It’s always interesting to find out how your football team stacks up against teams in other areas in the state, and the State College Little Lions will learn some of that when District 1 power Downingtown East comes to visit Memorial Field on Friday night.
The Little Lions got off to a flying start to their season on Aug. 27 in Lewistown with a 51-6 Mid Penn victory over local rival Mifflin County.
SC shot out to a 24-0 lead after one quarter, extended that to 31-0 at halftime and then rode out the game from there.
Junior quarterback Finn Furmanek completed 8-of-9 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown for the Lions and ran for 27 yards and another touchdown. Owen Yerba, Brady Bendik, Ty Salazar and Branden Price also scored touchdowns in the game, while TJ Yoder scored twice.
In all, SC ran up 433 yards of total offense (264 on the ground) with 10 running backs gaining at least 10 yards.
The win gave the team a 1-0 mark in the Mid Penn with two non-conference games coming up against East and Hollidaysburg.
In its first game, Downingtown East (1-0) traveled to Suburban One power Pennridge and gutted out a 14-7 win.
The Pennridge Rams’ Adam Mossbrook returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown and a 7-point Pennridge lead.
But that would be all. The Rams would not score again in the game while East’s Bo Horvath and Josh Asante combined to run for 173 yards on 41 carries and two touchdowns.
East took the lead in the second quarter, 14-7, but due to three second-half fumbles and another turnover, the Rams were not able to score again.
Fortunately for Downingtown, its defense was in top form, and it held on for the win. The “D” held Pennridge to 6 first downs, 15 yards rushing, and 56 total yards in the game.
So this contest shapes up to be a major clash between two storied programs. And it will present significant tests for the Little Lions’ new offenses and run defense.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Memorial Field in State College.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (0-1) AT BELLEFONTE (0-1)
Both Philipsburg-Osceola and Bellefonte fell short in their opening games last weekend, but the two contests could not have been more different.
The Mounties took on local rival West Branch in Allport and lost a heartbreaker in overtime, 28-21, after taking a 21-7 lead at halftime.
Bellefonte, under new head coach Vaughn Donmoyer, traveled to PIAA state runner-up Jersey Shore and never got on track in a 55-0 loss to the powerful Bulldogs.
Jersey Shore scored three first-quarter touchdowns — two runs and a 74-yard TD pass — and then kept adding it on with 27 more points in the second quarter.
Ahead by 48 at the half, the Bulldogs scored just once more in the second half, all the while holding the new Bellefonte offense almost totally in check.
P-O, after gearing up a bruising running attack, scored three times in the first half and took a 21-7 lead over West Branch into the locker room at halftime.
But three turnovers — two that stopped promising drives and one muffed punt return — stymied the Mounties in the second half and allowed the Warriors to tie the game late in the fourth quarter on a touchdown run by quarterback Tyler Biggans.
Biggans then scored again in overtime and the Warriors kept P-O out of the end zone to pick up the win.
The Mounties ran the ball effectively all night and gained a total of 290 yards on the ground and all three touchdowns.
Matt Martin (142 yards, TD) and Andrew Faust combined to gain 234 of those yards with mostly inside runs.
But missed chances — and turnovers — swung the momentum toward West Branch.
On Friday, the test for Bellefonte will be to generate enough offense to keep the P-O runners on the bench. If the Mounties are allowed to march up and down — without mistakes — it could be another difficult night for the Raiders.
Kickoff is in Bellefonte at 7 p.m.
BALD EAGLE AREA (1-0) AT CLEARFIELD (1-0)
Yes, Clearfield quarterback Oliver Billotte and wide receiver Karson Kline are still playing for the Bison and have not graduated. And yes, they are just as dangerous now in their senior years as they’ve always been, if not more so.
On Saturday, in the Bison’s opener against DuBois, the duo combined for 192 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone against the Beavers as Clearfield took a comfortable 21-0 lead and then went on to a 27-7 win.
Billotte completed 9-of-20 passes in the game for 210 yards while Kline caught 8 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown.
Billotte, a dual threat player, also ran for 66 yards and another touchdown.
The victory signified that the Bison are just as formidable as they were in 2020 and will be vying again for the Mountain League title.
Another team in the conversation about the league championship is Bald Eagle Area, and the two are scheduled to play their first conference game against each other on Friday in Clearfield.
BEA traveled to Troy for its opening game and had to fight hard for a 20-0 victory over the Trojans.
Camron Watkins and quarterback Garret Burns scored offensive touchdowns for the Bald Eagles, and senior cornerback Max Yetsko picked off a Troy pass and took it 60 yards for the team’s third score.
The star of the night for BEA was its defense which kept the Trojans out of the end zone all night.
The key then for the Eagles will be to keep Billotte and the explosive Bison in check and take the game into the fourth quarter.
Not an easy task, especially at Clearfield, but if the Bison are allowed to gain confidence, they are very difficult to stop.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Clearfield.
HUNTINGDON (0-1) AT PENNS VALLEY (0-1)
It’s one thing to have to cancel a football game against Mercyhurst Prep, and it’s another thing altogether to reschedule it and play Richland. That’s what happened to the Penns Valley Rams last week when Mercyhurst cancelled because of COVID-19 problems, and the Rams scrambled and rescheduled Richland instead.
Without much preparation — and against an obviously very talented Richland team — the Rams came up short in a 54-14 loss to Richland.
However, after falling behind by 48 points in the fourth quarter, the Rams did begin to move the football.
Their first touchdown came on a 30-yard run by Ty Watson, and then later wide receiver John Meyer scored on a 40-yard pass-and-run to account for the teams final score.
Now, Penns Valley will begin Mountain League play at home against Huntingdon.
The Bearcats, coming off a 0-7 season in 2020, got off to a shaky start in a 32-8 loss to major rival Mount Union.
Huntingdon held close through the first half, down just 12-8, but MU pulled away with two touchdowns in the third quarter while holding the ‘Cats scoreless.
Another score in the fourth quarter by the Trojans set the final score at 32-8.
Last year, Penns Valley pulled away from the Bearcats for a 35-18 victory, but many of those Ram players graduated and this year’s group is young and will need experience. How these two teams line up early — especially in terms of big plays or turnovers — will play a big part in the final outcome.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Spring Mills.
This story appears in the Sept. 2-8 edition of the Centre County Gazette.
