CENTRE COUNTY — With two teams at 3-0 and another at 2-1, the Centre County high school football teams are off to a good start in 2026.
State College and BEA both improved to 3-0 last week and Philipsburg-Osceola erupted for 48 points against Clearfield to take its second win.
Bellefonte will see Clearfield this week after a difficult night against Bishop Guilfoyle, and Penns Valley will host P-O in Week 4’s Gazette Game of the Week.
Here is a closer look at each game:
GAME OF THE WEEK
Philipsburg-Osceola (2-1) at Penns Valley (0-3)
In a matchup of old Mountain League foes, the Mounties will take their two-game winning streak into Spring Mills on Friday night for an LHAC conference game.
Philipsburg was all but unstoppable in last week’s 48-28 conference win over Clearfield, the first time the Mounties got the best of the Bison since 2011.
Quarterback Archer Baughman leads an attack that features running back Demarcus Law.
Law is averaging 127 yards per game and has scored six touchdowns, and he had three touchdowns against Clearfield including a 90-yard run to begin the second half.
Aaron Davis shares the backfield with Law, and he has 202 yards on 39 carries with two touchdowns, while Baughman so far completed 12 of 26 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown.
Connor Guenot is the top receiver with 5 catches for 86 yards.
Penns Valley comes into the game at 0-3, but the Rams have shown they can move the ball.
Dual-threat sophomore quarterback Cael Smith who over the first two games of the season has run and passed for just under 200 yards per game.
Spencer Althouse is the top receiver with 50 ypg, and senior running back Tripp Watson runs for 40 ypg and scored the only Ram touchdown against BEA on Friday night.
P-O on paper is a clear favorite in this game, but the Rams played BEA to a stalemate in the first half on Friday, so anything can happen.
Demarcus Law could be the difference.
Gametime is 7 p.m. in Spring Mills.
State College (3-0) at Central Dauphin East (0-3)
It is not often that the State College Little Lions see a Central Dauphin East football team without a win, but that will happen this Friday night in Harrisburg.
CD East so far lost to Cedar Crest, 45-12, Bishop McDevitt, 45-0, and Altoona, 41-33, with the key number being every opponent has gone over 40 points.
It might not be any easier for the Panthers this week against SC.
Against Altoona on Thursday night in Harrisburg, CD East scored 21 second-quarter points to go ahead 21-19 at halftime.
But the Mountain Lions recovered and scored 22 second-half points to survive, 41-33. Altoona took a 41-27 lead after a running touchdown with seven minutes remaining in the game.
CD East did gain 260 yards of offense that included 210 through the air. Quarterback Da’Shawn Venable-Cooper completed 19 of 33 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Myzick Clemons ran 17 times for 74 yards and a touchdown and also caught two passes for 31 yards. It was the Panther’s best offensive showing of the season so far.
State College came away with a 27-20 win at McDevitt and will bring in a very productive offense led by quarterback Connor Kulka, senior running back Rowan Walker, and receivers AJ Fry and Keen Furmanek.
The State College defense, so far more than up to the task this year, will have to show up again in the Lions’ second trip in a row to Harrisburg.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Bald Eagle Area (3-0) at Tyrone (2-1)
In a critical LHAC matchup on Friday night, unbeaten Bald Eagle Area will travel to Tyrone to take on the 2-1 Golden Eagles at 7 p.m.
Tyrone so far has beaten Bellefonte and Westmont-Hilltop, but the Eagles fell to top contender Central in a thriller on Friday night, 21-14 at home.
Tyrone is led by quarterback Ben Walk, who so far has thrown for 226 yards in three games, and running back Caleb Whitby, 190 yards in three games.
The team is averaging over 230 yards of offense each night that included 146 on the ground. The Golden Eagles average 20.7 points per game.
BEA will come in led by running back Sam Clark, 111 ypg, and quarterback Chase Cane, 98 passing ypg. Luke Hosband is the leading receiver.
BEA has an advantage on offense with an average of 33 points and 361 yards per outing, but the Tyrone defense is formidable and held both Bellefonte and Westmont to just seven points.
This will be a test for both teams, and a win by either one will be a springboard into the rest of the season.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Tyrone.
Bellefonte (1-2) at Clearfield (1-2)
The Bellefonte Raiders and Clearfield Bison are certainly no strangers.
After years of tense meetings in the regular season and playoffs, the two will see each other in Clearfield on Friday night in an important LHAC matchup.
Clearfield will be trying to rebound from a 48-28 loss to Philipsburg-Osceola on Friday in which the Mounties seemingly moved the ball at will in the second half.
And Bellefonte will be coming off a tough loss as well, a 35-0 defeat to Bishop Guilfoyle in Altoona.
The Bison went over 300 yards of offense against P-O and scored four touchdowns, but the Mounties, led by Demarcus Law’s 200 rushing yards, scored 28 second-half points to take the victory.
Bison freshman quarterback Dylan Foust threw for 188 yards and ran for another 68 in the game and will present a dual threat to the Raider defense. He also threw three touchdowns, including two to freshman receiver Curtis Putt.
The Raiders were held to season lows by Guilfoyle, and how they can rebound against the Bison on offense will be a key factor in this game.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Clearfield.
