5 takeaways from Week 5 of Centre County high school football
Centre County high school football teams went 4-1 in Week 5, with Philipsburg-Osceola representing the county’s lone loss. Bald Eagle Area won its home opener, while Bellefonte, Penns Valley and State College all went on the road to earn victories Friday night. Let’s look at five takeaways after each team hit the midpoint of the regular season.
1. State College scores 17 straight
The State College Little Lions remained the only unbeaten team in Centre County at 5-0 with a 27-17 win over the Chambersburg Trojans. The two teams were knotted up at the end of the third quarter, 10-10. Then, State College exploded for 17 straight points to take a 27-10 lead and that would be enough to leave Chambersburg with a victory. The Little Lions’ Aiden Spitler kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter to give State College a 13-10 lead. Isaiah Edwards followed that with an interception on the next Trojans’ drive and a touchdown reception from senior quarterback Brady Dorner to extend the lead to 10. Dorner completed 13-of-22 passes for 212 yards, including the passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown, according to PennLive. The Little Lions will play Central Dauphin East on the road next Friday at 7 p.m.
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2. Bellefonte steamrolls Tyrone
C.J. Funk had another big week as Bellefonte rolled through Tyrone on the road Friday night to get to 4-1. The Red Raiders defeated the Golden Eagles, 55-10. Like most games this season for Bellefonte, Funk was the star of the show early and often. He scored on a 20-yard rush to open the game’s scoring and added another from the 10-yard line before the quarter was even over. He finished the game with another 100-yard rushing performance, carrying the ball 11 times for 144 yards and four touchdowns in the game. The Red Raiders will go as far as the record-setting running back will take them this season. They’ll find out how far that is when they play Clearfield at home next Friday at 7 p.m.
3. Bald Eagle Area uses 2 quarterbacks in win
The Bald Eagle Area Bald Eagles went into Friday night’s game with a plan to sit star quarterback Jaden Jones one more week to be extra careful. That plan changed after Jones insisted he was ready to go in the second half of Friday night’s game. Jones played his first snap since his Week 3 injury in the game, and split time with backup quarterback, and starting wide receiver Kaden Bittinger the rest of the game. Bittinger had 99 rushing yards and 99 passing yards in the 29-7 win, and his ability to run a completely different system than the one Jones operates helped the Eagles to a victory to get to 4-1. Bittinger is at the helm of a spread offense that features a power rushing attack, while Jones does damage with his arm and legs in a true spread attack that hinges more on his passing ability. The Eagles will have a chance to show off their two-quarterback system next Friday when they play Tyrone on the road at 7 p.m.
4. Penns Valley gets up big early
The Penns Valley Rams built a 43-14 lead at the half of Friday’s win over Huntingdon, and that proved to be enough to get the Rams to 4-1. They defeated the Bearcats, 43-28, on the back of star quarterback Aaron Tobias. Tobias finished the game with five total touchdowns, including one for 91 yards, with four through the air and one on the ground. The four passing touchdowns is Tobias’ fewest in a game this season and so were the five total touchdowns. The senior quarterback has 28 passing touchdowns and 30 total touchdowns through five games this season. He’ll have a chance to add to that total next week when the Rams take on Midd-West at home next Friday at 7 p.m.
5. Philipsburg-Osceola gets shut out
The Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties came into the week in search of their second win of the season, and instead left their home field without having scored a point, losing to Bishop Carroll, 32-0. The Mounties are now 1-4 on the season with 30 points scored since their week one win over the West Branch Warriors. Over half of those points, 16 to be exact, came in the team’s one-possession loss to Tyrone in week four. The Mounties continue to struggle to put together any offense. Their next chance to get their second win of the season will come at home next Friday when they play Central at 7 p.m.
This story was originally published September 21, 2019 at 11:02 AM.
