CENTRE COUNTY — The Curtin Bowl trophy is back at Bald Eagle Area High School after the Bald Eagles’ 19-14 victory over the Bellefonte Raiders on Friday night. In other local gridiron action, State College and Philipsburg-Osceola each took conference victories.
BEA hangs on for the Curtin Bowl win
The 2025 Curtin Bowl at Bellefonte High on Friday night turned out to be a gritty, fourth-quarter defensive struggle.
Bald Eagle Area quarterback Gradyn Fisher connected with wide receiver Luke Hosband for a 57-yard touchdown late in the third quarter that gave the Bald Eagles a 19-7 lead.
The Raiders answered in kind almost immediately with an Alten Howell to Ashten Howell 76-yard bomb that sent the teams into the fourth quarter with BEA holding a slim, 19-14 lead.
And that’s where the defenses come in. Both were able to shut out the other, with the Eagles ultimately holding on for the 19-14 victory.
In the first half, BEA took the early lead with a safety and a first-quarter field goal, but Bellefonte took the lead early in the second quarter on a 4-yard Kaven Smith-Kirk run that made it 7-5.
The Eagles forged ahead just before halftime on the first Fisher to Hosband touchdown, this one a 7-yarder with just seconds left in the quarter. The two-point conversion was good, and BEA led, 13-7.
The win evened BEA’s record at 3-3, while the Raiders are now 2-4.
Things will not get any easier for BEA this week when it returns home to face the 4-2 Bison from Clearfield.
This will be a matchup of two teams from the old Mountain League that are nearly equal in offensive production. BEA gains 279 yards per game while CHS gets 298.
Clearfield’s leading runner is Colton Ryan with 126 yards per game, and Bison quarterback Xavier Curry throws for just over 110 yards per game.
Cooper Broad is the top receiver, and Curry leads the team in total offense.
The Bison so far have wins over Bedford, P-O, Bellefonte (21-18) and Penns Valley.
With Bald Eagle presently in the 8th spot in the District 6, AA football rankings, this will be a challenging step heading into the final stages of the season.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Wingate.
State College to face Cedar Cliff
The State College Little Lions were relentless on both sides of the ball in their 41-13 victory at Central Dauphin on Friday night.
SC scored three second-quarter touchdowns to take a 28-13 lead at halftime over the Rams in what was an up-and-down first two quarters.
But the Lions’ defense went into another gear in the second half, shutting out CD while still adding another two touchdowns in the process.
The result was a 28-point win, the team’s fifth of the season, and a solid No. 1 ranking in the D6, AAAAAA bracket.
Quarterback Connor Kulka and running back D’Antae Sheffey both had big games for SC.
Kulka completed 23-of-31 passes for 268 yards and touchdowns to Hank Lustig and Sheffey.
Sheffey ran 25 times for 129 yards and a touchdown as the team piled up 213 total yards rushing.
This week, State College will have a conference matchup at 3-3 Cedar Cliff on Friday night.
Cedar Cliff has wins over Central Dauphin, 26-14, CD East, 14-3, and Chambersburg, 35-7, while losing to Red Land, Bishop McDevitt, and Harrisburg.
Quarterback Jalen Hinton leads CC with over 150 yards passing per game, while the team in all gains just over 266.
Landon Howell (70 ypg) is the leading rusher and Owen Anastasi is the leading receiver.
State College does have an advantage offensively in this game, even though the scores against common opponents is fairly close.
The Lions are still a game out of first place in the Mid Penn Commonwealth and need to keep winning to keep pace with No. 1 Harrisburg.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Camp Hill.
Bellefonte Raiders to face Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties
The Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties are 4-2 after a razor-thin, 31-28 victory over backyard foe Bellwood-Antis.
Playing at home on Friday night, the Mounties took what looked like a comfortable 31-14 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by quarterback Archer Baughman
Yet B-A was not done.
Bellwood got new life after a fourth-down stop at midfield and quickly rattled off two touchdowns to pull to within three points with just under three minutes to play.
B-A quarterback Bradyn Partner ran in one of the touchdowns and threw a 20-yard TD pass to Colin Gibbons for the other.
And then the Blue Devils got the ball back with a chance, but P-O’s Robert McClenahan came up with a game-winning interception that finally gave the Mounties their fourth win.
P-O’s Colton Chapman, who ran 32 times in the game for 182 yards and two touchdowns, gave his team the lead with two first-half touchdown runs.
P-O stayed ahead on a field goal and a touchdown pass from Baughman to Nick Dillon before Baughman’s run made it 31-14 as the fourth quarter began.
This week, another old rival, the Bellefonte Raiders, will be in town for a LHAC conference showdown.
The Raiders are coming off a tough loss to Bald Eagle Area at home on Friday night (see above) and are in need of a quick turnaround.
In what may be a battle of the running backs, Smith-Kirk for Bellefonte and Chapman for P-O, the Mounties have a slight advantage in yards per game and points per game.
But the history is long between these two, and this will likely be another rival game that goes deep into the fourth quarter.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Philipsburg.
Penns Valley seeking first victory
The Penns Valley Rams have been up and down this season so far, and they are still in search of their first win.
Last Friday was a game on the down side with a 47-14 loss at Clearfield.
The Bison swept out to a 27-7 lead in the first half and never looked back in their fourth win of the season.
The Rams’ touchdown came on a 75-yard kickoff return by Spencer Althouse that made the score 21-7.
The Rams, however, were unable to stop the Bison and they scored again to take a 27-7 halftime lead.
This week, the Rams will face 1-5 Central at home on Friday night in Spring Mills.
The Dragons have a win against Greater Johnstown, but since that game they have lost four straight–to Tyrone, Bishop Guilfoyle, Huntingdon and Bellwood-Antis.
These two teams match up almost evenly on offense with PV quarterback Carter Ironside being the wild card with over 150 yards per game passing and his brother Fletcher being the top receiver.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Spring Mills.
