CENTRE COUNTY — Except for Philipsburg-Osceola’s shutout win at home over Penns Valley, it was a week of closely played games for the Centre County high school football teams.
State College managed to hold off Cumberland Valley at home to go 3-1 for the season, but BEA’s comeback attempt against Tyrone fell short. Bellefonte lost a thriller in overtime at arch-rival Clearfield.
Here is a closer look at the games and this week’s schedule.
State College defeats Cumberland Valley 24-14
State College quarterback Connor Kulka threw two second-half touchdown passes as the Little Lions held off Cumberland Valley, 24-14, at home for their third win of the season.
Kulka connected with Hank Lustig for a 39-yarder in the third quarter and then hit Jake Lukac for two yards in the fourth quarter as the Lions pulled away from CV.
The game started with State College going ahead early on a touchdown run by Rowan Walker, who ran for 169 yards in the game, and a field goal by Shane Markowski.
But Cumberland Valley kept it close with an 80-yard touchdown pass, and the two teams went into halftime with SC ahead 10-7.
In the third quarter, Kulka connected with Lustig and gave the Lions a 17-7 lead, and then in the fourth quarter, he sealed the win with the 2-yarder to Lukak.
CV was able to score a late touchdown, but time ran out and SC had its third win against one loss.
On Friday, Sept. 19, 2-2 Chambersburg will visit Memorial Field for another Mid-Penn Commonwealth game.
Chambersburg has been hot and cold this season. The Trojans opened the season with wins over Gettysburg and Central Dauphin East, but in the last two weeks their defense has been severely stretched in losses to Bishop McDevitt and Harrisburg.
On Sept. 12, Harrisburg scored 21 points in the first and second quarters and shot out to a 42-6 halftime lead.
Harrisburg eased up in the second half, scoring just a late TD, but its defense kept playing in a 49-6 victory.
Last year at Chambersburg, State College scored 19 unanswered second-half points and took a 29-7 win over the Trojans.
SC held them to just two net yards rushing in that game, but junior quarterback Ceagan Truett completed 16 passes for 140 yards.
With four of its next five games on the road, State College would very much like to get its fourth win here.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
Bellefonte falls OT at Clearfield
Clearfield quarterback Xavier Curry snuck for a 1-yard touchdown in overtime and gave his Bison team an exciting, back-and-forth, 22-18 victory over Bellefonte on Friday night.
Playing at home, Clearfield led most of the game until Bellefonte rallied in the second half to tie the game in the fourth quarter at 15-15.
Down 15-7, Bellefonte running back Kaven Smith-Kirk got free for a 40-yard run to the Clearfield 10-yard line which was quickly followed with a touchdown run by Ashton Howell that, followed by a 2-point conversion, tied the game at 15-15.
Earlier, Bellefonte got its first score on a 40-yard fumble return by Caleb Bartley, and now, with just under 11 minutes to play, the teams were tied.
Later, the Raiders had a chance to win with less than three minutes on the clock, but the field goal attempt was blocked and the game went to overtime.
Bellefonte kicked a field goal to open overtime, but Curry’s touchdown was the game-winner and the Raiders had to take their third loss of the season.
On Friday, the team will visit 0-4 Penns Valley which is coming off a 39-0 loss at Philipsburg-Osceola.
Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties shut out Penns Valley
PV opened the P-O game with a strong opening drive, only to be stopped short after a close call on a pass from quarterback Carter Ironside to Fletcher Ironside.
The drive turned out to be the Rams best chance of the night as P-O asserted itself with 22 unanswered points before halftime.
And the Mountie defense completed its first shutout of the season with a score of 39-0.
Now, Bellefonte will head into Spring Mills on Friday as a favorite, but PV with quarterback Carter Ironside and his brother Fletcher can move the ball, so nothing can be taken for granted.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Spring Mills.
Pat Rothdeutsch/For The Centre County Gazette
BEA falls 21-14 to Tyrone
The Bald Eagle Area football team gave up two early big plays at home against Tyrone on Friday night and never recovered in a 21-14 loss to the Golden Eagles.
First there was an 80-yard pass from quarterback Eli Woomer to Bratden Parsons mid-way through the first quarter that gave Tyrone a 7-0 lead.
Three minutes later, Tyrone’s Kyler Suhoney intercepted a screen pass and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 Golden Eagle lead.
The Bald Eagles would go on in the game to pile up over 220 yards of offense, score two touchdowns, and threaten to tie it late in the fourth quarter.
But four turnovers, and a late, drive-killing interception kept them led to the seven-point loss.
BEA did score on a 30-yard double-pass from Gradyn Fisher to Jackson Millwood in the second quarter, and then on a pass from Fisher to James Cowan in the third quarter.
Yet a third-quarter run by Tyrone stretched the lead to 21-7, and the Bald Eagles could not make up the two-score deficit.
On Friday, the Eagles will entertain 3-1 Philipsburg-Osceola in a rematch of long-time rivals from the old Mountain League.
At 3-1, the Mounties have put up a balanced offense with quarterback Archer Baughman and running backs Colton Chapman and Demarcus Law.
The Mounties have wins over Central, Chestnut Ridge and Penns Valley (39-0 on Friday) and have only lost to Clearfield on September 5, 27-15.
Last week at home against Penns Valley, the Mounties ran for 213 yards and four touchdowns–three by Chapman–and racked up 380 total yards.
Baughman threw for 165, and Chapman ran 18 times for 98 yards and the three touchdowns.
Junior Rob McClenahan was the top receiver with 6 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown.
P-O has an edge in this one in total yards per game, 333-298, over BEA, and the Mounties run for 226 yards per outing.
But the Eagles, coming off a strong performance on Friday and needing a big LHAC East win, will be putting it all on the line here.
This could be the game of the week.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Wingate.
