CENTRE COUNTY — In local high school football on Oct. 2, Bellefonte held off BEA in the Curtin Bowl, 17-10 (see story), and State College ran away from Cumberland Valley, 41-15, to remain undefeated at 6-0.
Penns Valley fell just short against Clearfield, 21-19, and Bellwood-Antis’ big first quarter propelled the Blue Devils over Philipsburg-Osceola, 33-0.
Here is a closer look at each game:
State College 41, Cumberland Valley 15
State College quarterback Connor Kulka threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns, Rowan Walker ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns, and AJ Fry scored two touchdowns as the Little Lions upped their undefeated record to 6-0 with a 41-15 win over Cumberland Valley.
Playing in Mechanicsburg on Friday night, SC scored three first-quarter touchdowns and a field goal to take an early 24-0 lead and played that out for its sixth win overall and fifth in the Mid-Penn Conference.
Kulka got it going with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Ken Furmanek early in the first quarter and then Fry made it 14-0 with a 50-yard touchdown run.
Walker scored the team’s third touchdown on a short run, and, with a field goal added in, the Lions took a commanding 24-0 lead after just 12 minutes of play.
Neither team scored in the second quarter, but State College essentially wrapped up the game with touchdowns by Fry (a 37-yard pass from Kulka) and Walker in the third quarter.
CV was able to score a third-quarter touchdown to avoid a shutout, but the Lions took a 38-7 lead into the final quarter.
Another SC field goal and then a Cumberland Valley touchdown in the final minute set the final score at 41-15.
Kulka finished the game with 11 completions for 234 yards and the two touchdowns, while Walker ran 22 times for 170 yards. Fry had 49 rushing yards and 3 catches for 129 yards.
The win solidified the Lions’ hold on the No. 1 seed in the District 6-6A standings as well as improved their record to 6-0.
Next for SC will be a visit from old Mid-Penn rival Central Dauphin (0-6) on Friday night at Memorial Field.
Clearfield 21, Penns Valley 19
The Clearfield Bison took a 21-19 victory over the Penns Valley Rams on Friday night when the Bison stopped a PV 2-point conversion try with just 27 seconds remaining in the game.
Playing in Spring Mills, Clearfield led 21-7 going into the fourth quarter, but Penns Valley struck twice to give itself a chance at a late tie.
Penns Valley’s Spencer Althouse scored on a 9-yard run with eight minutes to play with a touchdown that brought the Rams to within 21-13. The extra point was not good, however, and the Rams remained eight points behind.
The Ram defense got the ball back for the offense following the kickoff, and PV drove again.
This time, quarterback Cael Smith took in an 8-yard touchdown that pulled the Rams to within 21-19 with 27 seconds to play.
After a time out, Smith rolled right on the 2-point try looking for a receiver, but before he could throw, the Bison defense took him down and the try failed.
Earlier, Clearfield had taken its 21-7 lead after the Bison went ahead on a late first-quarter touchdown run by Ryan Ludwig.
PV answered immediately when Althouse took the kickoff 86 yards for the tying touchdown, but Clearfield pushed across two more touchdowns in the second quarter to lead by 14 at halftime.
Penns Valley outgained the Bison 291 to 237 in the game with Smith completing 13 passes for 106 yards and running 15 times for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Althouse ran four times for 26 yards and a touchdown in addition to his kickoff return.
The loss dropped PV to 1-5 for the season with a trip coming up on Friday night to 5-1 Central Martinsburg.
Bellwood 33, Philipsburg-Osceola 0
Two early Philipsburg-Osceola turnovers led to a 21-point Bellwood-Antis lead, and the Blue Devils defense did the rest in a 33-0 LHAC victory over the Mounties on Friday night.
Playing in Bellwood, the Devils scored on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead, and then two P-O turnovers led directly to two more Bellwood touchdowns in the first quarter.
The first was an interception by Bradyn Partner that Bellwood quickly followed with a second running touchdown that made it 14-0.
Then running back/linebacker Alex McCartney scooped a P-O fumble and returned it all the way for the Devils’ third touchdown and a 20-0 first quarter lead.
McCartney scored again in the second quarter, and Bellwood had all it needed with a 27-0 lead.
After the missteps, the Philipsburg offense could not get untracked and managed just 160 total yards on the night. The Devils held speedy P-O running back Damarcus Law to nine carries and just 20 yards.
The loss for the Mounties was their second of the season after four wins, and next week they will travel to Bellefonte for another conference matchup that will be important for both teams.
