State College Rallies for 33-23 Win Over Father Judge to Remain Unbeaten

Updated at 8 p.m. Saturday

Junior quarterback Patrick Irwin passed for three touchdowns as State College rallied to beat Father Judge 33-23 on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.

The win pushed the Little Lions record to 3-0, while the Crusaders dropped to 1-2.

Chris Theis ran for 85 yards and a touchdown and Ryan Goeke added 78 yards and a touchdown for State College, which will play host to Harrisburg in its annual Homecoming game on Friday night.

State College’s 2012 Schedule

08/31/12 Liberty HS W 26-7

09/07/12 Central Mountain HS W 36-7

09/15/12 Father Judge HS W 33-23

09/21/12 Harrisburg HS (Homecoming) H 7 PM

09/28/12 Central Dauphin HS A 7 PM

10/05/12 Chambersburg Area HS H 7 PM

10/12/12 Central Dauphin East HS A 7 PM

10/19/12 Carlisle HS A 7 PM

10/26/12 Mifflin County HS H 7 PM

11/02/12 Cumberland Valley HS H 7 PM

Earlier at 6 a.m. on Friday

The State College football team puts its 2-0 record on the line Saturday afternoon against Father Judge in Philadelphia.

The game kicks off at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Abraham Lincoln High School.

Father Judge, which plays in the Philadelphia Catholic League, lost its first game of the season to Notre Dame Prep of Scottsdale, Ariz., 20-6, in the Global Football Tournament held in Dublin, Ireland.

Father Judge (1-1) managed only two field goals in that game by Conor Foley, but the Crusaders missed second half chances to score.

Judge came back to win impressively in the second week with a 34-14 victory over 2011 District 1 runner-up Council Rock South.

Judge ran up 333 yards rushing in that game and a total of 404 overall. Speedy sophomore Samir Bullock ran for 237 yards including a 57-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Ryan Mackiewicz also threw for a touchdown on a night that saw Judge mount numerous long scoring drives.

Father Judge is a big-play team, and coach Tommy Coyle is looking for big things from his squad.

“We feel we should be a playoff team,” he said, “and we’ll be looking to play high-level football come November.”

State College will counter with big playmakers of its own. Senior wide receiver Darian Herncane, running backs Andrew Kelley, Ryan Goeke, and Ebrahim Britton, and quarterback Pat Irwin all had big plays against Central Mountain in Friday night’s 36-7 victory.

The Little Lions always play a difficult non-league schedule so this away game at Father Judge will be a good measure of the Little Lions’ progress.