We’ll take it.
Bellefonte, Bald Eagle, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola all came through with opening-week victories, something that hasn’t happened in recent memory.
The only non-winning county team was St. Joseph’s Academy, which fell to Bucktail after starting quarterback and linebacker Brendan Robinson went down with an injury just 12 minutes into the game.
This week, we add State College to the mix when the Little Lions open their season at home against J.P. McCaskey.
Philipsburg-Osceola (1-0) at Bald Eagle Area (1-0), Friday, Sept. 1
Can’t have a big game in Week 2? There is not a person involved with either of these two teams who would agree with that statement going into this Mountain League matchup at BEA.
Both teams won in Week 1, and both teams are embarking on their second year of rebuilding under new head coaches.
BEA traveled to Troy on Aug. 25 and, except for a somewhat shaky third quarter, dominated in a 33-13 victory. The Bald Eagles ran up just under 400 yards of offense and scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter that chalked up their first win.
Quarterback Jordan Jones completed 11 or 19 passes for 132 yards and Gage McClenahan ran for 161 yards and three touchdowns. On the down side, the Eagles did lose three fumbles, but they weren’t intercepted and punted just once in their very encouraging first-week win.
Almost the same things can be said about Philipsburg. The Mounties broke a three-year drought in the final week of 2016, and now have won two in a row after a 32-14 win over West Branch.
This one wasn’t close. P-O led 20-0 at halftime and extended that lead to 32-6 midway through the final quarter. Unveiling a new spread offense, the Mounties racked up 425 yards of offense, almost evenly divided between the pass and run.
Quarterback Bubba Slogosky threw for 199 yards and a touchdown in the win, and Matt Johnson ran 16 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson’s second score, a 31-yard touchdown blast, gave P-O a commanding 26-point lead with six minutes to play in the game.
Now, both of these teams will be looking to go 2-0, and it’s impossible to determine if either one has an advantage. The game will likely come down to who makes the fewest mistakes.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Huntingdon (1-0) at Bellefonte (1-0), Friday, Sept. 1
Bellefonte’s comeback effort against Jersey Shore came up just short in 2016.
In the first week of 2017, the Raiders completed the job with a dramatic 17-13 win. Down by 10 points going into the fourth quarter and struggling to get something going, Dylan Dietrich ignited the Raiders with an electrifying play. Dietrich took a reverse handoff and raced 55 yards for sudden score that brought Bellefonte squarely back into the game at 13-10.
Seven minutes later, Raider quarterback Nick Palosky snuck in from a yard out to give his team a late three-point lead. The Raider defense, which did not give up a second-half point, took over from there and stopped Jersey Shore’s last-ditch drive with a fourth-and-21 sack.
Now, Bellefonte has Mountain League foe Huntingdon standing in the way of a 2-0 start, and the Bearcats will be trying to avenge last year’s 21-20 loss to the Raiders.
Huntingdon was impressive in its 57-0 whitewash of Mount Union in Week 1.
The score in that game was 26-0 by halftime and 33-0 going into the fourth quarter. Huntingdon threw and ran for 413 yards, with quarterbacks Nick Troha and Andrew Hudy combining for 156 yards and two scores. Senior running back Ian Border ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns, and senior receiver Jonathan Price added 107 yards and a touchdown on six receptions.
The aggressive Hundingdon defense also had six sacks, two interceptions and recovered a fumble in the rout.
This is another Week 2 matchup too close to call, but if Bellefonte can add some more passing yards to its attack, it could easily get to that 2-0 mark.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Penns Valley (1-0) at Clearfield (1-0), Friday, Sept. 1
It was all about defense for Penns Valley in the Rams’s 21-20 comeback win against Punxsutawney on Aug. 25. That, and a late 51-yard pass from Aaron Tobias to Cole Breon that set up Ryan Ripka’s 1-yard go-ahead score with eight minutes to play.
Eight minutes would seem like more than enough time for Punxsy to strike back, but not this night against a highly motivated Penns Valley defense.
In Week 2, Penns Valley will open its Mountain League season at perennial contender Clearfield.
Clearfield opened its season with a solid, if unspectacular, 21-0 victory over DuBois. The Bison stumbled out of the gate with early turnovers and mistakes, but they eventually got it together behind veteran quarterback Isaac Rummery.
Rummery threw two touchdown passes and scrambled 62 yards for another score as Clearfield got past arch-rival DuBois for its first win.
Rummery led the Bison in rushing with 69 yards and the touchdown and completed 11 of 17 passes for 173 yards. All the while, the Clearfield defense was throwing a shutout and holding DuBois to just 150 yards of offense.
No one in the Mountain League has an easy time going into Clearfield, and the Rams will need an equally inspired effort on both sides of the ball to come out of this one with another win.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy (0-1) at Fairfield (1-0), Friday, Sept. 1
It’s no secret that small schools can be affected far more by injuries than big ones, especially when the injuries come to skill position players.
That’s what happened to SJCA in its opener against Bucktail on Aug. 25. St. Joe’s began practice this season with just 12 players — it has since gone to 20 — but it obviously could ill afford to lose anybody, much less starting quarterback Brendan Robinson.
With Robinson out early, Bucktail took advantage and came away with a 12-0 over the scrambling Wolves. Without Robinson, SJCA managed 64 yards of offense as the Bucks scored touchdowns in the second and fourth quarter to secure the win.
This week, the Wolves travel to Fairfield for their second game. Fairfield is 0-1 after a 19-13 loss at Marian Catholic in Tamaqua. Fairfield ran up 340 yards of offense and 17 first downs against Marian, but the Knights could not overcome a fourth-quarter, 12-point deficit despite scoring a late touchdown.
Fairfield was led by Division One FCS prospect Darian Mort (rumored to be a favorite of Villanova). The senior completed 14 of 20 passes for 210 yards and both of Fairfield’s touchdowns, but he was sacked on big fourth-down play on the Knights’ final drive to seal the win for Marian.
SJCA can take advantage if Fairfield makes the same number of mistakes in Week 2 — two lost fumbles and 11 penalties — but it is critical that the Wolves keep Mort relatively in check.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
J.P. McCaskey (0-0) at State College (0-0), Friday, Sept. 1
State College will open its new season trying to surpass — or equal — a very successful year in 2016.
First up will be a non-conference game against Lancaster’s J.P. McCaskey. This will also be McCaskey’s first game, and the Red Tornados are coming off a relatively down 4-6 record in 2016.
After a loss to State College in Week 1, McCaskey rebounded with two wins to go 2-1. But a four-game losing streak took a toll, and the Tornados never recovered.
Part of McCaskey’s problems last season can be attributed to its struggling offense. The Tornados were held to fewer than 10 points four times and gained just more than 200 yards per game.
The good news for them is that their top passer, Ante Robinson, top runner, Ray Godwin, and both top receivers, Isiah Speller and Jamiere Gray, all will return for 2017. Godwin, Speller and Gray were also among the team’s leaders in total offense.
On defense, McCaskey did have 18 sacks and 13 interceptions, with Godwin, Gray and Jaime Rodriquez-Vega leading the team in picks.
McCaskey was in the game last year against SC, and it’s for sure that the it will be very excited to begin the new season with a big win over a Mid Penn champion. Much will hinge on how lots of new SC skill people perform in their first action.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
