CENTRE COUNTY — Week 5 of our local high school football season has four teams matched up against each other in LHAC contests and State College putting its unbeaten record on the line against visiting Cedar Cliff.
In the Gazette Game of the Week, 3-1 Bald Eagle Area will visit 3-1 Philipsburg-Osceola in a big showdown, while rapidly improving Penns Valley will visit neighboring LHAC rival Bellefonte.
Here is a closer look at each game:
GAME OF THE WEEK
Bald Eagle Area (3-1) at Philipsburg-Osceola (3-1)
These two teams will take the field on Friday night in Philipsburg with similar records and play a game that is very important for both.
The Bald Eagles are coming off an extremely tough loss at Tyrone in which two long fourth-quarter pass plays spelled the difference in a 15-6 defeat.
P-O just improved to 3-1 with a gritty, last minute 35-28 win against the very inspired Penns Valley Rams.
Yet despite the different direction these teams are taking, this game on paper looks far too close to call.
P-O is led by running back Demarcus Law who has run for 498 yards on 53 carries (124 YPG) with 6 touchdowns and three, 100+ yard games. Law also has a punt return touchdown and a 90-yard kickoff return.
Archer Baughman is the P-O quarterback, and he is presently 15-33 for 198 yards and two touchdowns while the leading receiver is Connor Guenot with six catches for 98 yards.
P-O in all gains 321 yards per game and is averaging 34.3 points per game.
BEA is slightly more pass oriented with quarterback Chase Cane throwing for 101 yards per game with three touchdowns and receiver Luke Hosband catching 14 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns.
Sam Clark leads the team in rushing with 356 yards on 63 carries with four touchdowns, while Cane has gained 270 yards on the ground with a touchdown.
BEA averages 26.8 points per game and gains 318 yards.
Either team would take a giant leap forward with a win in this game.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Philipsburg.
Penns Valley (0-4) at Bellefonte (2-2)
In 2025, the Bellefonte Raiders broke a deadlocked score with a fourth-quarter touchdown and edged Penns Valley, 27-20, in Spring Mills.
There is every reason to believe that this year’s game will be just as close despite the Rams coming into the game without a win.
On Friday night at Philipsburg, PV stretched the Mounties as far as possible before falling on a P-O touchdown with just one minute left in the game.
PV scored four touchdowns, three in a row at one point in the third quarter and led the Mounties until the final minute of play.
The Rams are led by quarterback Cael Smith, who leads the team in passing with 92 yards per game with two touchdowns and rushing with 119 yards per game and three touchdowns.
Spencer Althouse is his favorite target with six catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns, while Tripp Watson is the second leading runner with 40 yards per game and two touchdowns.
For Bellefonte, quarterback Alten Howell so far completed 23-of-37 passes for 353 yards and four touchdowns, mostly to sophomore Parker Jodon who caught nine passes for 237 yards and four touchdowns. All of Jodon’s touchdowns came on Friday night in the Raider’s win over Clearfield. Howell also has 208 rushing yards and three more touchdowns.
The Raiders gain 276 yards per game, including 176 yards on the ground. The team is averaging 15.7 points per game.
The Raiders on paper look to be the favorites here, but Penns Valley is improving and can move the ball and score points.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Bellefonte.
Cedar Cliff (1-3) at State College (4-0)
Mid-Penn Conference foe Cedar Cliff will come into Memorial Field with a 1-3 record that includes a 1-point win over Chambersburg, but also losses to Red Land, 30-20, Harrisburg, 54-14, and Bishop McDevitt, 49-0.
The Colts, despite their record, have a competent offense that puts up just under 200 yards per game with quarterback Jalen Hinton throwing for 182 yards per game and six touchdowns.
Running back Landon Howell gains 80 yards per game on the ground with two touchdowns, and tight end Blake Secrest has 164 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
The Colts, in their defense, have played a very difficult schedule to this point, with Red Land, Harrisburg and McDevitt, but it doesn’t look to get any easier this week.
State College is unbeaten, has a win over McDevitt, and scored all 42 of its points against CD East last weekend in the first half.
With offensive tools like quarterback Connor Kulka, running back Rowan Walker and leading receiver AJ Fry, the Little Lions run up 400 yards of offense per game and score over 35 points.
And that is without speaking about the Lions’ very big and physical defense.
State College has been overwhelming opponents in the first half this season with an average of over 26 points, and if that holds up against Cedar Cliff, the Lions will be looking at a 5-0 start in 2026.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
