Previewing Week 4 of Centre County High School Football

Philipsburg-Osceola picked up its first win of the season last Friday in a close one over Huntingdon, while State College and Bald Eagle Area both won for the second time.

Penns Valley and Bellefonte, however, both lost to Mountain League rivals.

This week, SC gets into Mid Penn play, P-O and PV tangle, BEA heads to Huntingdon and Bellefonte goes non-league at Hollidaysburg.

Here’s a brief look at each game:

PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (1-2) AT PENNS VALLEY (1-2)
SEPT. 17, 7 P.M.

Philipsburg-Osceola held on against Huntingdon on Friday night to claim its first win of the season over the Bearcats, 7-6.

“Held on” in this case should be taken literally.

Ahead 7-0 late in the fourth quarter, P-O had the Bearcats boxed deep in their own territory. But Huntingdon quarterback Ashton Steele found receiver Jackson Foster open downfield and connected with him for a stunning, 79-yard touchdown with just 3:24 left to play in the game.

Huntingdon, winless at 0-2, and on a 9-game losing streak, went for the win with a 2-point conversion try. Steele took it himself, but the P-O defense stopped him just short of the goal line, preserving the Mounties’ tenuous one-point lead.

That wasn’t the only pivotal stop the P-O defense made. Twice the Mounties recovered Huntingdon fumbles deep in their own territory, and they also stopped the Bearcats on a fourth-and-two from the four-yard line midway through the final quarter.

The Mounties scored in the second quarter on a bomb of their own — a 69-yard scoring pass from Ben Gustkey to Nick Johnson that ultimately represented their only score of the night.

This week, P-O will go for win No. 2 at Penns Valley in a significant game for both teams.

The Rams are also 1-2, with losses to powerhouses Richland and Clearfield. PV’s win came in a 40-7 romp over Huntingdon on Sept. 3.

Last Friday, the Rams ran into a confident and physical Clearfield team that ran for over 400 yards in a 53-7 conference win over PV. Clearfield, which fell behind early after a pick-6 by the Rams’ Miles Brooks, dominated the game from the second period onward.

The Bison took a 32-7 lead at halftime and then added three more scores in the second half to secure their third win without a loss. Penns Valley could get little going against the Bison and gained just a total of 85 yards on offense, 45 of those on Rylee Brungart passes.

Now, Penns Valley and Phillipsburg will meet in a game that can fall either way.

Both teams have wins over Huntingdon — although PV’s looked much easier — and both are looking for their second victory. The Mounties did not hurt themselves with turnovers against the Bearcats, and that will have to continue for them to leave Spring Mills with a win.

CHAMBERSBURG (2-1) AT STATE COLLEGE (2-1)
SEPT. 17, 7 P.M.

State College and Hollidaysburg ran up and down the field last Friday night for a total of more than 820 yards of offense between the two teams. In the end, the Little Lions persevered with a 34-20 victory over the Tigers and improved their record to 2-1 for the season.

Led by quarterback Finn Furmanek’s 250 yards passing and 70 yards rushing, SC took a 17-0 halftime lead, but then had to hold on against Hollidaysburg’s seriously good passing game.

The Little Lions were shocked after two quick touchdowns by the Tigers to begin the third quarter — a 73-yard Jake McGinnis pass to Justin Wolf and a 1-yard run by Xander Bainey.

Bainey’s run came after a 77-yard catch-and-run by wide receiver Avery Sloan that went to the 1-yard line. McGinnis finished the game completing 24-of-36 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns.

Two turnovers, however — a fumble and an interception in the endzone — as well as a long touchdown pass, turned the tide back to the Little Lions.

After the Bainey touchdown, SC wideout Jashaun Green took a short pass from Furmanek and wound his way 75 yards for a touchdown and a little breathing room for SC at 24-14.

Another touchdown pass from Furmanek to Kyle Kurzinger along with a field goal by Quinn Murphy padded the Lion lead to 20 points midway through the final quarter. McGinnis did throw another TD pass late to set the final score at 34-20.

SC absorbed the passing attack of the Tigers partly because the run defense held Hollidaysburg to less than 20 yards for the game. Add that to an efficient running game of its own — SC ran 44 times for 247 yards — and it was the Lions’ overall balance that wore down the Tigers.

This week, State College goes for its second Mid Penn win when Chambersburg visits the Lions on Friday.

Chambersburg so far is 2-1 for the season with victories over Greencastle-Antrim, 16-14, and Red Lion, 21-7. The Trojans loss came at the hands of Spring Ford, 48-0.

All the scoring in the Red Lion win came in the first half, and the Trojans scored all their points on big plays — a 77-yard pass, a 40-yard pass and a 68-yard run.

Last year at Chambersburg, the Little Lions survived a 42-35 high-scoring affair and there is no reason to believe the tenor of this year’s game will be much different.

BELLEFONTE (1-2) AT HOLLIDAYSBURG (1-2)
SEPT. 17, 7 P.M.

The first quarter told the story of Bellefonte’s 21-0 loss to Tyrone at home last week.

After a missed Bellefonte field goal, Tyrone marched 80 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

On the first play of Bellefonte’s next possession, Tyrone’s Dravyn Crowell intercepted a Raider pass and returned it to the 1-yard line. The Eagles scored on the next play — their second TD in 15 seconds — and suddenly the trailing Raiders would never be able to recover.

Tyrone scored again in the third quarter and then let its defense take over in the shutout win. It was Tyrone’s first win of the season, and the Raiders fell to 1-2.

Bellefonte quarterback Nicholas Way accounted for 145 yards of total offense (55 passing), but three turnovers, including two fumbles and the interception, hampered the Raiders and squashed any momentum they were able to build.

This week, the Raiders travel to Hollidaysburg, a team that racked up 335 passing yards and 20 points in a loss to State College on Friday night.

The Tigers are 1-2 so far with losses to SC and Altoona and a 28-0 win over Mifflin County. The Tigers can move the ball; they gain more than 270 yards per game with 206 of that through the air.

Quarterback Jake McGinnis has completed 46-of-86 passes so far for 624 yards and five touchdowns. McGinnis is also the second leading rusher on the team, just behind Xander Bainey.

Hollidaysburg fell behind State College 17-0 by halftime, but long passes by McGinnis brought the team back and the game was not decided until late in the final quarter.

Bellefonte has been good defensively — the Raiders matched up well with Tyrone — and the Raider defenders will have to show up again against Hollidaysburg, especially in defense against the pass.

BALD EAGLE AREA (2-1) AT HUNTINGDON (0-3)
SEPT. 17, 7 P.M.

It’s Bald Eagle Area’s turn to take on Huntingdon this week.

After the Bearcats, 0-3 so far, lost to Penns Valley, 40-7, on Sept. 3, and Philipsburg-Osceola, 7-6, on Sept. 10, they are now set to take on the Bald Eagles on Friday night at home.

Huntingdon looked lost at times in their first two losses against the Rams and Mount Union, but there was a noticeable improvement in the P-O game on Friday. Two late turnovers, a missed fourth-down at the goal line, and a stopped two-point attempt kept the Bearcats from winning the Mountie game.

Bald Eagle Area, however, is coming off a 50-point performance against North Penn Mansfield and is feeling confident and looking for its first Mountain League victory.

BEA is averaging just under 220 yards of offense per game and is led by quarterback Carson Nagle and running back Garrett Burns.

Nagle has completed 38-of-70 passes for 421 yards this season with three touchdowns, all against NPM. And Burns has run for 154 yards on 24 carries and has scored four touchdowns.

Defensively, the Eagles have been aggressive with four sacks, three interceptions and three fumble recoveries. They also have two special-teams touchdowns and a pick-six.

With Penns Valley, Tyrone, P-O and Bellefonte coming up immediately on the schedule, in that order, this is not a game that BEA can afford to look past.

This story appears in the Sept. 16-22 edition of the Centre County Gazette.