Previewing Friday-Saturday’s high school football games
This week features a big regular-season finale for State College season and the start of postseason play for two local teams.
The Little Lions take on Central Dauphin in a Mid Penn Conference showdown. Bellefonte hosts Clearfield in the District 6 Class 4A semifinals, and Bald Eagle Area takes on Juniata in the first round of the District 6 Class 3A playoffs. Rounding out the slate, St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy finishes its season against Bishop Carroll.
State College (7-2) at Central Dauphin (6-3)
Time: 7 p.m.
Coaches: SC — Matt Lintal (fourth season); CD — Glen McNamee
Last meeting: Central Dauphin 13-10, last season
Players to watch: SC — Tristen Lyons, RB; CD — Mike Wise-Belle, RB
The skinny: Last season, Central Dauphin spoiled State College’s bid for an undefeated regular season with a 13-10 win. Once again, both teams are among the Mid Penn Commonwealth’s top teams, making for an intriguing matchup to close out this year’s regular season.
After suffering losses to the league’s top-2 teams — Harrisburg and Cumberland Valley — the Little Lions will look to beat a tough Rams team before opening postseason play. State College has overmatched its opponents in its seven victories, winning by at least 20 points in every game and scoring 70 points twice this season. The Rams, meanwhile, handed Cumberland Valley its only loss so far this season, but they also fell short against Central Dauphin East and proved to be no match for Harrisburg.
State College running back Tristen Lyons kick-started the team’s 70-20 win over winless Chambersburg last week with three touchdowns. Lyons rushed for 131 yards on six carries in the blowout for his third straight 100-yard game. His counterpart, Central Dauphin’s Mike Wise-Belle, has four straight 100-yard rushing efforts, including a 135-yard, four-touchdown performance in last week’s blowout win over Red Land.
Clearfield (6-4) at Bellefonte (8-2)
Time: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Bel — Shanon Manning (fifth season); C — Tim Janocko (33rd season)
Last meeting: Bellefonte 55-28, Sept. 29
Players to watch: Bel — Dylan Deitrich, QB; C — Isaac Rumery, QB
The skinny: The Red Raiders blew Clearfield away in the teams’ first meeting, scoring what proved to be a season-high point total while making a statement with a 55-28 win in late September. Bellefonte continued to dominate the rest of the season on the way to a share of the Mountain League title.
The Red Raiders are now looking to go through Clearfield on their way to the District 6 Class 4A title in a rematch of last season’s semifinal matchup. The top-seeded Bison cruised to a 34-7 win over Bellefonte in the 2016 playoffs, but the roles are reversed heading into this Friday’s matchup.
Bellefonte is the No. 1 seed with homefield advantage in the playoffs after an eight-win regular season fueled by a prolific offense. Quarterback Dylan Deitrich turned into the team’s top playmaker and repeatedly burned opponents on the ground, including a 203-yard, six-touchdown effort in that regular season win over Clearfield.
Bald Eagle Area (4-6) at Juniata (7-3)
Time: 7 p.m. Saturday
Coaches: BEA — Jesse Nagle (second season); J — Gary Klingensmith
Last meeting: Juniata 34-7, 2011
Players to watch: BEA — Gage McClenahan, DB; J — Bryson Clark, FB
The skinny: Juniata is the favorite in this first-round game in the District 6 Class 3A playoffs, but Bald Eagle Area played a tougher regular-season schedule.
The Indians’ slate included four Class A opponents and three Class 2A opponents. BEA’s road through the regular season included three Class 4A opponents and four Class 3A opponents. Their opponents combined for nearly identical records (Juniata’s opponents: 57-43; BEA’s opponents: 56-44).
While Juniata has two wins over teams with winning records, BEA has one impressive win over Clearfield. Gage McClenahan returned an interception for a touchdown in that upset against Clearfield, and winning the turnover battle will be crucial for the Eagles to advance. If BEA can take care of the ball and make a big play or two on defense, the Eagles could pull another upset.
Juniata has four players who have rushed for at least 300 yards, led by Zac Piper (8.0 yards per carry; three rushing TDs) and Bryson Clark (6.0 yards per carry; eight rushing TDs). They’re part of a rushing attack averaging more than 190 yards per game.
Bishop Carroll (1-9) at St. Joseph’s (0-7)
Time: 7 p.m. at Memorial Field
Coaches: BC — Sean Billings; SJCA — Murray Fetzer (first season)
Players to watch: SJCA — Brendan Robinson, QB
The skinny: The Wolves had a week off to prepare for their final game of the regular season.
They’ll look to avoid a winless season when they take on Bishop Carroll, a team that has suffered through blowout losses like St. Joseph’s. Bishop Carroll’s lone win came against Penn Cambria back in September. Since the win, Bishop Carroll has lost four straight, all by at least 28 points.
St. Joseph’s is coming off a 42-0 loss to Nativity two weeks ago, and the Wolves will need quarterback Brendan Robinson to bounce back from an 82-yard passing performance to have a chance to get in the win column Friday night.
This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 9:03 PM with the headline "Previewing Friday-Saturday’s high school football games."