Kellin Valentine was the spark the State College High football team needed Friday night against Chambersburg.
Taking on the winless Trojans on the road, the Little Lions’ receiver scored three first half touchdowns, on a punt return and two receptions, leading the Little Lions to a win over their conference rivals.
“Kellin did a great job tonight,” State College head coach Matt Lintal said. “He made some big plays. We asked a lot of him and he made big plays in big spots.”
The Little Lions entered the contest as heavy favorites, and early on Valentine gave them reason to think the game would be a blowout.
After the State College Defense forced a three-and-out, Valentine fielded a punt and broke off a scorching run, making three Trojan tacklers miss on his way to the end zone.
“Starting off the game like that was huge,” Lintal said. “He really set the tone for us.”
Though it seemed like the Little Lions might run away with the game right away, they actually looked slightly shaky early on and kept the Trojans in the game in the first quarter.
Quarterback John Weakland, usually an excellent decision maker, tossed an interception on State College’s first drive from scrimmage, leading to a Chambersburg field goal.
As the second quarter began, the Lions began to get going again, as Weakland salvaged a drive with a successful quarterback sneak on fourth-and-one from Chambersburg’s 23-yard line before hitting receiver Christopher McDonough with a strike to the 1. Jordan Misher would pound the ball in two plays later for a 14-3 lead.
Once again, the Trojans kept themselves in the game, this time with a 34-yard field goal to make it 14-6 following a 44-yard burst from running back Darius Johnson that put Chambersburg inside the State College 20-yard line.
At that point, Valentine took the game over, scoring twice on consecutive drives to turn the game into a romp.
First, on fourth-and one on the Trojans 45, the Lions shocked everyone by throwing instead of running. Weakland hit Valentine with a short pass and the 6-foot-1 receiver booked it the rest of the way for the score.
“We have a lot of faith and trust in our kids in those situations,” Lintal said. “We don’t want to be in a situation where we’re predictable, we want to take what the defense gives us. When we get Kellin in a one-on-one situation he’s hard to stop.”
After quickly getting the ball back, the Little Lions would march down the field once more, finishing the drive off with another pass from Weakland to Valentine, this one from 23 yards out.
It was certainly a breakout game for Valentine, who is arguably the Little Lions most versatile player but someone who has struggled with consistency in the past. He entered the game with no touchdowns on the season and ended it with three.
“He’s getting better every week,” Lintal said. “We have him playing offense, we have him playing defense. He’s on the field a lot and we ask a lot of him.”
With a 28-6 halftime lead, the Little Lions were on cruise control for the rest of the game.
Tight end Brett Graham caught a 13-yard score from Weakland midway through the third quarter and backup running back Aziz Salamy added a short touchdown run in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.
Now over .500 with a 3-2 record and a perfect 2-0 mark in conference, State College will try to win their third straight game next week on the road against Central Dauphin.
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