State College, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola all launched their 2022 football seasons with big wins on Friday night, but Bellefonte and Bald Eagle Area both absorbed losses to non-league opponents.
This week, everyone is again back in action, and there will be three Mountain League games — BEA will entertain Clearfield, Bellefonte will travel to Penns Valley and P-O will have Huntingdon at home.
State College will take on one of the teams it lost to last season, Downingtown East, in Exton.
Here’s a brief look at each game:
STATE COLLEGE (1-0) AT DOWNINGTOWN EAST (1-0)
SEPT. 2, EXTON
The State College Little Lions ran out a 42-0 halftime lead over Williamsport on Friday night and then coasted to a 42-14 win over the Millionaires.
The Little Lions only attempted seven passes in the game, but they ran the ball for 240 yards and scored five first-half touchdowns.
Freshman D’Antae Sheffey ran seven times for 110 yards and two touchdowns, while John Scott ran for 35 yards and two more scores. Matt Wall, who ran nine times for 55 yards, accounted for the fifth running touchdown.
Quarterback Finn Furmanek also connected with Donte Nastasi for a 23-yard touchdown.
It was an impressive opening night for the Little Lions, but now they will travel east to take on one of the teams they lost to last season — Downingtown East.
And like last season, Downingtown East will be a formidable opponent.
The Cougars gave up an early touchdown to Pennridge on Friday and then ran off 31 straight points to overwhelm the Rams, 31-14 in Perkasie.
Pennridge running back Brennan Fisher had a monster game — he ran 19 times for 183 yards and both of his team’s touchdowns — but the Cougars were all-around too balanced and easily took control after Fisher’s early touchdown.
Last year, East finished at 9-3 and ended its season with a 42-21 loss to Quakertown in the District 1 playoffs.
The Cougars return quarterback Jamy Jenkins along with second-leading running back Bo Horvath.
Both teams have high expectations for 2022 and this game will be a good indicator of where each one stands.
Game time is 7 p.m.
CLEARFIELD (0-1) AT BALD EAGLE AREA (0-1)
SEPT. 2, WINGATE
Bald Eagle Area took leads over Troy on Friday night on a field goal by Kaden Burns in the first quarter and then a second-quarter touchdown pass from Carson Nagle to Kahale Burns.
The rest of the night, however, turned against the Bald Eagles on three explosive plays by the Trojans.
Troy scored on two pick-sixes in the first half by Clayton Smith and Justice Chimics, and then capped the scoring with a 98-yard, second-half run by Charles Oldroyd.
Along the way, the Troy defense held BEA scoreless, and the Trojans escaped with a 20-9 opening night win.
Bald Eagle was hurt by mistakes — they had four passes intercepted and lost a fumble — but they were nonetheless held to just one touchdown after gaining more than 230 yards of total offense.
Nagle passed for 188 yards in the game. Tre Greene ran for 50 yards and Cameron Dubbs added 25 yards on just three carries. Burns had six catches for 38 yards and the touchdown.
Now, BEA will have to contend with perennial Mountain League contender Clearfield at home on Friday night while trying to even its record at 1-1.
Clearfield is 0-1 after a 20-7 loss to non-league Juniata on Saturday (Friday’s game was postponed due to weather).
Juniata took an early 12-0, first quarter lead in the game after touchdowns by Waylon Ehrenzeller and Makih Hunt, but the Bison cut that to 12-7 with a touchdown run by Will Domico in the second quarter.
Unfortunately, that was all the Bison would be able to score. Juniata added another touchdown in the third quarter that set the final at 20-7.
For Clearfield, Domico completed four of 15 passes for 35 yards, and Brady Collins ran 13 times for 83 yards.
Both teams now will enter the game looking to even their records and score a win in the conference. That said, both teams have issues to work out from Week 1, and this looks like it could go to the team that makes the fewest mistakes.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
BELLEFONTE (0-1) AT PENNS VALLEY (1-0)
SEPT. 2, SPRING MILLS
These two teams could not have gotten off to more different beginnings.
Penns Valley had its way with visiting Line Mountain after falling behind by a touchdown in the first half and then running off 34 unanswered second-half points in a 41-13 win.
Bellefonte, on the other hand, was stymied by Selinsgrove on Friday and suffered a 32-0 loss to the Seals.
Selinsgrove took a 16-0 lead at the half and then added two touchdowns and a field goal in the second half to secure the win.All the while, Selinsgrove held the Raider offense in check.
Penns Valley piled up big numbers against Line Mountain, especially in the second half. Quarterback Jackson Romig completed 15 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns, while Ty Watson (125 yards, two touchdowns) led a rushing attack that put up 165 yards.
Miles Brooks, Josh Lieb and Hunter Lyons all caught touchdown passes from Romig.
The Raiders were not able to get much going against the Seal defense, but Penns Valley is a conference foe and Bellefonte will certainly use this week to improve and prepare for the Rams.
This is another game that very well may favor the team that makes the fewest mistakes.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
HUNTINGDON (0-1) AT PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (1-0)
SEPT. 2, PHILIPSBURG
The Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties couldn’t have foreseen a much better start than their 49-20 victory over next-door rival West Branch on Friday night.
On offense, the Mounties moved the ball up and down the field, on the ground and through the air. Quarterback Ben Gustkey led an offense that ground out less than 400 yards (345 on the ground) and scored 49 points against a team that held P-O scoreless in the second half last year in an overtime loss.
And defensively, the Mounties kept Warrior quarterback Tyler Biggans in check as much as possible (he did score twice), and when West Branch pulled to within 28-20, P-O didn’t allow another point.
Gustkey kept the Mountie offense moving. He threw for 56 yards and a touchdown and also ran four times for 76 yards and two more scores. One of his rushing touchdowns was a 67-yard sprint that put the game away for P-O.
Now, P-O will begin Mountain League play with a home game on Friday against Huntingdon.
The Bearcats didn’t win a game last year, and teams averaged almost 40 points per game against them. One of P-O’s two wins last season was a 7-6 victory at Huntingdon on Sept. 10.
This week, the Bearcats will come to Philipsburg at 0-1 after a 7-0 loss to Mount Union on Friday in Mount Union.
Mount Union scored a touchdown in the first quarter and then held on for the win, shutting out Huntingdon for its first win.
Last season, Mount Union took a 32-7 win over the Bearcats, so it appears that the Huntingdon defense has shown some improvement.
After the win over West Branch, Philipsburg will be doubling down in search of a 2-0 record. The Mounties can’t take the Bearcats lightly, though.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
This story appears in the Sept. 1-7 edition of The Centre County Gazette.
