Here are 5 takeaways from Week 2 of Centre County high school football
Week two of Centre County football was filled with changes to the standings.
Bellefonte grabbed a late-game 22-6 victory over Centre County foe Philipsburg-Osceola. Penns Valley impressed with a 40-7 victory over Mountain League opponent Huntingdon. Bald Eagle dropped its first game of the season against Clearfield 21-0 and State College lost to Downingtown East 42-21.
Let’s take a look at five takeaways from the second week of the 2021 high school football season in Centre County.
Bald Eagle and State College will bounce back
Friday night wasn’t evident of how talented Bald Eagle Area and State College are. Bald Eagle lost 21-0 against an extremely gifted Clearfield team with a ton of returning starters. Despite being shut out, the Eagles still held Clearfield’s offense to 21 points. They have to keep their quarterback upright and not allow eight sacks on the game. That’s hard to accomplish. On State College’s end, its 42-21 loss was much more due to its defensive breakdowns. The Little Lions proven that they can be better after beating up on Mifflin County and forcing three-and-outs all game. They’ll both get many more victories this season.
Bellefonte’s Nolan Weaver is a must-see athlete in Centre County
Heading into the fourth quarter, Bellefonte led Philipsburg-Osceola by just 7-6. Weaver changed that with not just one, but two defensive touchdowns. He had a 9-yard fumble recovery and a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown to seal the game for his team. The spark that he gave his team by finding the end zone was Troy Polamalu-like. Coincidentally, the young linebacker’s number (41) is just two numbers lower than the former Steelers safety (43).
Don’t sleep on Penns Valley
The young team fought back on Friday. The Rams rolled to a 40-7 victory over Huntingdon, and Jarrett Stover (2), Rylee Brungart (1), Tanner Ilgen (1) and Mason Green (1) all had rushing touchdowns. Zach Braucht had a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Philipsburg-Osceola has heart
You won’t find many teams that can play with the injuries that the Mountaineers played with on Friday night. They carried 19 players against Bellefonte — n-i-n-e-t-e-e-n. Yet, they trailed just 7-6 heading into the fourth quarter. Head coach Jeff Vroman’s players should hold their heads up, despite the fact that there are no moral victories in football. It hearkens back to the quote from Pokemon — “I did my best, I have no regrets.”
There will be far more parity this season
Most of the teams have gotten better. There are four 1-1 teams in Centre County and just one 0-2 team in Philipsburg-Osceola. Both of their losses were relatively close until the end. It seems like each of the teams will have tough matchups and will provide fun opportunities to catch a game this season.
