CENTRE COUNTY — The State College Little Lions and the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties both remained undefeated with Week 2 wins in local high school action.
Penns Valley fell on a last-minute field goal, 16-14, and both Bellefonte and BEA lost to LHAC West contenders.
Here is a brief look at what happened and next week’s previews:
Harrisburg (2-0) at State College (2-0)
7 p.m.
Memorial Field
Things are going to start heating up at Memorial Field in State College on Friday night.
After two runaway wins over Gateway and Altoona to begin the season, State College will entertain their biggest rival in the Mid Penn Commonwealth Division — the Cougars from Harrisburg High School.
After an 11-3 season in 2024 in which they advanced to the PIAA 5A Championship Game, the Cougars are off to another strong start this year.
In Week 1, Harrisburg took out Philadelphia power Imhotep Charter, 40-26, and then it held on against hometown rival Bishop McDevitt at home by a score of 29-21.
Against McDevitt last Friday, the Cougars went into the last quarter with a slim 22-21 lead and then pushed across a late touchdown to ensure victory.
Now, Harrisburg will open its Mid Penn schedule in State College against a Little Lion team it has beaten three of the last four times they met.
In 2024, State College traveled to Harrisburg and was held to just two field goals in a taut, 7-6 loss.
Now, with the Lions coming off a 37-7 win over Mid Penn foe Altoona, SC will be in position to get past the Cougars for the first time since 2022.
Against Altoona, the Mountain Lions scored first on a first-quarter pass, but SC responded with 37 unanswered points to take its second win overall and first in the Mid Penn.
D’Antae Sheffey, who was on the Harrisburg roster in 2024, was the catalyst again for the Little Lions with 200 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the game.
Sheffey so far for the season has 397 yards rushing and four touchdowns, an average of just under 200 yards per game.
The Lions also got 14 completions from quarterback Connor Kulka for 199 yards and another two touchdowns with receiver Daimear Coad pulling in five catches for 106 yards and a touchdown.
That balance between pass and run could be critical against a Harrisburg team that has so far given up over 22 points per game.
But the SC defense will have to contend with running back Messiah Mickens who is averaging just under 170 yards per game and quarterback Mikal Shank, Jr, who is throwing for over 142 yards per game.
This is a game that will likely go deep into the fourth quarter and likely turn on mistakes and penalties.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
Philipsburg-Osceola (2-0) at Clearfield (1-1)
7 p.m.
Clearfield
Philipsburg-Osceola running back Demarcus Law gave his team a 13-point lead with a 6-yard run late in the third quarter at Chestnut Ridge on Friday night, and the Mounties held on for a tense, 20-14 LHAC victory.
The win was the second in a row for P-O this year, and it came against a CR team coming off a 21-point win over Greater Johnstown in Week 1.
Law finished the game with 91 yards on the ground and the touchdown, and teammate Colton Chapman ran 17 times for 101 yards and the other two P-O touchdowns.
The Mounties racked up 240 yards on the ground (and 283 total), while the defense held Chestnut Ridge scoreless in the last quarter to preserve the win.
On Friday, P-O will take a trip to rival Clearfield.
Clearfield and P-O have a long history, and every time the teams meet it is an intense affair.
The Bison are 1-1 so far this season with an opening day loss at home to Bellwood-Antis followed by a 21-14 win at Bedford on Friday night.
P-O has an edge offensively with 369 yards per game of offense, while Clearfield has achieved 266.
But Clearfield running back Colton Ryan, quarterback Xavier Curry and top receiver Cooper Broad are close statistically to their P-O counterpart.
This will be another game likely to go deep into the fourth quarter with the P-O offense against the Clearfield defense squarely in the spotlight.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Clearfield.
Bald Eagle Area (0-2) at Penns Valley (0-2)
7 p.m.
Spring Mills
This will be the first matchup this season of local Centre County teams, and it will be one with both teams searching for their first win of the season.
Bald Eagle lost to Huntingdon 14-6 on opening night at home, and to powerful Penn Cambria, 47-24, in Cresson in week two.
Penns Valley dropped its first game to defending state champion Bishop Guilfoyle 42-18 in a game that was much closer than the score indicates.
The Rams then lost a heartbreaker in the last seconds to Central Cambria 16-14 in week two in Ebensburg.
At Penn Cambria, the Bald Eagles fell behind early and went into halftime behind 33-3.
But the Eagles, behind 243 passing yards and two touchdowns by quarterback Kaleb Irion, 117 rushing yards by Nick McCully and 138 receiving yards by Graydyn Fisher, kept at it and scored 21 points in the second half against the possible championship defense of PC.
The Eagles put up 377 yards of total offense that should carry over into their future LHAC East games.
One of those games will be against PV on Friday.
Penns Valley is 0-2 as well, but the Rams suffered a crushing defeat at Central Cambria on Friday.
PV took a 14-13 lead over the Red Devils on a 5-yard pass from Carter Ironside to Fletcher Ironside with 3:30 left to play in the game.
CC, however, was able to drive into the red zone and won the game, 16-14, on a 27-yard field goal by Liam O’Brien with 30 seconds left.
The Rams had a chance to stop the Devils on the drive, but an off-sides penalty gave them a chance at the field goal.
The Ironsides carried the Rams most of the night. Beside his fourth-quarter score, Fletcher Ironside scored on a 50-yard run to draw PV to within 13-7.
Carter was 17-for-27 for 200 yards as the Rams racked up over 360 yards of total offense.
Fletcher finished with 100 yards rushing on 9 carries and 85 yards receiving on 8 catches. He scored both PV’s touchdowns.
Now on Friday it will be Ironside and Ironside vs Irion, McCulley and Fisher. and could go down to the last possession.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Spring Mills.
Bishop Guilfoyle (1-1) at Bellefonte (1-1)
7 p.m.
Bellefonte
The Bellefonte Raiders ran into the experienced and well-balanced Rangers from Forest Hills last Friday night and quickly fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter.
Another two Forest Hill TDs in the second quarter, paired with a solid defense, gave the Rangers a 28-0 lead they would not lose.
The final score was 35-0 after FH scored again in the third quarter.
The loss for the Raiders was their first after an opening night, 21-20 thrilling win over Tyrone.
It is not getting any easier now for the Raiders as they look to rebound from the loss.
This week they will entertain the defending state champion Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders.
BG is 1-1 so far with a 42-18 win over Penns Valley in Week 1 and then a 28-18 loss to 2-0 Richland on Friday night at home.
Richland ran up 370 yards against the Marauders and outscored them 21-8 in the second half to take the win.
Jake Kissell is the leading rusher for BG with over 200 yards per game, while quarterback Justin Wheeler passes for 71 yards per game.
The Raiders, led by quarterback Brennan Huntsinger and running back Kaven Smith-Kirk, will have to reestablish their confidence on offense, which seems possible against the BG defense, but holding Kissell and Wheeler will present problems.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Bellefonte.
