Rams upend Little Lions

HARRISBURG — Another Mid-Penn game against a quality opponent. Another hectic finish.

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Central Dauphin's Kris Weikel, drags down State College's Jamal Albro, behind the line of scrimmage during second half action at Landis Field Friday September 18, 2009. CHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-News

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This time, State College was forced to watch somebody else salute their band.

The Little Lions’ run of 12 consecutive regular-season victories ended Friday with a 24-22 loss to Central Dauphin at Landis Field.

State College’s comeback attempt ended with Central Dauphin’s Paul Coleman intercepting Josh Weakland’s pass at the Ram 30-yard line and sliding in glee at the 40. Weakland, a sophomore, was trying to lead the Little Lions’ 78 yards in 16.8 seconds, and his 28-yard completion to Alex Kenney moved the ball to the 50 with 10.5 seconds left.

Considering the way the first-half unfolded, it appeared the Little Lions (2-1, 1-1 Mid-Penn) might not receive such an opportunity.

The Rams (3-0, 2-0), the surprise team of the Mid-Penn Commonwealth, led 21-10 at halftime, shredding State College’s defense for 212 yards.

“Our kids are not quitters,” said State College coach Al Wolski, whose team held onto a big lead last week against Cumberland Valley. “We wondered how they were going to react in a tough, tight ballgame and they did an outstanding job. We hung in there tough.”

Sean Fakete’s 39-yard field goal with 9:01 left represented Central Dauphin’s only second-half points. State College quickly responded with an 8-play, 76-yard drive that took 1:48 and ended with Kenney trimming the lead to two by scoring on a 5-yard run.

The Little Lions went to Kenney again on the ensuing 2-point conversion attempt, and Central Dauphin linebacker Jarrett Brooks stuffed the play.

State College’s defense gave the offense the ball back at the Little Lion 10 with 3:16 left. The Little Lions needed less than two minutes to advance to their own 48, but the drive ended with the Rams holding Kenney to one yard on fourth-and-3.

“In this conference in games like that against teams like that it’s not over, literally, to it’s over,“ Central Dauphin coach Glen McNamee said.

“That’s how we prepared our kids. We knew it was going to be a 15-round slugfest.”

Kenney and the defense prevented Central Dauphin from ending the bout early.

A play that started innocently with Kenney running right on an apparent jet sweep attempt took a turn when he dropped back and threw a pass to Ben Sallade for a 59-yard gain. Kenney scored on a 28-yard run one play later.

Kenney scored all three of State College’s touchdowns, with the first coming on a 29-yard run with 4 seconds left in the first quarter. Kenney finished with 165 yards on 18 carries, gaining 11 or more yards six separate times.

Central Dauphin has a stable of electrifying athletes, too. State College learned this early.

The Rams’ first drive consisted of six plays, went 66 yards and took just 1:03. It ended with quarterback Lewis Correale throwing a 9-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Simpson. Four of Central Dauphin’s plays during the drive went for 13 or more yards.

“We weren’t ready to make tackles,” Wolski said. “They just out-athleticize us at the point of attack. We were in position to make tackles and we didn’t.”

Shoddy tackling hurt State College on the game’s longest play. Facing a third-and-24 from their own 15 in the second quarter, Central Dauphin resorted to a draw and Correale handed the ball to tailback Colton Charles. Charles split the defensive ends, broke a tackle at the 30, broke another one at the 40, turning the play into an 85-yard touchdown romp to give Central Dauphin a 14-7 lead.

“I ran past the defensive ends, did what I had to do, the big boys blocked and it happened,” said Charles, who rushed for 164 yards on 14 carries.

Charles wasn’t the only Ram to hurt the Little Lions. Correale completed 12 of 18 passes to five different receivers. Simpson caught five passes for 64 yards, including an 18-yarder with 40 seconds left in the first half. Simpson fumbled the ball before crossing the goal line, but Brian Morris smothered it for a touchdown.

The Little Lions avoided similar plays in the second half. Central Dauphin, which entered Friday averaging 51.5 points per game, compiled 79 yards during the half, with State College sacking Correale four times.

“They really brought some heat,” McNamee said. “They were hitting gaps and they were bringing backers. It made it tough to run the football. They forced us into doing some other things. It was a good adjustment on their part. They have great players. That’s why it’s such a great win for us.”

State College completed a season-high 9-of-14 passes for 140 yards. Matt Mazzara, Weakland and Kenney all completed passes and tight end Colby Way gave State College a big target by catching three passes for 31 yards.

“It was a good game,” Wolski said. “We came back in the second half and came up a little bit short. We’re going to learn from it. We played a very good football team. They are probably one of the best teams in the Mid-Penn team, possibly the state on both sides of the ball.”