Bellefonte Red Raiders fall to Shamokin
MILTON — State College rumbled past Wilkes-Barre and advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals, but Bellefonte couldn’t get past undefeated Shamokin.
6-1 State College (10-2) vs. 7-1 Pittsburgh Central Catholic (11-1)
PIAA 6-A quarterfinals
Friday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m.
Altoona Mansion Park
Senior running back D’Antae Sheffey ran 15 times for 150 yards and scored four touchdowns as his State College Little Lions ran away from District 2-1 Wilkes-Barre, 52-0, in their PIAA 6-A first round game on Friday night.
Playing in Milton, the Lions wasted little time as Sheffey scored three touchdowns in the first quarter as SC shot out to a 28-0 lead.
Receiver Hank Lustig scored the other SC touchdown in the first quarter, and then he opened the second quarter with a 79-yard punt return that put the score at 35-0 with 11 minutes still to play in the first half.
A field goal by Shane Markowski and Sheffey’s fourth TD finished the first half scoring with the Lions safely ahead, 45-0.
Sheffey scored the first three touchdowns on runs of 1 yard, 2 yards and 1 yard, and then Lustig scored on a 38-yard pass from Connor Kulka as time in the quarter ran out.
After the Lions stopped Wilkes-Barre’s first possession of the second quarter, Lustig took off with his 79-yard punt return and essentially gave the game to the Lions.
Kulka finished the game with 110 yards on seven completions and a touchdown, and Lustig led the receivers with three catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.
State College finished the game with 428 total yards, including 318 on the ground.
Defensively, the Lions held WBA to less than 50 total yards on the night and just three first downs.
With the win, the Little Lions advanced to the PIAA 6-A quarterfinals and will meet District 7 champion Pittsburgh Central Catholic.
Central Catholic will bring an 11-1 record into the game with the team’s only loss coming on opening day to Philadelphia’s LaSalle College High School, 23-6, at home.
From there, the team ran off nine regular-season wins and then beat Canon-McMillan, 44-7, in the District 7 playoffs.
In the PIAA first round, the Trojans beat North Allegheny, 42-7, to advance into the quarterfinal.
Sophomore quarterback Owen Herrick completed 124-of-22 passes for 1984 yards and 16 touchdowns for CC this season, and the team’s top running backs, Roman Thompson and Jayden Alexander, combined to run for 1487 yards and 35 touchdowns.
The top receiver is Marco Watkins, Jr, with 34 catches for 588 yards and six touchdowns.
The Trojans average 43 points per game, to 39.5 for SC, and gain over 347 total yards per game.
The winner of the Quarterfinal will take on either District 3’s Central York, 11-0, or Harrisburg, 12-0, in the Semifinals on either Nov.28 or 29.
The kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Mansion Park in Altoona.
Bellefonte ends season vs. Shamokin
The Bellefonte Raiders played Shamokin competitively early on in their first round PIAA 4-A game on Friday night, but ultimately the Raiders could not keep up with the undefeated Indians and fell, 42-13.
Shamokin struck first in the game with a two-yard run by ZaKem Clinton, but the Raiders quickly struck back three minutes later.
Bellefonte running back Ashten Howell ran in a 17-yard touchdown that, after an extra point by Will Oskin, tied the game at 7-7.
From there, however, Shamokin took over control of the game.
The Indians ran off 35 unanswered points beginning with a 15 yard pass from quarterback Logan Steele to Colin Steinhart with four minutes left in the first quarter.
A second-quarter touchdown by Clinton made it 21-7 at halftime, and then two more scores in the third quarter gave Shamokin a commanding 35-7 lead.
Bellefonte added its final score on an eight-yard Alten Howell pass to Logan Rarrick as time ran out in the fourth quarter.
The loss ended the Raiders’ season with a final record of 6-7 and with a District 6 4-A championship.
Shamokin will now move on to the PIAA quarterfinals against District 11 champion Southern Lehigh, a 48-28 winner over Bethlehem Catholic in the District 11 championship game.
