CENTRE COUNTY — Local high school football teams came through with three victories on Friday, Oct. 11, highlighted by State College’s 55-17 win over previously undefeated Central Dauphin East in Harrisburg.
Also notching wins were the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties, who scored 44 points in their third win of the year, and Bald Eagle Area, who outlasted Greater Johnstown in two overtimes, 32-26.
In Spring Mills, Penns Valley remained without a win but kept competing until the very end in an up-and-down 56-42 loss to Somerset, and Bishop McCort stymied the Bellefonte offense in a 28-0 win at Bellefonte.
Here’s a closer look at each team and the upcoming schedules:
STATE COLLEGE (7-1) BLITZES VS CENTRAL DAUPHIN EAST (7-1)
The State College Little Lions started fast against Central Dauphin East on Friday, Oct. 11, and never let up in a 55-17 Mid Penn Commonwealth game at Central Dauphin East.
State College quarterback Eddie Corkery threw five touchdown passes, and running back Lamar Wilson scored three more on the ground as the Lions ran up 465 yards of offense in their seventh win of the season and fifth in a row.
A Corkery touchdown pass to Ty Salazer and a 10-yard Wilson run put the Lions ahead 14-0 before 7 minutes ticked off the clock.
Central Dauphin East did get a first-quarter field goal, but two more Wilson runs, 28 and 20 yards, and a touchdown pass from Corkery to Michael Gaul made it 35-10 at halftime and the Lions were on their way.
After halftime, Corkery found Cooper Brushwood for a 15-yard touchdown and Salazer for a 17-yarder as State College extended its lead to 49-17, and then Corkery put an exclamation point on the night with a 91-yard rainbow to Brushwood at the 8:19 mark.
For the game, Wilson ran 19 times for 152 yards and his three touchdowns, while Corkery was 13-for-21 for 300 yards and five touchdowns.
Salazar had eight catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns, and Brushwood caught two for 106 yards and two touchdowns.
The win put State College’s overall record at 7-1 and also moved the Lions into a tie with Harrisburg for first place in the Mid Penn Commonwealth Division.
State College is also ranked No. 1 in the District 6, 6A bracket.
This week, the Lions will face 0-8 Carlisle at home on Friday, Oct. 18.
Carlisle has not won a game and has lost its last three games to Harrisburg, Chambersburg and Cedar Cliff by a combined score of 101-26.
Against Cedar Cliff last week, the Herd hung in for the first half, down 14-7, but Cedar Cliff outscored them 27-6 in the second half to take the win.
Gametime is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
BALD EAGLE AREA (4-4) VS GREATER JOHNSTOWN (2-6)
Bald Eagle Area quarterback Carson Nagle connected with Wyatt Spackman for an 11-yard touchdown in the second overtime on Friday, Oct. 11, and sent his team to a thrilling, 32-26 victory over LHAC foe Greater Johnstown at home in Wingate.
Nagle, who threw four touchdown passes on the night, ran one in from 3 yards out in the first overtime that gave the Eagles a 26-20 lead after a missed extra point.
Then Johnstown extended the game, and in fact had a chance to win it, when quarterback Julius Reed threw a fourth-down TD pass to Kaleem Taylor that tied it a 26-26.
The extra point to win the game was missed, however, giving Bald Eagle Area another life that it would not squander.
The two teams engaged each other back and forth all night with Nagle also connecting with Grady Fisher (Nagle’s 100th career touchdown pass), Spackman and Beau Taylor on a 55-yard arc that tied the game at 20-20 and sent it into overtime.
But not before the Eagles saved the game by forcing and recovering a fumble inside their own 5-yard line on Greater Johnstown’s subsequent drive.
The win evened the Eagles’ record at 4-4 for the season and broke a two-game losing streak.
Next up for Bald Eagle Area, on Friday, Oct. 17, at home, will be a meeting with 5-3 Bellwood-Antis.
Bellwood has wins this season over Penns Valley, Westmont-Hilltop, Huntingdon, Tyrone and Philipsburg, but the Devils have lost their last two games to Bishop Guilfoyle and Penn Cambria.
Bellwood-Antis quarterback Holden Schreier and running back Chase Plummer combine for over 230 yards of total offense per game, and the team averages 320 yards and 22 points each outing.
The game looms large for both teams as Bellwood is three teams above Bald Eagle Area in the D6, 2A rankings with both teams having two games yet to play.
Bald Eagle Area is No. 9, and Bellwood No. 6, with Cambria Heights, River Valley and Mount Union presently being in the top spots.
A win here for Bald Eagle Area would vastly improve its playoff chances.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Wingate.
CARSON NAGLE THROWS CAREER TOUCHDOWN NO. 100
When Bald Eagle Area quarterback Carson Nagle opened the scoring in his team’s 32-26 win over Greater Johnstown with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Grady Fisher on Friday, Oct. 11, it was not only the first score of the night but a much bigger milestone in Nagle’s career.
The pass marked Nagle’s 100th touchdown pass in his four-year career as quarterback for the Bald Eagles.
Nagle would go on to throw three more touchdown passes in the game, including a 10-yarder to Wyatt Spackman that proved the be the winner in the double-overtime victory over GJHS.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (3-5) VS WESTMONT-HILLTOP (0-8)
In what was their best offensive output of the year, the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties skated out to a 30-6 halftime lead and kept plugging in a 44-14 win over Westmont-Hilltop on Friday, Oct. 11, at home in Philipsburg.
The Mounties scored four first-half touchdowns and a field goal and then added a score in both the third and fourth quarters.
Quarterback Archer Baughman completed just five passes in the game for 109 yards, but three of them went for touchdowns, all to running back Sam McDonald.
McDonald had a monster night. He caught four passes, three of them for touchdowns with a long of 50 yards, for 98 yards and ran the ball six times for 125 yards and another touchdown.
Also breaking the 100-yard rushing mark was Colton Chapman with 15 carries for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
The win was the third of the season for Philipsburg-Osceola, and it broke a three-game losing streak.
Philipsburg-Osceola will next see undefeated Bishop Guilfoyle at home on Friday, Oct. 18.
Guilfoyle has an explosive offense and has scored over 40 points in five of its last six games, including 47 against Chestnut Ridge and 50 against Tyrone.
Quarterback Chase Kissell passes for over 230 yards per game, and running back Taurean Consiglio runs for over 70.
Hamilton Gates is the top receiver with over 115 receiving yards per game.
In all, Bishop Guilfoyle gains 415 yards per game and scores an average of 38 points.
This game will be a major challenge for the Mounties who will now be looking to even their record.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Philipsburg.
PENNS VALLEY (0-8) VS SOMERSET (3-5)
Penns Valley and Somerset lit up the scoreboard on Friday, Oct. 11, in Spring Mills with the Eagles finally outlasting the Rams for a 56-42 victory.
Somerset sprinted out early to a 21-0 lead, but the Rams refused to go away and kept plowing until the final whistle.
Led by quarterback Colby Miller and Fletcher Ironside, the Rams would creep back into contention by halftime at 35-21.
Miller and Ironside connected on all three of Penns Valley’s first-half touchdowns on plays of 8 yards, 19 yards and 79 yards.
But Somerset kept scoring. The Eagles took a 42-21 lead early in the second half, but Koltin Shawver would cut the lead again with a three-yard run to make it 42-28.
The teams combined for 28 more points in the fourth quarter with Miller throwing two more touchdown passes (he had five for the game), one to Ironside for nine yards and the other to Spencer Althouse for 45 yards.
But Somerset’s offense was in a groove and the Eagles were able to keep the Rams at arm’s length and finally come out with the win.
Penns Valley will now take on 4-4 Tyrone at home on Friday, Oct. 18, still searching for that first win.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Spring Mills.
BISHOP MCCORT (5-3) VS BELLEFONTE (5-3)
The Bishop McCort Crushers scored all of their points in the first half and then its defense took care of the rest in a 28-0 win over Bellefonte on Friday, Oct. 11, in Bellefonte.
McCort scored twice in the first quarter on Angelo Gallucci runs of one and seven yards, and then added a Jonathan Delia run in the second as well as a 32-yard pass from Gallucci to Delia.
The touchdown pass to Delia happened as time expired in the quarter and put the Raiders in a 28-0 hole going into the locker rooms.
The Raiders were held to 130 yards of offense in the game, 99 on the ground on 27 attempts.
Quarterback Liam Halterman led the way with 11 runs for 24 yards, and he also was 4-for10 for 30 yards passing.
But the Raiders could not get on the scoreboard and fell to their third loss of the season with 0-8 Huntingdon coming to Bellefonte for a Friday night LHAC meeting.
The Raiders are still in the No. 2 spot in the D6, 4A Rankings just behind Juniata.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Bellefonte.
