Looking back at Mountain League co-champion Bellefonte’s remarkable 2017 season, the game that really announced its arrival into the upper levels of the league was the 55-28 victory over Clearfield on Sept. 29.
Now, in the first round of the District 6 4-A playoffs, the Raiders will get to see the Bison again when the two teams meet at Bellefonte for the right to play in the district championship.
In other District 6 playoff action, Bald Eagle Area will travel for a first-round game to Juniata on Saturday, Nov. 4, in the 3-A bracket.
State College and St. Joseph’s will both be finishing their regular seasons this weekend, with SC facing Mid-Penn rival Central Dauphin and SJCA still looking for its first win against 1-9 Bishop Carroll.
NO. 4 CLEARFIELD (6-4) AT NO. 1 BELLEFONTE (8-2)
DISTRICT 6, 4-A SEMIFINALS
FRIDAY, NOV. 3
Speaking of remarkable seasons, Clearfield just finished a campaign filled with many high points and an unusual number of very low ones.
The Bison had convincing wins over DuBois (21-0), Penns Valley (42-12), Central Mountain (49-10), Tyrone (35-7), P-O (49-7) and Karns City (45-20), but there were also big losses.
Bellefonte topped them in the Sept. 29 game, as did Central on Sept. 9 (42-14), Huntingdon on Sept. 15 and Bald Eagle Area, 25-22, on Oct. 13.
In the last two games of the season, however, Clearfield played more like its old self in wins over Karns City and P-O. The Bison didn’t commit the turnovers and make the mistakes as in the earlier losses, and both games were in little doubt from the beginning.
Losses or not, Clearfield still racks up 420 yards of offense per game, including 250 through the air.
Quarterback Isaac Rumery in the first nine games of the season completed 132 of 204 passes for 2,264 yards and 28 touchdowns. He also ran for 316 more yards and another six touchdowns.
Junior Ty Bender was the leading runner with 672 yards (nine games) for an average of 75 yards per game and three touchdowns, while the leading receiver was senior Micah Heichel with 36 catches for 687 yards and 10 touchdowns. There were also three other receivers with more than 300 yards and 20 receptions, and six receivers overall with more than 100 yards and 10 receptions.
Raiders quarterback Dylan Deitrich had a career day (up to that point, anyway) in Bellefonte’s 55-28 win in the teams’ first meeting Sept. 29. He had 178 yards rushing on 17 attempts, six touchdowns, 5-for-7 passing for 140 yards, a 30-yard touchdown run, a 57-yard touchdown run and an interception.
Deitrich led his team to 527 total yards and 35 second-half points that overwhelmed the Bison and gave the Raiders their first win over Clearfield since 2007. Four of Deitrich’s touchdowns and more than 100 of his rushing yards came in that decisive second half.
There is little question that Clearfield will have a plan to slow Deitrich, but so has everyone else and he still piles up the yards. In the Raiders’ 42-14 Curtin Bowl win over BEA on Oct. 27 — Bellefonte’s 10th game — he ran 18 times for 108 yards, threw for 86 and scored four touchdowns.
Dexter Gallishaw added 103 yards rushing in that game, and he and Cade Fortney also scored touchdowns.
So the incentives are there for both teams. Clearfield won the playoff game last season, and Bellefonte would like nothing better than to return the favor.
And, the Bison would like to eliminate the many mistakes they made Sept. 29 and atone for that big loss on what will be a much bigger stage.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
NO. 5 BALD EAGLE AREA (4-6) AT NO. 4 JUNIATA (7-3)
DISTRICT 6, 3A FIRST ROUND
SATURDAY, NOV. 4
Bald Eagle Area certainly had its ups and downs in 2017. There was a season-opening, three-game winning streak followed by four straight losses to very good teams, before a big upset win at Clearfield on Oct. 13. The season ended with losses to Jersey Shore and Bellefonte, but the Eagles’ efforts were enough to land them in the D-6 playoffs nonetheless.
As the No. 5 seed in the 3-A bracket, BEA will travel to Mifflintown on Nov. 4 to take on 7-3 and No. 4-seeded Juniata. The winner will advance to play No. 1 Huntingdon, in Huntingdon, on Saturday, Nov. 11.
The Indians finished third this year in the Tri-Valley League behind Williams Valley and Newport with a conference record of 7-2.
Juniata had some giant, one-sided blowouts against teams like Millersburg (70-0) and Halifax (60-0), but both Newport (14-7) and Williams Valley (35-13) came away with wins. Huntingdon was the other team to beat the Indians, 38-20 on Sept. 29, but Juniata rebounded and finished strong with consecutive wins against Halifax, Line Mountain and Upper Dauphin Area.
Juniata is primarily a running team, but it’s very effective with more than 195 yards per game. Junior quarterback Jeremiah Parson threw just 13 passes per game for 911 total yards (91 yards per game), but six running backs had more than 100 yards rushing. The top runner was junior Bryson Clark, who had 401 yards and nine touchdowns; he was followed by Zac Piper (394 yards), Ethan Grover (345) and RJ Becker (310). In all, the Indians compiled just under 2,000 yards running and 25 touchdowns.
The leading receivers were senior Ben Lauver (331 yards) and Clark (242 yards).
In some ways, this could be an advantageous matchup for BEA. The Eagles have good size and have shown they can be very tough against the run. The plan, no doubt, will be to stack up Clark, Piper, Grover and Becker and make Juniata throw the ball.
On offense, BEA managed just 63 yards against Bellefonte on the ground, but Jaden Jones returned at quarterback and led BEA to 230 yards passing and both touchdowns.
Almost anything is in play in this game, and as is so often the case, it could come down to the team that makes the fewest mistakes.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
STATE COLLEGE (7-2) at CENTRAL DAUPHIN (6-3),
FRIDAY, NOV. 3
No showdown here this season for the Mid-Penn Commonwealth championship, but this game is serious business for both teams, nonetheless.
Like State College, Central Dauphin lost twice in the Mid-Penn this season — to CD East and Harrisburg — and comes into the game with an uncharacteristic three losses.
But other than Harrisburg, a team that has blown out everyone so far, the Rams’ two losses were in close games, especially the 35-31 late loss to sister school CD East on Oct. 8.
The Rams’ offense produces 324 yards every time out and is perfectly balanced between the run and pass — 162 yards per game each.
Senior quarterback Brady Straub has completed 83 of 152 passes so far for 1,358 yards and 11 touchdowns.
His favorite target is senior tight end Grant Smith, who has pulled in 22 passes for 564 yards and five touchdowns. Senior Saville Pope has 19 catches for 280 yards on the other side and has scored one touchdown.
Senior fullback Mike Wise-Belle leads the CD runners with 768 yards on 153 carries and has scored 14 touchdowns. Wise-Belle gained more than 100 yards in each of the Rams’ last four games, including 121 in the win over Chambersburg and 135 in the win over Red Land.
State College, at 7-2, has a Mid-Penn record that is almost a mirror of Central Dauphin’s. Instead of losing to CD East like the Rams, however, the Little Lions won that game. But State College lost to Cumberland Valley on Oct. 6, whereas Central Dauphin survived against the Eagles by a score of 20-14.
The Little Lions recovered nicely from the Oct. 6 loss at Harrisburg with a 70-20 win over Chambersburg on Oct. 27 in State College. The Little Lions scored the first 42 points in the game and were ahead 56-6 at halftime.
Running back Tristen Lyons led a Lion offense that gained more than 475 yards in the game, 331 on the ground. Lyons scored three touchdowns and ran for 130 yards on just six carries.
Both State College and CD are 6-A schools and are preparing for the looming playoffs, and both will be difficult outs. This game will not decide the Mid-Penn title, but even so, the winner will be in a good state of mind going into the postseason.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
BISHOP CARROLL (1-9) AT SJCA (0-7)
FRIDAY, NOV. 3
Ebensburg’s Bishop Carroll has had a difficult football season so far in 2017. The Huskies have won just one game — against Penn Cambria, 15-6, on Sept. 22 — and have not been particularly competitive in any of their nine losses. Besides the Penn Cambria win, the closest Carroll has come was a 20-point loss to Bishop McCort in Week 1.
Part of the problem with the Huskies has been their struggles on offense. Carroll gains just 160 yards per game and runs for just 100 of them. Leading runner Trevor Hogue has 558 yards for the year and five touchdowns, but no one else on the roster has more than 140.
Quarterback Zach Bohrer has 40 completions for 434 yards and two touchdowns, but Bohrer also has thrown nine interceptions.
Christian Stoltz is the leading receiver with 28 catches for 208 yards.
On the other side, SJCA had a week off to prepare for this game, but the schedule so far has not been kind to the Wolves. Their closest loss came in Week 1 to Bucktail by a score of 12-0, and since then every game has had at least a 20-point difference.
Senior quarterback Brendan Robinson leads the Wolves, but his injuries and a small roster have been problems for SJCA all season.
This will be the final game in 2017 for both teams.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
PENNS VALLEY, P-O FINISH SEASONS
The two other Centre County teams both completed their seasons Oct. 27.
Penns Valley blew off a lot of steam from a frustrating season with a 61-14 run over Cowanesque Valley. Quarterback Aaron Tobias spearheaded the win with four touchdown passes and 150 yards through the air. PV built a 42-point second-half lead and played it out from there, and the Rams finished their season with a 3-7 record.
The Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties (1-9) ended their season with a 48-19 loss to 8-2 Curwensville.
P-O led 7-6 after the first quarter, but the Tide scored 28 unanswered points before halftime to essentially put the game away. Curwensville’s Nick Stewart was overpowering for the Tide. He ran 32 times for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Bryce Timko added another 155 yards and three passing touchdowns as Curwensville marched to its eighth win of the year against two losses.
For P-O, it was the ninth loss in a row, but the Mounties did record more than 300 yards on offense. Quarterback Bubba Slogosky threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns, and running backs Brandon Anderson and Matt Johnson combined for 97 yards and P-O’s other score.
The Mounties’ season ended, but Curwensville will be looking forward to entering the Single-A playoffs with a high seed.
