CENTRE COUNTY — The State College Little Lions kept pace on Friday night in the Mid Penn with a victory over Cedar Cliff, and Bellefonte edged LHAC rival Philipsburg-Osceola in Philipsburg.
Central Martinsburg barely escaped Penns Valley, and Clearfield’s defense was the difference in its win over Bald Eagle Area.
Here is a closer look at the games and this week’s schedule where all local LHAC teams are headed to Johnstown.
D’Antae Sheffey leads SC to a 36-21 victory
State College Little Lions used a late surge to finally overcome Cedar Cliff on Friday night.
After Cedar Cliff took a 21-20 lead with seven minutes left in the third quarter, State College scored the final 16 points in the game as the Little Lions improved to 6-1 with a 36-21 victory.
Playing in Camp Hill, the Lions answered Cedar Cliff’s challenge with a 25-yard field goal by Shane Markowski and then two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take the victory.
D’Antae Sheffey made it 30-21 with a 2-yard run with nine minutes to play, followed by quarterback Connor Kulka’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Lustig with five minutes to play that set the final score at 36-21.
Sheffey scored twice earlier in the second quarter on runs of 15 and 24 yards and finished the night with 20 carries for 152 yards and the three touchdowns, while Kulka threw for 179 yards and two more scores.
Wide receiver Daimear Coad caught the other touchdown pass and finished with 3 catches for 95 yards.
The win improved SC to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the conference, tied with Bishop McDevitt and a game behind Harrisburg.
This week, the Lions will return home to Memorial Field to play 2-5 CD East.
East so far has wins over William Penn and Carlisle, but the team fell to Chambersburg, Cedar Cliff (14-3), Altoona, Cumberland Valley and Central Dauphin, 28-18, last week at home.
In the CD game on Friday night, the Rams bolted out to a 28-6 lead in the third quarter before East came up with two long scoring plays to make it 28-18.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
Bellefonte holds off P-O in Philipsburg
Bellefonte Raiders broke open a tightly fought game with 17 second half points and rode them to a 24-15 victory over the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties on Friday night.
Playing in Philipsburg, Bellefonte took a slim 14-9 lead into the fourth quarter and then extended that to 17-9 on a field goal by William Oskin.
Five minutes later–and with just two minutes to play in the game–quarterback Quinn Park ran in a 19-yard touchdown that essentially ended the game and gave the Raiders a 24-9 lead.
P-O quarterback Archer Baughman and running back Colton Chapman answered with a drive that Chapman ended with a 1-yard run.
But it was too late, and the Raiders had their third win of the season.
Not to be overlooked was the play of the Bellefonte defense.
They held the potent Mountie offense to just under 200 total yards and held Chapman to 50 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
Baughman finished with 10 completions for 102 yards.
For Bellefonte, Kaven Smith-Kirk ran 22 times for 99 yards and a touchdown, and Park added another 75 yards and a score on 20 carries.
Next up for Bellefonte will be a trip to see 6-1 Richland on Friday night in Johnstown.
Richland comes into the game on a three-game winning streak and with only one loss on its record–to undefeated Bishop McCort on Sept. 11.
Otherwise, the record is clean and includes wins in the last two weeks over Somerset, 61-7, and Greater Johnstown, 36-0.
Richland is led by prolific senior quarterback Jacob Regan who so far has completed 86-of-121 passes for 1498 yards and 18 touchdowns. He has also run 27 times for another 111 yards, while top running backs Grayson Mahla and Joe McAneny have combined for 756 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The Ram defense has also been strong and has allowed just 14 total points in the last three wins.
The Mounties, now 4-3 for the season, will see another Johnstown power on Friday night in undefeated Bishop McCort.
McCort is 7-0 and has barely been challenged at all this year.
The closest games were a 21-6 win over Bellwood-Antis and a 31-12 victory over Richland on Sept. 11.
Senior running back Jon Delia leads the team with 104 rushing yards per game and 11 touchdowns while quarterback Bentley Bainey has 66 completions for 878 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The leading receiver is senior Nick Dressick with 14 catches for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns, but there are five McCort receivers with over 120 yards in receptions.
Both the Raiders and Mounties will have to be at their best in these games.
Both games will kickoff at 7 p.m. in Johnstown.
Clearfield holds on for a 12-6 win over BEA
Down 12-6 with time running out, Bald Eagle Area’s final drive deep into Clearfield territory was abruptly ended when the Bison’s Cash Diehl intercepted a Gradyn Fisher pass with just one minute left to play.
The interception preserved the Clearfield six-point win, the team’s fifth of the year, and sent Bald Eagle Area to its fourth loss.
With the game tied 6-6 in the fourth quarter, Clearfield quarterback Xavier Curry completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Broad that eventually became the winning score.
Earlier in the quarter, BEA tied the score at 6-6 on a field goal by Jackson Millward, but the Bison were able to respond with the touchdown.
BEA subsequently drove to the Clearfield 30-yard line, but Diehl was able to step in front of Fisher’s fourth-down pass and end the drive and the game.
BEA’s Fisher ran 31 times for 101 yards in the game, and he threw for 23 more yards, but the Eagles could not break into the end zone.
This week, BEA will take on 0-7 Westmont-Hilltop in Johnstown in another LHAC contest.
Justin Ray and Bryce Goodman combine to gain 123 yards per game for W-H, while the leading receiver is Derek Gartner.
The Hilltoppers have yet to win this season, and last week suffered a 56-0 loss to unbeaten Bishop McCort.
Bald Eagle Area will look improve their record to .500 with three games remaining on the regular-season schedule. The Eagles are currently ranked No. 9 in the D6, AA Bracket.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Johnstown.
Central upsets PV with late scores.
Penns Valley Rams and Central Dragons do not have many wins this season, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play exciting football.
On Friday night in Spring Mills, Penns Valley was on the verge of its first win, but two late Dragon touchdowns lifted Central to a heart-stopping 26-25 win.
The Rams, behind Carter Ironside, Fletcher Ironside and Spencer Althouse, built a 25-14 lead going into the fourth quarter.
But a Central touchdown run by Carter Schenk at the nine-minute mark made it 25-20, and then quarterback Jesse Muthler found Schenk open for an 8-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left that gave the Dragons a 26-25 victory.
That final Central drive began with 3 minutes left on the Dragon 13-yard line and went 13 plays and 87 yards.
Schenk and Muthler’s heroics overcame a solid game by the Rams and an outstanding game by Fletcher Ironside.
Ironside scored all four of the Rams’ touchdowns, three of them on passes from his brother Carter and the other on an 80-yard kickoff return to begin the second half.
Fletcher Ironside finished with 98 yards receiving and the three scores, while Carter completed 16 passes for 200 yards.
PV will now move on to play 1-6 Greater Johnstown in Johnstown on Friday night.
Johnstown has one win this season, over Westmont-Hilltop, but its last two games have been big losses to the top teams in the LHAC West–Richland and Bishop McCort.
Quarterback Ranson Goggens has 49 completions this season for 456 yards and 2 touchdowns, and running back Cordell Porter has 94 carries for 467 yards and 3 touchdowns.
This game looks to be another opportunity for PV to get its first win, but Johnstown can move the ball and put up points.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Johnstown.
