ALTOONA — State College had more total yardage than District 7, No. 1 seed Pine-Richland and more first downs.
The Little Lions ran more plays, ran for more yardage, and had more time of possession.
Yet State College could not keep up with the quick-strike, big-play ability of the Rams.
Pine-Richard scored four times on plays longer than 25 yards and outscored the Little Lions, 49-29, in their back-and-forth PIAA, AAAA quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon at Altoona’s Mansion Park Stadium.
Running back Connor Slomka ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Ben Dinucci threw three touchdown passes and ran another one in himself as Pine-Richland improved its record to 14-0 and advanced to the state semifinal against the winner of the Wilson West Lawn and Central Dauphin game.
Slomka’s 30-yard rumble capped the big-play parade and gave the Rams a commanding 49-23 lead late in the fourth quarter. Pine-Richard also cashed in on a 49-yard Dinucci to Anthony Bettaglia touchdown pass, a 29-yard TD pass to Luke Everett, and a 49-yard return of a SC onside kick by Mike Merhaut.
“They (the Rams) have a tremendous offense,” State College coach Matt Lintal said, “and a lot of credit to Pine-Richland. They do a heck of a job of coaching their kids up. They have some tremendous players and they have some kids who can make big plays.
“We knew we’d give up a few here and there — you know our defense has been playing so stellar — and they got a couple there at the end that makes it look worse than it was.”
Merhaut’s return was the clincher for Pine-Richland. The Rams took a 21-10 halftime lead, but SC closed the gap to 21-17 with a beautiful, 58-yard catch and run from John Weakland to Jordan Misher.
Pine-Richard responded with two scores within five minutes to make it 35-17, forcing the Little Lions to come back again.
Which they did — this time with an 11-play, 95-yard drive capped by a Weakland fumble into the end zone that was recovered by tight end Brett Graham for the touchdown and a 35-23 deficit (the two-point try was not good).
With seven minutes still to play, only down 12, and with a history of late comebacks, State College went for the onside kick. Kicker Noah Schwab’s squibb bounced up just as it passed the ten-yard mark, right into the arms of the waiting Merhaut who took it untouched into the end zone.
“We came in feeling like we’d be able to move the ball,” Lintal said, “and we did. There were some mistakes on our part, and we left some plays out there. We are not going to give up on anything at anytime. Our kids keep fighting no matter what’s going on.”
Slomka’s subsequent run put the Rams up 49-23, but still State College kept coming. The Lions made it 49-29 with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Weakland to Cody Kubicki, and even though SC was able to get it back once again, time ran out.
“I thought we played well,” Weakland said, “but we left a few plays on the field. They’re a good team. I’m glad we did as well as we did, and they will probably go far. I’m just so proud of our team and how we played out there.”
Misher led SC with 135 yards rushing, but he also added 87 receiving for a total of 222 for the day. Weakland finished 19-40 for 256 yards and two touchdowns.
