Here’s 5 takeaways from the 2020 Centre County high school football season
The Centre County high school football season has come to an end after 10 weeks of competition. Three of the five area teams qualified for the playoffs, but no team advanced past their first playoff game.
Bald Eagle Area, Bellefonte and State College were all playoff teams this season, while Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola missed out on the postseason action.
Let’s take a look at five takeaways from the 2020 high school football season in Centre County.
1. Bald Eagle Area takes a step back but maintains a bright future
The Eagles didn’t have the season they’d hoped to after making an appearance in the PIAA Class 3A state semifinals last year, but still showed reasons for hope. They were led offensively by junior wide receiver Owen Irvin who had a breakout season for Bald Eagle Area. The wideout finished the year with 29 receptions for 591 yards and five touchdowns, according to MaxPreps.
He has the size and speed to be one of the best players in the Mountain League next year if he can continue improving. He’s a deep threat thanks to his height and leaping ability, but he can also make plays on short and intermediate routes because of his speed and quickness. Irvin and junior quarterback Garrett Burns will have one more year together to prove they can take the Eagles deep into the playoffs.
2. Bellefonte continues to build with the run
The Red Raiders utilize a run-heavy attack to wear down opponents and did so this season with senior quarterback Ethan Rossman. Even with Rossman graduating this spring, they should be in a position to continue excelling with that approach. Sophomore running back Jamal Saunders ran 53 times for 506 yards and a touchdown this season.
That’s 68 more yards than the school’s all-time leading rusher, C.J. Funk, had in his sophomore campaign. Quarterback could be more of a question mark with Rossman and his backup — senior Logan Houser — graduating this year, but Saunders is good enough to be the focal point and carry the load for the Red Raiders next season.
3. Penns Valley takes a step back after Mountain League title, but finishes strong
The Rams dealt with plenty of adversity during the early part of the season. They had two games postponed after they came in contact with a Clearfield player who tested positive for COVID-19. Only one of those two games was made up and the team started the season 1-3 after winning its first Mountain League title in school history.
However, the Rams — led by head coach Martin Tobias — were able to push forward and end the season on a hot streak. They won their last four games to finish at 5-3, including a 54-0 domination of Mount Union to end the season Friday night. Tobias will lose a strong group of seniors who were able to put it all on the line to win four in a row, despite the disappointment of missing the playoffs
4. Philipsburg-Osceola shows signs of life for the first time in nearly a decade
When the Mountaineers hired Jeff Vroman as the program’s football coach, he said he wanted his players to learn what it meant to compete again. After all, the last time the Mountaineers won more than one game in a season was in 2011 — during Vroman’s first tenure as the team’s head coach. After playing seven games, it appears he was able to accomplish that goal.
Philipsburg-Osceola went 2-5 with one of those losses being an eight-point loss to Tyrone, which finished 6-2. There are no moral victories in the record book, but this season could be a turning point for the P-O football program. If Vroman is able to continue building it up, he could have a team that’s doing far more than just competing.
5. State College faces a tumultuous season
Few teams faced the same hurdles the Little Lions had in their way this season. They started playing a week later than most teams, then faced several schedule alterations that included the team having to play three games in eight days at one point in the year. The second of those three games was a loss to Altoona in the District 6 championship game that eliminated State College from postseason play after the Mountain Lions scored on a two-point conversion to seal the 22-21 victory.
That game took place just four days after the Little Lions took on Carlisle on the road. For all of their struggles with scheduling, they still managed to come back and win their final two games of the season to finish the year above .500 at 4-3.
