How Centre County’s Mountain League football teams are embracing change this season
The winds of change have touched down upon the Mountain League.
Central has departed the league. Bellefonte added a new head coach. Penns Valley is replacing 10 starters on both offense and defense. Philipsburg-Osceola has a quarterback competition brewing. There is finally a full season of football to be played, following last year’s shortened COVID-19 year.
P-O dealt with an early end to its 2020 season due to COVID-19. While the program went 2-5, there were high hopes on the table for the year. Now, despite having to replace its quarterback and top rushers from last season, this year’s group of Mounties are excited to get their chance at redemption in a year that isn’t quite as marred by COVID.
“We’ve already faced a lot of obstacles last year and we had to end our season short because of COVID,” P-O wide receiver Andrew Faust said. “Preseason last year, we faced a lot of obstacles — we weren’t able to get into the weight room because of different restrictions, mask mandates and other things like that. This year, without the restrictions, it helps us to get to know our team as a whole and work together as a team better and get into the weight room this season.”
Penns Valley went 5-3 last year and is used to continuous success, having gone 15-5 in the past two years combined. Senior running back and linebacker Tanner Ilgen is the lone returning starter on both sides of the ball. According to coach Marty Tobias, the goal is to “develop experience and to become competitive, week in and week out.”
“With all of the new faces and all of the young players that are coming into the program, as well as additions that we’ve picked up in other grades, there’s a newness, freshness to try to grow and bring these players together as a team,” Tobias said. “It’s invigorated us, it’s invigorated the players, there’s a lot of competition and everybody knows that because we don’t have a lot of returning starters. Everything is open and everyone knows they have a chance to contribute to this team.”
Ilgen is looking to boost his stock as a senior, taking his leadership to the next level by his play on the field. The senior two-way player has totaled 60 carries for 332 rushing yards (5.5 yards per carry) and four touchdowns on offense, along with 23 total tackles (15 solo, eight assists), and one pass deflection and a fumble recovery, which was returned for a touchdown, on the defensive end. He’s part of Penns Valley’s build-from-the-ground-up approach to football.
The majority of their athletes have played recreational ball together, and while they may not have played on the same varsity team yet, they still are familiar with one another. He said he believes that the culture created by this bond is what has made Penns Valley a strong program.
“We’ve done it for awhile and most of us have been around each other for awhile,” Ilgen said. “We have that team bonding coming in and put it all together. I think that helps a lot. Of course, all of the coaches that we’ve had have taught us to be a team. We try our best, we play with passion and we take it one game at a time.”
While there have been a lot of change, some things have stayed the same. Namely, Bald Eagle Area coach Jesse Nagle is returning Garrett Burns at quarterback and weapons such as Owen Irvin, Hayden Vaughn and Gavin Eckley — bringing back nine starters on the offense and eight on the defense.
Nagel’s expectations for the team are higher this season, following a 2-5 campaign in 2020 and the return of a litany of players.
“We’re probably the deepest we’ve ever been with skill guys,” Nagel said. “But these four right here (Burns, Irvin, Vaughn and Hunter McCool), they’re seniors that have played two or three years for us. So, I can’t go wrong with Owen Irvin, Hayden Vaughn, Hunter McCool and Garrett Burns.
“We’ve got a lot of younger guys, too, that are juniors, like Gavin Eckley. He’s been a three-year starter for us because he’s started as a freshman. We’ve got a lot of guys, so we’re going to be able to spread the ball a lot.”
Another familiarity will be P-O returning with its Wing-T offense and a number of tricks up its sleeve to keep opposing defenses on their toes. Traps, pulling guards, options, fullback dives and a number of other play calls are all at head coach Jeff Vroman’s fingertips. It all starts up front with P-O returning a number of offensive linemen, including guard Aaron Eichenlaub, who licks his chops at the chance to block players into the dirt.
“It’s very fun because no one ever knows where the ball is going on defensive side,” Eichenlaub said. “On one play, we might run a sweep outside to left side. On another play, we’re hitting you right up the middle on the right side. It’s really fun, especially when no one knows what you’re doing. You pull around the side and a lot of fun.”
Bellefonte has high expectations coming up this season, despite having a great deal of turnover from its previous season. Vaughn DonMoyer steps in for Shanon Manning as the head coach, and many of his players have been heavily involved in offseason workouts to begin to gel together as a unit.
One of the leaders at the forefront of the remaking of Bellefonte football is senior Nolan Weaver, who served as one of the team’s representatives at Mountain League Media Day. While he’s only played six games of varsity football, he, along with other seniors, have rallied the players to get things going for the Raiders.
“A lot of our guys have played a lot of football throughout their lives, not so much varsity football, but a lot nonetheless,” Weaver said. “I feel confident that we’ll get the job done and we’ll have one of the most experienced teams. We’ll have one of the tougher teams, we’ve faced a lot of adversity and we’ve really come close together over the offseason. I want our team to go to districts and win. We’ll play to win every game.”
Current senior Ashton Kozel plays running back and safety for the Raiders. His excitement stems from being able to play in front of crowds and the bright lights of Friday night football. It’s something that seems like it happened so long ago with COVID-19 muddying the waters of last year’s season.
With Penn State in the minds of many of the county’s athletes, football — whether it be recreational, high school or college — has brought Centre County together through a shared experience of anticipation each fall.
“Football has been a huge part of our community,” Kozel said. “It’s how our community comes together. We just greet each other like family.”
