STATE COLLEGE — On their Teacher Appreciation Night, the Little Lions gave a performance worth studying for the ages en route to their third defensive shutout of the season.
State College returned home to Memorial Field after a two-game victorious road skid, hosting Cedar Cliff which looked out gunned from the very first play as the Little Lions earned their fifth win on the season.
“To have three shutouts at this point in the year out of five games, it’s pretty special,” State College coach Matt Lintal said postgame. “Credit to our defensive staff; they’re doing a tremendous job preparing our kids. The effort of our kids is outstanding, playing really team-oriented football. Super proud of the guys, creating turnovers, giving us more field-run offense and just playing team defense.”
It was a team performance for Lintal’s unit where all three sides of the ball showed out, but all took a backseat role to an offensive which posted over 300 yards on the grounds with four scores, followed by another two scores from the air.
“I think it’s great to have six different guys score touchdowns… This is a really selfless team, everybody is out there cheering for each other and rooting for each other and doing their job to make sure that we have success as a team,” coach Lintal said.
The run game ran primarily through senior Zach Spicer who finished with a game high of 141 yards on only seven carries. Fellow senior Ka’Ven Smith-Kirk followed with 70 yards on five carried, with both logging a score.
“They’re super fun to coach. But to be able to run the ball, throw the ball, have some big plays,” coach Lintal said. “Just really proud of our guys up front, adjusting to some different things that we saw, being able to adapt and Connor Kulka’s ability to lead the charge from the quarterback position, taking advantage of what they gave us.”
Kulka’s day finished with 9/13 passing for 238 yards, with a majority of those plays coming off big chunk plays. The Xyear gunslinger finished with two scores by air and one from the ground. Old Dominion linebacker commit AJ Fry ripped a score off on the Little Lions first play of the game, taking a Kulka pass with a run and catch for a 57-yard score. Fry also had a pair of flashy punt returns which he took back for scores, yet both were called back due to illegal blocking penalties.
“Those are huge things in a big game, and obviously every win or loss, you have an opportunity to grow. It’s a lot more fun after a win, but it’s still a great opportunity to grow,” coach Lintal said. “Those are things we address on Monday, break down the film, and make sure that we have the notes for the guys. But obviously, we have to clean things up, but those fun returns were outstanding by AJ Fry”
Despite Fry’s big day, the primary playmaker in the air was wideout Max Vendemia, who finished with 100 yards on only three catches. The majority of his yardage came on a 75-yard touchdown score that put State College up 38-0 just before the half.
Sitting at a perfect 4-0 in the Mid-Penn-Commonwealth Conference, tied with Harrisburg as the only undefeated team in the grouping that has an undefeated 5-0 record. The two currently leading the conference are slated for a regular-season finale on Oct. 30; for now, the Little Lions hit the road to face Cumberland Valley before returning home to face Central Dauphin.
