CENTRE COUNTY — Centre County teams saw sharply different outcomes in Week 3, with Bald Eagle Area and Philipsburg-Osceola earning decisive victories, while Bellefonte struggled against Bishop Guilfoyle. Bald Eagle stayed unbeaten in the Iron Bell Classic and the Mounties erased an early deficit to end a long losing streak against Clearfield.
Bishop Guilfoyle 35, Bellefonte 0
Bishop Guilfoyle scored three first-quarter touchdowns — two by quarterback Justin Wheeler — and rode that early advantage to a convincing 35-0 thrashing over Bellefonte on Saturday night at Mansion Park in Altoona.
Wheeler scored on a 60-yard run and a 55-yard punt return while running back Keegan Hewett scored on a 14-yard run as the Marauders took a commanding 21-0 lead that was never challenged.
In all, Wheeler scored three times and Hewett twice in the 35-0 victory while a tenacious BG defense was holding the Raiders to under 100 yards of total offense.
Wheeler got things going for the Marauders with a 60-yard romp four minutes into the opening quarter. Hewett followed with a 14-yard run at the two-minute mark to make it 14-0.
After a quick three-and-out for Bellefonte, Wheeler took the ensuing punt 55 yards for BG’s third score with just two seconds showing on the clock.
Wheeler and Hewett would each score once again in the third quarter but from here it was the Marauder defense that told the story.
The Raiders were held all night without a score, six first downs and just 20 yards on the ground on 31 attempts.
Raider Quarterback Alten Howell completed 4-of-15 passes for 51 yards with Parker Jodon catching three for 26 yards.
The loss was the second in three games for Bellefonte, and the Raiders will play their second consecutive road game on Friday night and take on long-time rival Clearfield in another LHAC contest in Clearfield.
Bald Eagle Area 31, Penns Valley 7
The first half of the 41st Iron Bell Classic between Bald Eagle Area and Penns Valley in Wingate on Friday night looked like an old-time edition of the game with neither team scoring a touchdown and BEA ahead by only a field goal, 3-0.
It did not take long for the Bald Eagles to update things in the second half, however.
Running back Sam Clark scored two third-quarter touchdowns and then Xavier Nagle scored two more in the fourth quarter as the Eagles sprinted away from the Rams, 31-7.
Clark scored the first touchdown with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter on a 1-yard run and then he made the score 17-0 with a 5-yard run at the two-minute mark.
Nagle picked things up in the fourth quarter with runs of four and eight yards that gave the Eagles a commanding 31-0 lead.
Penns Valley kept playing, though, and finished the scoring with a 5-yard run by Tripp Watson after a long fourth-quarter drive.
The BEA defense played a big role in BEA’s third win as well.
It held PV to just over 120 yards of total offense that included 91 on the ground.
Watson led the runners with 47 yards and the PV touchdown.
BEA finished with 340 total yards that included 270 on the ground.
Clark finished with 115 yards on 20 carries, Chase Cane got 59, Nagle, 52 and Luke Hosband, 27.
The win was the third without a loss for BEA with an important LHAC game coming up at 2-1 Tyrone on Friday night.
Penns Valley, now 0-3, will host a resurgent Philipsburg-Osceola in Spring Mills on Friday night.
Philipsburg-Oseola 48, Clearfield 28
Coming into Friday night’s home game against Clearfield, the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties had lost 14 straight games to the Bison dating back to 2011.
After Clearfield took an early 14-0 lead, it seemed as if that streak was about to continue.
But interceptions by Connor Guenot and Jacob Dugan sparked a P-O comeback that saw the Mounties get first-half touchdown runs from quarterback Archer Baughman, Aaron Davis and a 22-yard bolt by Demarcus Law that gave them a 20-14 halftime lead.
That TD run by Law was just a hint of what was yet to come from him.
After the second half kickoff, he took a handoff and raced 90 yards for P-O’s fourth touchdown and, after catching a two-point conversion, a 28-14 P-O lead.
Clearfield answered with a touchdown drive that closed the gap to 28-21 but Mason Vaughn came right back for the Mounties with a TD that gave them a 34-21 lead.
Clearfield drove again, and scored again, in a game that had become an offensive show. But 34-28 would be as close as the Bison would get.
A long pass from Baughman to Guenot and a 20-yard run by Law set up P-O’s next score, a 2-yard run by Vaughn. Then a 2-point conversion made it 42-28.
Now ahead by two scores, the Mountie defense stepped up and forced a turnover on downs that returned the ball to P-O with time running out.
Two plays later, Law broke loose again, this time for 30-yards and P-O final score in the 48-28 victory.
Law finished the game with 220 yards rushing on 19 carries with three touchdowns, while Davis gained 72 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown. Vaughn ran 4 times for 31 yards and two touchdowns.
In all, the Mounties gained 386 yards of offense that included 325 on the ground with 7 touchdowns.
The win was the second in a row by Philipsburg-Osceola after a first week loss to Central, and now P-O will travel to Spring Mills to face the 0-3 Penns Valley Rams on Friday night.
