CENTRE COUNTY — In an exciting Week 4 of local high school football action, State College remained undefeated with a 42-0 romp over Central Dauphin East and Philipsburg-Osceola rose to 3-1 with a very close 35-28 win at all-in Penns Valley.
Bald Eagle Area suffered its first loss on Friday night at Tyrone, 15-6, and Bellefonte started fast and held on for a 28-21 LHAC win at Clearfield.
Here is a closer look at each game.
State College 42, Central Dauphin East 0
The State College Little Lions scored from all over the field in the first half on Friday night at Central Dauphin East and shot out to a 42-point lead going into the locker rooms at halftime.
The Lions held off in the second half but still played defense as they came home with a 42-0 Mid-Penn victory over CD East and an unbeate 4-0 record.
Running back Rowan Walker got things going for SC with a 6-yard touchdown run with just under nine minutes left in the first quarter.
After a three-and-out for the Panthers, quarterback Connor Kulka sparked a long drive with a 34-yard scramble, and then running back Ka’ven Smith-Kirk finished with a 4-yard run that put SC up 14-0.
On the subsequent CD drive, the Lions forced a fumble on a third-and-long play and linebacker Rowan Zinobile picked it up and returned it 58 yards untouched for the team’s third touchdown of the game and a 21-0 lead.
It didn’t take long for SC to make it 28-0.
On the first play of the second quarter, the Lions blocked a CD punt on the 25-yard line. The ball was batted all the way back to the endzone, and Noah Williams recovered it there for a touchdown and a 28-point lead.
In all, the Little Lions scored three touchdowns in just over two minutes and completely broke open the game.
State College went on to score twice more in the second quarter. Walker scored his second touchdown at the 9-minute mark on a 15-yard run and then Kukla finished the scoring with a 60-yard pass-and-run to wide receiver AJ Fry with 6:37 on the clock.
For the game, Kulka completed 5-of-7 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown, while Walker ran 7 times for 54 yards and two touchdowns.
AJ Fry caught three passes for 80 yards and the 60-yard score.
The Little Lions, now 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth, will return to Memorial Field on Friday for another Mid-Penn matchup against 1-3 Cedar Cliff.
Philipsburg-Osceola 35, Penns Valley 28
With one minute left in the game at Penns Valley on Friday night, Philipsburg-Osceola quarterback Archer Baughman ran for a 1-yard touchdown in the Mounties’ come-from-behind 35-28 victory over the Rams.
Baughman’s score after his team’s final drive of the game was followed by a two-point conversion by running back Demarcus Law that gave the Mounties a 7-point lead.
The Mounties were actually behind 28-21 in the third quarter before Connor Guenot ran in a 22-yard touchdown at the 3:20 mark.
The extra point was not good, however, and the Mounties remained behind, 28-27, going into the fourth quarter.
The Rams, playing their homecoming game at Spring Mills, came ready to play and put up their best offensive performance of the season.
After the fast start by the Mounties with touchdowns by Baughman, Robert McClanahan, and Aaron Davis gave them a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter, Penns Valley answered with three straight scores of their own.
Quarterback Cael Smith had a hand in every one.
He brought the Rams back to 21-14 with a 37-yard pass to Isaac Harper with 1:40 left in the second quarter.
Then, after a quick turnaround, he brought the Rams within a point, 21-20, after a 2-yard touchdown run as time ran out in the first half.
The Rams kept it going in the third quarter. Smith gave PV its first lead when he connected with Emery Reed for a 15-yard touchdown, and then with Spencer Althouse for a 2-point conversion. The score, with just over eight minutes to play in the third quarter, saw the Rams with a 28-21 lead.
Guenot, however, shrunk that to one point, 28-27, and then the Baughman-Law led final drive gave the Mounties their third victory of the season with just one loss.
Penns Valley fell to 0-4 despite perhaps its best performance of the season.
This week, P-O will be at home in another big LHAC game against Bald Eagle Area, and Penns Valley will be away in another local contest at Bellefonte.
Bellefonte 28, Clearfield 21
Bellefonte Raider wide receiver Parker Jodon scored four touchdowns, including a game-opening 90-yard kickoff return, and led the Raiders to a tense, 28-21 victory over Clearfield on Friday night.
Playing in Clearfield in an LHAC game, Jodon took the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and an immediate 7-0 Raider lead.
After the Raiders stopped the Bison on a fourth-down play, Bellefonte quarterback Alten Howell found Jodon open for a 30-yard touchdown and an early 14-point lead.
Another defensive stop led to a Clearfield punt that pinned the Raiders deep in their own territory.
But they drove nevertheless, this time 95 yards, for their third touchdown. The drive ended when Howell found Jodon again for a 40-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead before the end of the first quarter.
Clearfield, now 21 points behind, began its comeback late in the second quarter. After a long drive, the Bison scored with time running out to make it 21-7.
Then early in the third quarter, Clearfield drove and scored again, this time on a pass from Dylan Foust to receiver David Magnuson, and suddenly it was 21-14.
Jodon wasn’t done though.
He caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Howell that gave the Raiders another 14-point cushion, but Clearfield quickly scored again and crept back to 28-21.
In the fourth quarter, after the teams went back-and-forth without a score, Clearfield mounted a drive after a long completion from Faust to Spencer Rosinsky.
But Jodon can play defense as well, and he picked off a Foust pass on the Bellefonte 15-yard line to end the Bison threat.
Clearfield had one more chance, but after a holding penalty, the tough Raider defense came up with a stop, and Bellefonte ran out the clock from there.
Jodon finished the game with 116 yards receiving and three touchdowns and 95 return yards and a touchdown.
Howell completed 5-of-6 passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns and also ran 11 times for 65 yards. Bellefonte ran up 314 total yards in the game.
Bellefonte is now 2-2 for the season, and this week the Raiders will host Penns Valley in an LHAC game.
Tyrone 15, Bald Eagle Area 6
Bald Eagle Area and Tyrone clashed in Tyrone on Friday night for three quarters without either team being able to score.
Then in the fourth quarter Tyrone senior quarterback Ben Walk connected with senior wide receiver Mason Emigh for two long touchdown passes and the Golden Eagles prevailed, 15-6 over BEA.
With the score still 0-0 two minutes into the fourth quarter, Walk struck with Emigh for the first time with an 83-yard touchdown strike that put Tyrone up, 7-0.
After the Golden Eagles recorded a safety, they promptly aired it out again, this time a Walk-Emigh 54-yard bomb for a touchdown and a 15-0 lead with just under eight minutes to play.
BEA made a game of it when quarterback Chase Cane found Luke Hosband open for a 60-yard touchdown, and BEA climbed to within 15-6.
But that would be all the Eagles could manage, and they fell to their first loss of the season, 15-6.
Cane threw for 111 yards in the game, and ran for another 52, but the Eagles were unable to overcome the two big scores by Tyrone.
Bald Eagle Area will now take to the road again, this time to visit old rival Philipsburg-Osceola on Friday night in an important LHAC game between two 3-1 teams.
