Centre County football teams learn district playoff paths

It is the time of the year where it is win or go home.

For Bald Eagle Area, Bellefonte, Penns Valley and State College, they got an extra week of games with the district playoffs kicking off on Friday.

The Eagles and Little Lions play on Friday with the Red Raiders and Rams playing on Saturday.

All of the teams received a seed in the top four of their classification after going a combined 32-8 during the regular season. They will all also host their games.

BEA (8-2) and State College (9-1) were the top seeds in Class 3A and Class 6A, respectively. Bellefonte (8-2) is the No. 2 seed in Class 4A behind undefeated Clearfield. Penns Valley (7-3) is No. 4 in Class 2A with undefeated Richland edging out undefeated Ligonier Valley on points for the No. 1 spot.

The Eagles host No. 4 Huntingdon (5-5) with a 7 p.m. kickoff in the semifinals. BEA traveled to the Bearcats in Week 7 and came away with a 30-7. The Eagles will look to make the title game and make a state title run without star running back Gage McClenahan, who injured his knee in Week 8 against the Bison.

The Little Lions take on Mifflin County (6-4) for a shot at the District 6 Class 6A championship. With a win, State College will play in the PIAA Subregional game next week against the winner of the District 8 and 10 champion matchup.

The Red Raiders will have an early semifinal kickoff of 5 p.m. against No. 3 seed Bradford (6-4), which competes in District 9. The game will be played at BEA as Rogers Stadium isn’t quite ready to host a district playoff game.

The Rams kicks off their quarterfinal tilt at 7 p.m. against No. 5 Southern Huntingdon (7-3), which finished its season with a 42-20 loss to No. 3 seed Bellwood-Antis. Should Penns Valley advance, it would face either Richland -- a battle of Rams -- or No. 8 seed West Branch.