CENTRE COUNTY — This Friday is Week 3 and both Bald Eagle Area and State College are 2-0 after conference wins over the last weekend.
At the same time, Philipsburg-Osceola and Bellefonte both came through with impressive bounce-back wins that evened their records at 1-1.
Penns Valley has yet to break through but the Rams can move the ball and will be visiting Bald Eagle on Friday night in The Gazette’s Game of the Week.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Penns Valley (0-2) at Bald Eagle Area (2-0)
The Bald Eagles’ Luke Hosband scored a fourth quarter touchdown that lifted the Eagles to a thrilling, 35-32 victory over Penn Cambria in Wingate on Friday night.
The win over the highly regarded Panthers was the second of the season for the Eagles without a loss and this week they will see long-time rival Penns Valley at home on Sept. 11 with an eye at going 3-0.
Penns Valley comes into Wingate at 0-2 with losses so far to Bishop Guilfoyle and Central Cambria.
In both games, the Rams fell behind early but kept playing and finished the games with positive offensive statistics.
Against Central Cambria, PV gained over 300 yards of total offense, including 180 on the ground with three touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Cael Smith led the way with 89 rushing yards and a touchdown to go along with 128 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Spencer Althouse led the receivers with three catches for 37 yards and a 31-yard touchdown.
BEA comes in after a wild back-and-forth win over Penn Cambria on Friday.
After PC scored three unanswered touchdowns in the third quarter to go ahead 32-28, BEA responded with a long drive and a run by Hosband to take the lead and the game.
BEA looks like it will be favored here, but this game could get tight if PV can get off to a better start.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Wingate on Friday night.
State College (2-0) at Bishop McDevitt (2-0)
It will be No. 5 against No. 6 on Friday night at Rocco Ortenzio Stadium in Harrisburg.
In one of the state’s biggest early games, the No. 5 ranked State College Little Lions will visit the No. 6 Bishop McDevitt Crusaders in a highly anticipated Mid-Penn Conference matchup at McDevitt.
The two teams are both undefeated and are coming off conference shutout wins.
SC took out Chambersburg 38-0 at home on Friday, while McDevitt was equally dominant in a 45-0 rout of Central Dauphin East.
Both teams played exceptionally well on offense and defense as State College rolled up over 400 yards and scored five touchdowns, while the Crusaders’ quarterback Sebastian Williams threw for 204 yards and five touchdowns against CDE.
With this being the first year for McDevitt in class 6A, the Crusaders will be looking to make an impression with a win here.
State College will be looking for redemption after giving up 27 second-half points in a 36-20 loss to the Crusaders last year in a game also played in Harrisburg.
This shapes up to be the SC balance and experience against McDevitt’s talented but young lines and dangerous passing game.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Harrisburg.
Bellefonte (1-1) at Bishop Guilfoyle (1-1)
Last year, BG quarterback Justin Wheeler ran for 101 yards and passed for 86 while running back Jacob Kissell scored the only touchdown in the game as Guilfoyle escaped from Bellefonte with a 7-0 win.
This year, Wheeler is back, and Guilfoyle will welcome Bellefonte on Saturday night with a record of 1-1.
Last week, the Marauders fell to Richland 21-16 after a last-ditch drive ended on the Richland 15-yard line on an interception with just seconds to play.
In this one, Wheeler ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 94 yards for a total of 233 yards for the night.
But Richland scored early in the third quarter to take a 21-10 lead and was able to hold on for its second win.
Guilfoyle will have to brace for an improved and very physical Raider team that is coming off an exciting 28-21 win over Forest Hills.
Quarterback Alten Howell threw for 70 yards, ran for 88 and scored three touchdowns for the Raiders in that game as they evened their record at 1-1, while Bentlee Hall ran for 111 and a touchdown.
The Raiders ran for 330 yards total against Forest Hills, and if they can match that at Guilfoyle, anything can happen in this one.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Mansion Park in Altoona.
Clearfield (1-1) at Philipsburg-Osceola (1-1)
This rivalry goes far back and the intensity level is always sky-high whenever they meet.
And that might be especially so this week as the Bison will come into Philipsburg looking to take win No. 2 after a tough 7-2 victory over Bedford last week.
Clearfield scored just one touchdown on a pass from freshman dual-threat quarterback Dylan Foust to Elijah Glunt; otherwise, its defense held Bedford without a score to tough out the win.
The Bison did pass for a total of 148 yards with Foust throwing for 70 and starter Bo Aveni getting 49. Foust was also the leading runner with 49 yards on 12 carries.
Philipsburg-Osceola is coming off an impressive and solid win over Chestnut Ridge, 34-14, with a top-level performance by running back Demarcus Law.
Law scored four touchdowns, three on the ground and one on a punt return, as the Mounties built a 20-0 first-half lead and never looked back.
This is one of those throw-out-the-record book games, but Clearfield will clearly have to plan to slow down Law and the P-O offense.
Last season, Clearfield pulled out a 27-15 win that saw the Monties rally late to get back into contention.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Philipsburg on Friday night.
