State College senior Nehemiah Howell leads Little Lions football in season-finale win
Ask anybody about this year, and they’ll tell you it hasn’t been easy.
State College coach Matt Lintal and senior running back Nehemiah Howell both agreed it was difficult to prepare for this football season. Howell summed it up by saying that he and his teammates just had to “make the most of the opportunities” they got this year.
On Friday night, Howell made the most of his opportunities by capping off his State College career with a four-touchdown performance in a 45-21 season-finale win over Hollidaysburg at Memorial Field.
“It’s kind of hard to play in a season like this, but you got to come out and do your best,” the senior said. “It was hard not playing all of our games. We had to switch our schedule to play other teams. It’s just a blessing to be out here and have a season because not a whole lot of people had seasons.”
Lintal echoed his player’s words.
“It was brutal from day to day. It was tough, but it was worth every second of it,” he said. “These kids were tremendous. They were worth all the effort. We talk all the time about be where your feet are. I’ve said that for years.
“We never had to live it more than this year. You didn’t know what tomorrow was going to be, ever. We just had to enjoy every single minute of where we were. These kids went through so much, but got so much out of it.”
Howell touched the ball just seven times for the Little Lions, but four of those touches went for scores. He started the scoring for State College and ended it.
Howell had six carries for 98 yards rushing and three scores. He had just one reception for 28 yards and another score.
The situation was all too familiar for Golden Tigers coach Homer DeLattre.
“He was a good player last year for them, he had a big game versus us (last year), too,” DeLattre said. “He made some nice plays. He’s athletic, and faster than our guys, obviously. He did a good job.”
Howell’s first score of the night came on that reception. He went out in the flat, and quarterback Conrad Moore got the ball in his hands.
Howell broke several Hollidaysburg tackles and scampered down the sideline to make it 7-0 with 4:18 left in the first quarter.
“You give him space, it doesn’t matter how many guys are around, he’s going to make something happen,” Lintal said of his senior. “He is a tremendous athlete. He can cut on a dime. He’s got a burst and ball skills. He just understands and has tremendous vision.”
On Howell’s second score of the night, he put the Little Lions up 14-0 on a beautiful 68-yard score that saw him go untouched.
The Little Lions finished with 405 yards rushing overall in the game, with Moore and Dresyn Green each surpassing the 100-yard mark. Moore led the team with 143 yards on 13 carries. Green added 136 yards on 17 carries.
With his team only up 17-14 with 6:47 left in the third quarter, Howell got to work again for State College. He capped off a seven-play drive with a 9-yard score that saw him fight off several Golden Tigers defenders.
Hollidaysburg responded with another score with 3:14 left in the third quarter to get within three one more time, but that was the closest it would be the rest of the game.
Dresyn Green tacked his lone score of the game with 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter to push the Little Lions up by 10 again. After State College intercepted a pass on the Golden Tigers’ ensuing possession, Jashaun Green scored on a 26-yard pass from Moore to make it 38-21.
Howell put the exclamation point on the game with a 16-yard score with 6:57 left in the game.
Lintal said this marked the first time he was able to walk off the field with a senior class as winners in their season finale. He joked because the season usually ends with a playoff loss.
“This is how you hope to walk off at the end,” Lintal said, “just to look around and see these guys with smiles on their faces, and know what it meant to them. The Chambersburg game last week was tremendous, another really fun and competitive game. To have this experience, walking off the field as victors is really fun. I couldn’t imagine a better way to go out than right now.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our kids and seniors.”
State College 45, Hollidaysburg 21
(Friday at State College)
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Hollidaysburg 0 7 14 0 — 21
State College 7 10 14 14 — 45
First Quarter
SC—Nehemiah Howell 28 pass from Conrad Moore (Aiden Spitler kick), 4:18
Second Quarter
SC—Howell 68 run (Spitler kick), 10:29
H—Bryce Martellacci 6 run (Ben Sosnowski kick), 7:29
SC—Spitler 38 FG, 4:49
Third Quarter
H—Gage Shawley 1 run (Sosnowski kick), 6:47
SC—Howell 9 run (Spitler kick), 4:12
H—Tyler Faber 59 pass from Martellacci (Sosnowski kick), 3:14
SC—Dresyn Green 1 run (Spitler kick), :40
Fourth Quarter
SC—Jashaun Green 26 pass from Moore (Spitler kick), 11:05
SC—Howell 16 run (Spitler kick), 6:57
TEAM STATISTICS H SC
First downs 11 18
Total yards 239 502
Rushes-yards 32-139 44-405
Yards passing 100 97
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 5-17-3 9-17-1
Punts-avg. 2-30 1-32
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 3-27 8-94
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Hollidaysburg, Martellacci 17-94, Shawley 5-15, Jake McGinnis 1-2, Evan Brozenich 1-(-1), Xander Bailey 7-33, Team 1-(-4). State College, Moore 13-143, D. Green 17-136, Howell 6-98, TJ Yoder 2-3, Finn Furmanek 3-25, Matt Wall 2-0, Donte Nastasi 1-0.
PASSING—Hollidaysburg, Martellacci 3-11-85-3, McGinnis 2-5-15-0, Rocco Grassi 0-1-0-0. State College, Moore 9-17-97-1.
RECEIVING—Hollidaysburg, Grassi 3-29, Faber 1-59, Martellacci 1-12. State College, J. Green 3-44, D. Green 2-6, Sammy Knipe 2-15, Branden Price 1-4, Howell 1-28.
Records: Hollidaysburg 4-4, State College 4-3
Next game: Season complete for State College
