Tracking the area’s high school football stat leaders after 11 weeks

Friday marked the end of the regular season for all area teams, and there are now just two local squads left in the postseason: Bellefonte and State College.

Those two can still add to their numbers. And leaders in two of the three categories remain up in the air.

Take a look:

Passing

State College’s Tommy Friberg moved up one spot, to No. 2, after a 208-yard effort against Central Dauphin — and he’ll likely be the leader here by the time the season is over.

The Little Lions have a subregional playoff game on Friday against Erie. And Friberg (1,379 yards) needs just 22 more yards to pass current leader, Penns Valley’s Aaron Tobias (1,400), whose season is over.

Tobias deserves a lot of credit for his numbers this season. He didn’t receive full reps under center until the sixth week of the season and, since then, has averaged a county-best 224 passing yards per game. He’s the clear favorite to lead the area in passing in 2018.

In other movement this week, Philipsburg-Osceola’s Daniel Slogosky (1,334) dropped a spot to No. 3 on the leaderboard, while Bellefonte’s Dylan Deitrich (1,159) is a distant fourth with Bald Eagle Area’s Jaden Jones (1,071) in fifth.

Deitrich needs 176 yards against Johnstown on Friday to move up to No. 3.

Rushing

The Red Raiders’ Dylan Deitrich has made sure that this category isn’t even close.

The dual-threat quarterback — who already holds the county record for most single-season rushing yards by a QB — leads the area with 1,340 rushing yards. That’s more than 500 yards better than the current runner-up.

Deitrich is still some distance away from No. 1 in the Red Raiders’ record books, according to local historian Harry Breon. He needs 452 yards to tie Jerry Shivery’s single-season mark of 1,792 yards from 1966. Deitrich will obviously need some help — and a few more team wins — to approach that school record.

State College’s Tristen Lyons is currently No. 2 in the area this season with 839 yards, but he’s had an impressive month of play. He’s come a long way in just the last four weeks, as he’s crossed the 100-yard mark in each of those games while amassing 510 yards and averaging 9.6 yards per carry during that time. Prior to that span, he wasn’t even in the top 5.

Penns Valley’s Ryan Ripka (778) remains in third — but likely not for long. Bellefonte’s Dexter Gallishaw is close behind (771), with the Little Lions’ Isaiah Edwards (512) pulling up the rear.

Receiving

We finally have ourselves a battle in this category.

Bellefonte’s Cade Fortney — who has 587 receiving yards — still leads here, for the ninth straight week. But Fortney’s stranglehold at No. 1 has loosened over the last two games.

Fortney has still played a critical role on his team — he had a 64-yard interception TD return Friday — but he’s still managed just two catches for 33 yards over the last two weeks. State College has taken advantage.

The Little Lions’ Brandon Clark (510) is now just 77 yards behind, and a big game Friday could vault him into the top spot. Teammate Cohen Russell isn’t out of it yet, either, as he’s currently fourth with 456 receiving yards. (He’s coming off a 10-catch, 92-yard performance.)

Penns Valley’s Cole Breon — who leads the area with 43 catches — is third with 464 yards, and Bald Eagle Area’s Matthew Reese is fifth with 401 yards.

This story was originally published November 5, 2017 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Tracking the area’s high school football stat leaders after 11 weeks."