FOOTBALL

Historian gives personal view of county's all-time best contests

Vinny Pezzimenti

While getting to know Harry Breon through various phone calls over the last half year, it wasn't hard to figure out that the Bellefonte native eats, sleeps and breathes Centre County sports history.

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This sums up Harry quite nicely: He’s currently putting together a book of statistics on the county’s long history of recreation fast-pitch softball.

But his true passions are County League baseball and high school football.

Harry owns stacks and stacks of old newspaper clippings. All those fading facts and figures helped him create an in-detail list of the county’s top 25 football games of all-time.

He started with 100. Then narrowed the list to 75, 50 and 25.

“Of course,” Harry said, “this is just the opinion of one man.”

The top 10 10. 1985 — Bald Eagle Area 20, Philipsburg-Osceola 20

In a battle for first place in the Big 8, BEA’s Doug Womer threw for 181 yards and P-O’s Terry Powers passed for 158 as the Mounties scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to tie it, but missed the extra point.

9. 1929 — State College 3, Bellefonte 0

Bellefonte was a heavy favorite, but State College’s Bill Braisor kicked an 18-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to win in the midst of a storm that dumped six inches of snow.

8. 1963 — BEA 7, Bellefonte 0

Bellefonte kept all-state and Big 33 selection Mike Condo in check until midway through the fourth quarter when he raced 76 yards for a touchdown.

7. 1986 — Bellefonte 7, BEA 6

Played in the rain before 6,000- plus in Wingate, BEA’s Darian Pletcher scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter but he slipped trying to cut inside on the two-point conversion. BEA was 7-3 and needed a win to earn a district playoff berth while Bellefonte was 9-1 and postseason bound.

6. 1959 — Bellefonte 13, Philipsburg 6

In the season opener, Bellefonte’s Skip Whitehill scored on a 1-yard run with four seconds left to hand Philipsburg its only defeat that fall.

5. 1941 — Snow Shoe 8, Cooper Township 0

Dave Etters scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter and Snow Shoe added a safety in the fourth to seal the upset win over a Cooper team that hadn’t lost since 1938.

4. 1958 — Lewistown 47, State College 34

In a battle of unbeatens, Fred Stoicheff and Junior Powell ran for three TDs each as Lewistown raced to a 40-13 lead in the fourth quarter. Scott Harshbarger led State College with 129 passing and 73 rushing yards.

3. 1973 — State College 37, Pittsburgh Central Catholic 26

Star sophomore Matt Suhey rushed for 229 yards and three touchdowns as State College built a 30-14 halftime lead in a home contest that was billed as a mythical state championship game.

2. 1953 — State College 7, Lewistown 0

State College had minus-7 yards of offense to Lewistown’s 190 as six inches of snow fell during the game. Lewistown, which lost seven fumbles and threw an interception, was at State College’s 1-yard line when the game ended. Bob Sunday returned a blocked punt 34 yards for the only touchdown.

1. 1927 — Mount Carmel 7, Bellefonte 6

This state championship game — still the only one in which a county team has appeared — was played in four inches of snow at Penn State’s Beaver Field. Bellefonte’s Paul Crust scored a touchdown in the third quarter but the tying extra point was missed. Bellefonte drove deep into Mount Carmel territory late but fumbled the ball away.

The best of the rest

1972 — State College 30, Indiana 26

After Indiana took the lead late, Ken Decker returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown to preserve State College’s unbeaten season.

1968 — Belllefonte 13, Clearfield 7

In game that preserved a perfect season, Bellefonte was able to stave off a 2-5 Clearfield team behind Denny DeWitt, who ran for two touchdowns in the final five minutes, the last one covering 75 yards.

1974 — State College 42, Cedar Cliff 27

Randy Hochberg threw for 264 yards and Suhey added 124 yards rushing and four touchdowns as State College notched win No. 36 in its magical 36-game winning streak in front of 12,500 at Cedar Cliff.

1975 — Chief Logan 12, State College 10

Chief Logan’s coach said during the week of the game that his team didn’t deserve to be on the same field with State College, but it overcame a 10-0 fourth-quarter deficit and won it on a 1-yard Steve Wagmer TD run with three seconds left.

1985 — BEA 27, Lewistown 26

Down 26-6 early, BEA rallied behind Womer’s 137 passing yards to keep its unbeaten regular season intact.

1991 — Penns Valley 10, Southern Huntingdon 7

With both teams at 9-0, Bob Sauerwein connected on a 32-yard field goal with 20 seconds left to keep Penns Valley perfect.

2000 — Tyrone 14, Bellefonte 7

With the game tied late, Bellefonte was stopped on Tyrone’s 4-yard line. On the ensuing possession, Jesse Jones was caught by Nate Stone after a 64-yard run, but Jones scored moments later to give the defending District 6 champs the win in front of a packed house at Bellefonte.

Vinny Pezzimenti can be reached at 231-4629.