State College football beats Erie to earn 4th straight state playoff berth
With the final seconds on the clock ticking down, State College wideout Brandon Clark gathered his teammates in a circle on the sideline as they swayed to their own music: “Hey, hey, hey; good-bye!”
Clark could see his breath, but he couldn’t feel his fingers in the 20-degree weather. And he couldn’t have been happier.
His Little Lions had just dominated Erie 48-12 Friday night in a PIAA Class 6A subregional at Clarion University. And he couldn’t stop smiling, even as he shifted his weight from one leg to another to keep warm.
“You just got to focus on the game, not the weather,” said Clark, who finished with a game-high six catches for 121 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “This is definitely exciting.”
State College will next meet Delaware Valley, a 31-3 winner over Hazleton, at a time and place to be determined in the PIAA first round. It’s the fourth straight time the Little Lions have earned a berth in the state tournament — Clark, a senior, has never lost a subregional game — and they made it look easy at Memorial Stadium.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence now,” Clark added. “Hopefully, it doesn’t get to our heads. We still got a lot of work to do.”
Erie couldn’t stop State College’s passing game Friday, and the Little Lions shut down the run-first Royals’ aerial attack. Tommy Friberg finished 12 of 15 passing for 240 yards and three scores, while Erie combined to go 1 of 10 for four yards with an interception before two deep passes in garbage time.
State College defensive end Jackson Heasley constantly harassed Erie quarterback Jason Williams, who also had a team-high 13 carries. And freshman safety Sammy Knipe boasted the game of his career with an interception and a 55-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in the final quarter.
“If you told me before the game we would’ve given up 12 points, I would’ve taken that in a heartbeat,” State College coach Matt Lintal said with a smile. “I’m very impressed with our defensive side and being able to shut them down — and get points on the board.”
But, early on, it was the offensive side of the ball that delivered the turning point of the game.
State College drove 40 yards on its first drive but came away empty-handed. After the Little Lions’ defense forced a punt, however, State College’s Tristen Lyons escaped tacklers down the sideline for a 44-yard return — and Friberg found Jeremy Bullock for a 19-yard touchdown on the very next play.
After an Erie three-and-out, the Little Lions scored again when Isaiah Edwards broke free on fourth-and-1 for a 21-yard score. State College led 14-0 after the first quarter, and it never looked back.
“Tristen’s punt return — that was the turning point,” Lintal said. “Our kids came off confident after that.”
Added Clark: “That probably sealed it.”
The two teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter, and State College put it away shortly after halftime.
After a four-yard punt in the third quarter — the Erie punter was pressured — State College took over at the Royals’ 30 and scored four plays later. Then, twice more in the quarter, a streaking Clark caught passing touchdowns of 50 and 24 yards. Clark triggered the mercy rule with his second score, giving his team a 41-6 lead with 1:17 left in the third.
“Going into halftime, it was in our favor and we came out hard early in the third,” Knipe said. “And we just shut them down. All the hope they had left was just gone after the first couple drives in the third quarter. It was just gone.”
Clark huddled close to a heater in the final minutes of the game, when the backups took over. But once the clock reached the final 30 seconds, he walked back to the sideline to celebrate with his teammates. They danced, they cheered, and they sang.
Clark accounted for just over half of State College’s receiving yards, but he credited his quarterback. Lintal thanked his coaching staff.
“We just turn up,” Clark said with a laugh. “After that clock ran down, we knew we were moving on.”
Said Knipe: “We’re just going to keep playing as long as they let us. We’re not losing; we’re going all the way.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2017 at 11:43 PM with the headline "State College football beats Erie to earn 4th straight state playoff berth."