spring Mills.
Philipsburg-Osceola (1-6) at Huntingdon (7-0)
Friday, Oct. 13
Philipsburg-Osceola is coming out of an unenviable stretch of games against that included Bellefonte, Tyrone, Chestnut Ridge, Penns Valley and Tyrone.
All losses — but there were some ups along the way and some hopeful signs, even in the 55-0 loss to Central on Oct. 6.
It’s not over yet, however, for the Mountaineers. This week will be a trip to undefeated Huntingdon on Oct. 13, and the Bearcats have beaten everyone on that list except Central. They beat Clearfield instead.
Huntingdon scores more than 30 points per game and averages more than 350 yards of offense, but the Bearcats really begin and probably end with just one player. Senior running back Ian Border has already racked up 1,000 yards rushing this season and scored 18 touchdowns. He ran for 277 yards and four touchdowns in the Clearfield win alone.
Andy Hudy is the quarterback, and he’s passed for 976 yards and 10 touchdowns when he does not hand it off to Border, so the Bearcats have nice balance in the backfield.
On defense, Huntingdon has 47 tackles for loss, 22 sacks and 12 interceptions to go along with the four games in which the Bearcats held their opponent to 14 points or less.
For P-O, the process is continuing. Central was clearly better, and the Mounties will again be concentrating on improvement and execution.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech (1-6) at St. Joseph’s Academy (0-5)
Saturday, Oct. 14
Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech’s only win this season came against Cowanesque Valley (30-24) on Sept. 29, but otherwise CMVT has had a difficult time. There were big losses against Muncy, Nanticoke and Panther Valley, but the games against Bucktail and Montgomery were relatively competitive.
Like St. Joe’s, Columbia-Montour’s size and small roster can be problematic, especially if there are injuries to top-line players.
SJCA’s last outing was a 40-7 loss at Halifax on Oct. 6. The Wolves were down by just a touchdown going into the second quarter, but Halifax scored three touchdowns during that quarter that put the game away.
CMVT doesn’t seem to have the firepower of Halifax, and St. Joe’s improving defense could keep this game close.
Kickoff is at 5 p.m.
