Everyone is at home this week in what could be called the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference East-West Challenge.
In the final week of the regular season, the conference matches up the corresponding teams from the East and West divisions and has them play against each other to end the season.
This year, the East teams are at home and the local games will be played at BEA, Penns Valley, Bellefonte and Philipsburg-Osceola.
The conference championship game will pit Richland from the West against East champ Central Martinsburg on Friday at Central.
Finally, State College, coming off a tough loss last week at Cumberland Valley, will host Chambersburg in its final regular season game at Memorial Field on Friday.
Here is a closer look at each game:
Penn Cambria (8-1) at Bald Eagle Area (8-1)
Friday, Oct. 27
This game on Friday night in Wingate matches the two second-place teams in the LHAC — 8-1 Penn Cambria and 8-1 Bald Eagle Area.
Penn Cambria’s only loss came in the first week of the season to West Division champion Richland, 26-21, at Richland.
Otherwise, the Panthers ran the board with wins over teams like Forest Hills, Bedford, Chestnut Ridge and Central Cambria.
PC averages over 330 yards of offense per game, almost evenly balanced between the run (183) and pass (151). It scores 31 points every time out and went over 40 points twice, against Forest Hills and Bishop McCort.
Sophomore quarterback Brady Jones has thrown for 1,330 yards and 17 touchdowns, while the running game has racked up 1,650 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Junior Thomas Plunkett is the leading runner, with 680 yards and five touchdowns, while receivers Carter McDermott and Gavin Harrold have combined for 1270 yards and 16 touchdowns.
PC also plays solid defense, with only two teams — Richland and Forest Hills — scoring 20 or more points against them.
For its part, BEA has been an offensive machine all season, led by quarterback Carson Nagle, Camron Watkins, Gavin Burns, Cameron Dubbs and Kahale Burns.
Dubbs led the team with 14 rushing touchdowns, while Kahale Burns had 10 receiving TDs.
Both teams are seeded high in the District 6 playoff rankings, with PC at No. 2 in the AAA bracket and BEA at No. 2 in the AA bracket, just behind 9-0 Richland.
Anything can happen in this one, and there will likely be lots of points.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Wingate.
Central Cambria (4-5) at Penns Valley (5-4)
Friday, Oct. 27
There are some extra spices associated with this game in that there are six teams right now vying for the final three D6, AA playoff spots.
Forest Hills (6-3), Penns Valley (5-4), Bishop Guilfoyle (5-4), Central Cambria (4-5) and West Shamokin (4-5) are among them.
A win by the Rams would assure them of a berth, but a loss and wins by West Shamokin and Guilfoyle would put the four teams at 5-5 with two playoff positions to fill.
It would come down to average ranking points, which are presently led by Penns Valley with 71 points and Guilfoyle with 67.
So a win here is important for both PV and Central Cambria.
The Red Devils have wins over McCort, Bedford, Greater Johnstown and Westmont Hilltop, but they have lost four of their last five games.
The Devils outgain PV by 297 to 263 yards per game and are led by running back Grady Snyder, who runs for over 105 yards per game. Snyder is also the team’s leading receiver, with 50 yards per game.
Snyder has scored a total of 14 touchdowns and is the favorite target of junior quarterback Hunter Pittsinger (868 yards, eight TDs).
PV counters with quarterback Jackson Romig, running back Ty Watson and leading receiver John Meyer.
Another close one here, with the advantage going to the team that makes the fewest mistakes.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Spring Mills.
Bishop McCort (3-6) at Philipsburg-Osceola (3-6)
Friday, Oct. 27
Philipsburg-Osceola came through with its third win of the season at Westmont Hilltop, 25-14, on Oct. 14, but then the Mounties fell to Bishop Guilfoyle on Oct. 21, 22-7.
The loss dropped P-O into 11th place in the D6, AA rankings, three spots out of contention for a playoff position.
McCort, however, is presently holding on to the No. 8 spot in the single-A bracket, just ahead of Claysburg-Kimmel, with both teams still having a game to play.
So for McCort, this game is for everything since there are six teams with 3-6 records looking for that last berth.
The Crushers will have the inside track with a win here over P-O, but the game will be close.
McCort is coming off a 41-14 loss to No. 2 Penn Cambria, but it had won the previous three games.
P-O has two close losses and realistically could be going here for a .500 record, but four wins would mark a better record for the Mounties than in the past three years.
Quarterback Zack Meyers and an improving running game will tell the tale in what will come down to another close game.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Somerset (3-6) at Bellefonte (1-8)
Friday, Oct. 27
After the Bellefonte Raiders fell by a point at Philipsburg-Osceola, 14-13, it only seems fitting that the Raiders would finally break through with their first win, at Huntingdon on Oct. 20, by the score of 14-13.
Quarterback Liam Halterman threw for 108 yards and a touchdown and ran for another 50 yards as Bellefonte came from behind late to take the 1-point win.
In all, Bellefonte gained 230 yards of offense on the night while holding the Bearcats to just two scores.
Now the Raiders will go for their second win when LHAC West opponent Somerset comes to visit on Friday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.
Somerset is 3-6 for the season so far, with wins over Greater Johnstown, Westmont Hilltop and Bishop McCort.
The Eagles, however, have lost their last four games and are coming off a 53-13 loss to 6-3 Forest Hills on Friday night and have fallen to the No. 4 position in the D6, AAA rankings.
This is an LHAC Week 10 matchup between the Eastern and Western divisions, and both Bellefonte and Somerset were in ninth place coming into the game.
The Raiders are coming off a high after their first win last week and will be ready to repeat.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Rogers Stadium.
Chambersburg (4-5) at State College (5-3)
Friday, Oct. 27
The State College Little Lions saved their best play for the playoffs last year, and they are going to have to do that again this year.
That’s because on Oct. 20 the Little Lions let one slip away at Cumberland Valley when the Eagles scored on a 40-yard run with less than four minutes to play and took a 17-10 victory.
State College trailed much of the night but tied the game on a Ty Salazer pick-6 and a 30-yard field goal by John Zipf with six minutes to play.
But CV took the kickoff and drove for the winning score.
Now the Little Lions will end their regular season at home against 4-5 Chambersburg on Friday night at Memorial Field.
Chambersburg has wins over Northern York, Waynesboro, Carlisle and CD East, but the Trojans lost their fifth game last week to Harrisburg, 60-14.
State College did gain 260 yards of offense at CV, but the Lions did not score an offensive touchdown against a charged-up Cumberland Valley defense.
Nevertheless, State College is still the No. 1 team in the District 6, AAAAAA rankings ahead of Altoona and Mifflin County.
The Lions will have to beat one of those two teams for the D6 title and then play into the PIAA tournament through the District 6, 9, 10 regional tournament.
Kickoff against Chambersburg is set for 7 p.m.
