By MYLES HANNAK
STATE COLLEGE — The State College High School Little Lions made their home debut Friday in front of a packed crowd when they welcomed conference foe Chambersburg to Memorial Field. The Little Lions entered familiar territory fresh off a narrow one-score opening win over Central York yet added to their win column this time around with much more ease.
The Little Lions ultimately shut out the Trojans 38-0 in a game with almost no flaws for the victors.
State College started hot on both ends, winning the toss, forcing a three-and-out on Chambersburg and then capping a long drive on the ground with running back Rowan Walker, who finished with a pair of touchdowns on the day to bring his season total to five.
“(Walker) finishes every run with a really physical nature; he’s protected the football and really doing a tremendous job working on our line,” State College Coach Matt Lintal said. “Our line is really where everything happens. Those guys up front are dominant, really controlling the line of drive.”
Chambersburg’s next three drives ended with the same fate, as Walker punched in another score for an early 14-0 lead after the first quarter. The defensive pressure from State College continued to limit the Crusaders into the half, as Lintal used all three timeouts to regain possession with under a minute before the break. Tight end Keen Furmanek, who also filled in under center in the second half while starter Connor Kulka rested, hauled in a ball inside the five-yard line. That play set up Kulka with an easy pass to wideout AJ Fry, who snagged a pair of scores himself, for the last touchdown of the game just before halftime.
“The coaches, Mark Baney, our defensive staff, the game plan, really executed that tremendously well,” Lintal said. “Obviously, when you can hold, you can have four three-and-outs in a row. We’re getting great field position on the offensive side. So that’s huge; it’s really game changer.”
Kulka finished his day with two passing touchdowns and a score from his legs. After the starter went out, Lintal rotated various passers and backfield options with a clear emphasis on running down the clock.
“Coming in first home game, a lot of excitement; the kids actually did the game plan really well,” Lintal said. “We wanted to have a balanced attack, be able to run the ball, throw the ball. Feel like we were able to do that really effectively [and] played great defense.”
The Little Lions only got a pair of possessions in the second half after savvy time management. The first drive concluded with the boot of Shane Markowski, as the kicker squeaked in a 49-yard field goal that got an assist from the crossbar to bounce through the uprights. The second chance on offense by State College was to close out the game; facing a fourth-down situation, it converted to set up victory formation and to allow a crowd that hadn’t yet dissipated to pop.
“This place is special, it’s unbelievable,” coach Lintal said. “When you walk down that ramp and take this field, if you don’t get goosebumps, I don’t know who you are. It’s a special atmosphere. We know how blessed we are … there’s obviously a buzz in this town for football, and seeing that carry over into Friday nights here is so special.”
The Little Lions continue their season with a road contest against Bishop McDevitt on the road next Friday. The Crusaders also stand at 2-0 and arrive off a shutout victory over Central Dauphin East, 45-0.
