As advertised, the Bald Eagle Area LHAC clash with Clearfield on Oct. 6 was a classic struggle in which Clearfield needed a last-minute turnover to hold on for a 13-7 victory over the Bald Eagles.
And in Philipsburg, the Mounties celebrated their second win of the season when a last-second Bellefonte field goal try sailed wide left, giving P-O a 14-13 win.
Penns Valley was stung by the undefeated Central Dragons’ passing attack in a 28-14 loss at home, and State College primed itself for this week’s Mid Penn showdown against state finalist Harrisburg with a 55-20 win at Carlisle.
This week, both P-O and BEA will play on Oct. 14, while State High and the Cougars will tangle at Memorial Field on Oct. 13.
Here’s a closer look at this week’s games:
Harrisburg (6-1) at State College (5-1)
Friday, Oct. 13
State College scored in all kinds of ways in a 42-point first half at Carlisle and then coasted out for a 55-20 win over the Thundering Herd.
Owen Yerka scored for State High on a blocked punt; Cooper Brushwood returned a kickoff 85 yards; D’Antae Sheffey, Lamar Wilson and Travis Bechtel each ran one in; and quarterback Eddie Corkery threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gaul.
And although Carlisle wasn’t idle — the Herd scored twice — the 42-13 halftime lead was more than enough to ensure the Little Lions of their fifth win of the season against just one loss.
Corkery finished with 13 completions for 175 yards and two touchdowns, and the running game added another 170 yards and four touchdowns, including two by Bechtel.
Gaul led the receivers with 104 yards on six catches.
This week, archrival Harrisburg will visit for a game that again may decide the Mid Penn Conference champions.
Last year, the Little Lions prevailed in the regular-season game between these two, 20-6, but Harrisburg evened the score with a convincing 27-7 win in the PIAA semifinals.
In that game, senior running back Kyle Williams went yard, so to speak, with a 263-yard, four-touchdown day that crushed the Lions’ hopes of getting to the state title game.
Williams graduated, but quarterback Sean Lee is back along with junior RB Nehemiah Ewell (79 ypg) and wide receiver Elias Coke (77 ypg).
The Cougars this season have wins over William Penn, Delaware Valley, Carlisle, Cumberland Valley, Altoona and CD East. Their only loss came at Manheim Township, 38-6, on Sept. 9.
Last week, Harrisburg outscored CD East 21-14 in the second half to take a 34-27 win at East.
Both the Lions and Cougars have refueled for this season, and both are again on track to make serious noise in the playoffs. This will be another intense matchup between two good teams.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
Penns Valley (4-3) at Somerset (3-4)
Friday, Oct. 13
The Penns Valley Rams got off to a terrible start against Central at home on Oct. 6 and paid the price for it in a 28-14 LHAC loss at home.
PV fell behind 28-0 by halftime after undefeated Central, now 7-0, pretty much did anything it wanted in the first two quarters, including scoring on three touchdown passes by quarterback Eli Muthler.
One of those touchdown passes, a 22-yarder to WR Jack Dunn, came as time ran down to :00 in the second quarter.
The Rams, however, did not stop playing, and sparked by a defense that forced five turnovers, they began to creep back into the game.
Ty Watson scored two touchdowns after PV drives in the third and fourth quarters as the Rams edged to within 14 points with 7:30 still to play in the fourth quarter.
That would be all, though, as Central was able to run the clock and hold on for its seventh win without a loss.
This week, PV will take on Somerset away on Oct. 13 in another LHAC contest.
Somerset is 3-4 so far this season with wins over Greater Johnstown, Westmont-Hilltop and Bishop McCort while the Eagles have fallen to Chestnut Ridge, Central, Richland and Bedford, 28-7, last Friday night.
Quarterback Lane Lambert leads the offense for Somerset, and he’s completed 19 of 43 attempts for 294 yards and three touchdowns.
It’s the ground game, however, that the team relies on most, and it has run so far for 1,326 yards on 265 attempts with 11 touchdowns.
Camden Lowery leads with 590 yards on 91 carries, with Rowan Holmes (343 yards) and Lambert (330 yards) close behind.
Penns Valley will counter with a balanced attack that has quarterback Jackson Romig, Watson and wide receivers Danin Kerstetter and John Meyer leading the way.
This game looms large for the Rams in that they are ranked No. 7 in the AA, District 6 bracket, with eight teams advancing to the D6 playoffs.
With at least seven teams closely bunched in the standings, every game from here will be important.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Somerset.
Bellefonte (0-7) at Bishop McCort (2-5)
Friday, Oct. 13
In the end, it came down to two kicks for the Raiders last Friday at Philipsburg-Osceola.
The Raiders scored with just over three minutes to play in their LHAC contest and took a 13-7 lead over the Mounties after the extra point was missed.
But Philipsburg, led by the passing of quarterback Zack Myers and receivers Nick Johnson, Sam McDonald and Lucas Peterson, drove inside the Bellefonte 10-yard line.
From there, with 40 seconds left to play, McDonald took a handoff from Myers, rolled right and threw Lucas Peterson open in the back of the endzone for a touchdown and a tie game.
Carson Long then came on to make the extra point, and P-O had a 14-13 lead with less than a minute to play.
Bellefonte was not done, however, and the Raiders drove to the P-O 25-yard line with five seconds left on the clock.
The field goal attempt, which would have given the game and the Luther Trophy to the Raiders, sailed left and P-O had its second win of the season.
This week, the Raiders will be at Bishop McCort on Oct. 13, still looking for their first win.
McCort is 2-5 this season with wins over Greater Johnstown and Westmont Hilltop in its last two games. Those victories came after the Crushers had lost their first five games — to Central Cambria, Bishop Guilfoyle, Chestnut Ridge, Richland and Somerset.
The Raiders outgain McCort 203 to 131 yards per game, with McCort’s quarterback Angelo Galucci and running back Garrett Farabaugh being the major threats.
This will be the Raiders’ eighth look this season, and possibly the best one to snag their first win.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Johnstown.
Bald Eagle Area (6-1) at Greater Johnstown (0-7)
Saturday, Oct. 14
There wasn’t as much scoring as expected, but the BEA showdown against Clearfield on Oct. 6 was as hard fought and exciting as any game this season.
Unfortunately, the Bald Eagles could not finish their last, possibly winning, drive and they fell, 13-7, to the first-place Bison.
Clearfield was able to push across a touchdown with just over a minute to play and took a 13-7 lead.
BEA subsequently took the kickoff and promptly drove to the Bison 9-yard line, where a fumble took away its chance for a final touchdown and a win.
With the victory, Clearfield improved 6-1, and Bald Eagle, with its first loss, fell to 6-1.
This week, BEA will be in Johnstown on Oct. 14 to take on Greater Johnstown in another LHAC contest.
GJHS has yet to win this season and has seen some very one-sided scores.
The Trojans have scored just 20 points so far and have been shut out five times.
And with the Eagles coming off a tough loss to a contending team, this shapes up as a night for BEA to right its ship and prepare for the remaining regular-season games.
Kickoff is at 6 p.m. on Oct. 14 in Johnstown.
Philipsburg-Osceola (2-5) at Westmont Hilltop (2-5)
Saturday, Oct. 14
Philipsburg-Osceola finally brought back the Luther Trophy after it had stayed for a very long time in the lobby of Bellefonte High School.
The Mounties scored a late touchdown on a halfback pass by Sam McDonald to Lucas Peterson that, along with Carson Long’s extra point, gave them a satisfying homecoming-night, 14-13 victory over the Raiders.
It wasn’t over, of course, until Bellefonte missed a last-ditch, 45-yard field goal attempt, but it was a win nonetheless that the Mounties and their fans heartily celebrated.
This week, P-O will be in Johnstown to take on 2-5 Westmont Hilltop on Oct. 14 at 1 p.m.
Westmont has wins over Bellwood-Antis, 14-6, and Greater Johnstown, 35-0. The Hilltoppers have lost their last two games to Penn Cambria, 39-0, and to Bishop McCort, 14-13, on Oct. 6 at McCort.
In that game, Westmont fell behind late, 14-7, but rallied and scored a touchdown with less than a minute to go to pull to within 14-13.
It was either go for a tie and overtime, or try to win it right there.
Westmont went for it, but the try failed and McCort prevailed by a point.
So it will be two teams on Saturday coming off 14-13 games, one after a win and the other after a loss.
This could be another 1-pointer as well, and the winner will walk away with its third win of the season.
Kickoff is at 1 p.m. in Westmont.
