State College Faces Harrisburg in PIAA Quarterfinals

The State College Little Lions may have five losses, but they are nevertheless preparing to take on old rival Harrisburg in the PIAA football quarterfinals on Saturday.

It seems as if the Little Lions have been through it all this season, but at this point there’s little question that the Lions have emerged stronger as a result of their misfortunes.

After losing four of five mid-season games, SC rebounded with a pivotal win over Altoona that gave it a bye in the District 6/4 Playoff.

Two weeks later the Lions claimed the District title with a win over Williamsport, and then last week they kept it going with a 28-19 victory over District 2 champion Delaware Valley in the PIAA first round.

Now it’s on to the PIAA quarterfinals on the road against a team SC is very familiar with — the District 3 champion Harrisburg Cougars.

The two teams are Mid Penn Conference rivals, and this year Harrisburg escaped with a 15-13 win when State College failed on a two-point conversion try on the final play of the game.

The loss was the low point of the season for SC, giving it a 4-5 record with just the regular-season finale against Altoona remaining.

For the Cougars, it was the springboard toward the D3 title.

They went on to beat Chambersburg, Carlisle, Hempfield, and finally Wilson West Lawn in the district final.

Against Wilson on November 20, both team’s defenses excelled, but Cougars’ quarterback Shawn Lee scored on a seven-yard run with 9:24 to play that stood up in Harrisburg’s 14-10 win.

Lee also scored the other HHS touchdown earlier in the third quarter that at the time gave his team a 7-3 lead.

Lee completed 6-of-12 passes in the game for 154 yards, and Mahkai Hopkins ran the ball 25 times for 128 yards.

But it was the Cougar defense that allowed Wilson just one touchdown and 217 total yards that emerged the hero.

In the first State College meeting, Hopkins threw for 70 yards and a touchdown, and Hopkins ran for 43 yards and the other score.

In State College’s win over Delaware Valley last Saturday, another failed two-point conversion had a big impact on the game.

With SC ahead 21-13 in the fourth quarter, DelVal scored on a four-yard run by Paulie Weinrich with six minutes to play.

Delaware Valley went for two to tie the game, but the run was stopped by SC and the score remained 21-13.

After the kickoff, State College took the ball and steadily drove into DelVal territory until the Lions were at the 25-yard line with under a minute to play.

From there, on second down, quarterback Owen Yerka rolled left and took it all the way for a touchdown and a 28-19 lead.

After the kickoff, on the second play from scrimmage, State College’s Will Stone intercepted his second pass of the night and insured the Lions’ win.

Stone, who stopped an earlier Warrior drive with his first interception, stopped short of the goal at the one-yard line. SC ran out the clock from there.

On the night, Yerka completed 7-of-10 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown to Jashaun Green, while Brady Bendik ran 31 times for 164 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score that put SC ahead 21-13.

This will be the second time this season that State College played at Harrisburg High School. The first time, SC had lost three of its last four games and was struggling to fill in the gaps from injuries.

This time, Harrisburg will see a much different Lion team.

Whether that will be enough for State College to advance into the state semifinals remains to be seen.

Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Harrisburg’s Severance Field.

This story appears in the Nov. 24-Dec. 1 edition of the Centre County Gazette