Here’s what to look for and how to watch Week 8 of Centre County high school football
Centre County’s last playoff team will take the field Friday night while three others will continue non-playoff competition.
Bald Eagle Area, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola will continue playing despite the end to their postseason aspirations, while Bellefonte will play for the Class 4A regional championship.
Let’s take a look at the three matchups in Week 7.
Bellefonte (3-3) vs Juniata (4-1)
Time: 7 p.m.
How to listen: ESPN Radio 103.7 FM or 1450 AM or http://player.listenlive.co/63291
Where: Mansion Park in Altoona
Coaches: B — Shanon Manning; J — Kurt Condo
Players to watch: B — Jamal Saunders, RB; J — Yaneil Ortiz, RB
The skinny: Bellefonte is the county’s only playoff team left and will play a neutral site game for the regional championship Friday night in Altoona.
They’ll take on a Juniata team that hasn’t lost since its season opener.
The Red Raiders have begun to rely on Saunders — a sophomore — more in their running game and he’s the team’s leading rushing ahead of senior quarterback Ethan Rossman. The two form an excellent duo in the backfield and allow the Bellefonte offense to break teams down and beat them up in the running game.
Their offense is predicated on running the ball and hitting on explosive plays when the opportunity comes. Saunders is good enough to be responsible for a few of those explosive plays as a running back.
Juniata will be attacking Bellefonte with a versatile offense that can beat it through the air on occasion or on the ground with several options. Ortiz is the team’s leading rusher with only 335 yards but he averages 8.8 yards per carry. Ortiz, Caleb Seeger and Jace White average at least 6 yards per carry and are able to provide different looks for defenses to stop. The trio of rushers should be the focus of the offense after toting the rock 24 times for 300 yards and three touchdowns last week.
Bellefonte will need to slow that running game down to advance in the postseason.
Bald Eagle Area (2-4) at Penns Valley (2-3)
Time: 7 p.m.
How to watch: Penns Valley Athletics on Facebook
Coaches: BEA — Jesse Nagle; PV — Martin Tobias
Players to watch: BEA — Garrett Burns, QB; PV — Seth Baney, RB
The skinny: Bald Eagle Area and Penns Valley will play this week after the Eagles were eliminated from the postseason last Friday.
The Eagles come into the game after their difficult loss to Bellwood-Antis in the first round of the PIAA District 6 Class 2A playoffs. The Eagles will have to stay motivated knowing their playoff hopes are behind them.
They’re a young team with a lot of development ahead of them and can use this game — and any future games this season — to find out about themselves and what they can look like. Burns — a junior — and junior wide receiver Owen Irvin formed a solid connection this year and should be able to utilize this matchup to further that relationship and prepare for next season.
The Rams played last week against Huntingdon to inch closer to .500 on the season. They relied heavily on Baney last week to take down the Bearcats and the senior running back can be an important piece of their offense this week.
He ran the ball 28 times for 173 yards and two touchdowns in the game, by far his best performance of the season. He’s gone over 100 yards in each of the Rams’ last two games and they could rely on him against the Eagles.
Philipsburg-Osceola (1-5) at Northern Cambria (4-3)
Time: 7 p.m.
How to watch: Link can be found on Philipsburg-Osceola social media pages
Coaches: PO — Jeff Vroman; NC — Sam Shutty
Players to watch: PO — Kaleb Stamm, RB; NC — Owen Prasko, RB
The skinny: The Mountaineers were originally supposed to play Bucktail this week but that game was canceled. They’ll now take on the Colts on the road.
Philipsburg-Osceola will put its run-heavy attack to the test once again and Stamm will be at the forefront. He’s the Mountaineers’ best player and has been the most productive piece of their offense this season. He’s won the Centre Daily Times’ Athlete of the Week recognition twice this fall and is good enough to have another big game against Northern Cambria.
P-O hasn’t won multiple games in a season since 2011, and this will be another chance for the Mountaineers to reach that accomplishment by the end of the year.
They’ll be facing a rushing attack even more potent than their own. Prasko is the lead rusher in the Colts’ backfield and has been a key part of their offense this season. He has 624 yards and nine touchdowns on 94 carries, leading the Colts in all three categories. His biggest performance came against Blairsville when he finished with 218 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
If he plays like that, Friday could be a long night for Philipsburg-Osceola.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 10:52 AM.
