How State College football fought through adversity to pull off a win over Hollidaysburg
Coaches constantly preach about overcoming adversity. The State College team football was able to do just that Friday night against Hollidaysburg.
Despite losing two fumbles inside the Hollidaysburg 10 in the first quarter then giving up two quick touchdowns to open the second half that allowed Hollidaysburg back in the game, the Little Lions played well enough the rest of the game to bring home a 34-20 win from Tiger Stadium.
“We made a lot of mistakes to let them stay in the game in that first half, and they made some great halftime adjustments,” State College coach Matt Lintal said. “They came out ready to play in the third quarter, and it took us a while to wake up. Thankfully, our guys responded. It’s a good to get a win, for sure, but a win with adversity, you really gain a lot.”
After Finn Furmanek scored on a 1-yard QB sneak to open the game, Furmanek found Jashaun Green in the back corner of the end zone for an 11-yard TD in the second quarter.
Quinn Murphy’s 36-yard field goal at the end of the first half put State College up 17-0 at intermission, but the two lost fumbles kept it from being much bigger lead.
Hollidaysburg quickly got back in the game in the third quarter.
Golden Tigers’ QB Jake McGinnis found Justin Wolfe 15 yards behind the State College defense on the opening possession of the second half for a 73-yard touchdown that gave Hollidaysburg some much-needed life.
After the Hollidaysburg defense forced a 3-and-out for the first time in the game, McGinnis found another open receiver behind the defense. This time it was Avery Sloan who went for a 77-yard catch and run to the State College 1.
Xander Bainey scored on the next play to make it a 17-14 game less than four minutes into the second half.
“On offense, we had some plays in the first half we thought we missed,” Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. “In the second half, we were able to hit those plays and mix in some others.”
Hollidaysburg nearly made it a third straight score. After the Golden Tigers stopped a fake punt short of the first down at the SC 28, Jashaun Green intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop Hollidaysburg from taking the lead.
“I was backpedaling, looked back, saw the ball thrown. I was like ‘It’s my time to shine,’ and I went and got it,” Green said.
The senior wideout continued to shine. On the ensuing possession, Green took a short pass from Furmanek, slipped through two tackles along the sideline and raced the rest of the way to the end zone for a 75-yard score that put the Little Lions up 24-14.
“I caught the ball, stiff armed the one kid and put on the jets,” Green said.
He finished with seven catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
Lintal was just as impressed with a play earlier in the series that kept the drive alive.
“A play that was just as critical was Finn Furmanek scrambling on a third down, making a tackler miss and getting a first down. That whole series was critical,” Lintal said.
Hollidaysburg’s two quick scores had the Little Lions rattled but Green’s touchdown gave control of the game back to State College.
“That was my first read, and I knew that if I get the ball to Jashaun, he always has a chance to score,” Furmanek said. “It definitely settled us down, and we were right back into what we were doing in the first half. We got shocked a little bit, but we came back, dug deep and got it done.”
State College (2-1) recovered a fumble in Golden Tigers’ territory on the next possession that turned into a Murphy 38-yard field goal for a 27-14 lead.
The Little Lions sealed the win in the fourth quarter when Furmanek found Kyle Kurzinger open over the middle for a 46-yard touchdown.
Furmanek completed 15-of-25 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 16 carries for another 69 yards and a touchdown. Brady Bendik led the team in rushing with 83 yards on 11 carries.
The defense gave up a lot of yardage through the air in the second half with McGinnis throwing for 283 yards of his 326 after intermission, but the run defense was stout throughout.
With defensive tackles Thomas Dincher and Justin Castro Dixon clogging up the middle, Hollidaysburg gained just 10 yards on 23 carries.
“Justin’s only in tenth grade and has done a tremendous job. Thomas has come in as a starter there, and he’s only in 11th grade. Two big boys who really hold their own up front,” Lintal said. “There was no moving those two guys. That let our linebackers run free, and Jack Roeshot and J.W. Scott were just flying around making plays.”
State College 34, Hollidaysburg 20
SCORE BY QUARTERS
State College 7 10 10 7 -- 34
Hollidaysburg 0 0 14 6 -- 20
First Quarter
SC – Furmanek 1 run (Murphy kick), 7:44.
Second Quarter
SC – Green 11 pass from Furmanek (Murphy kick), 5:20.
SC – Murphy 36 field goal, :04.
Third Quarter
H – Wolfe 73 pass from McGinnis (Sosnowski kick), 10:28.
H – Bainey 1 run (Sosnowski kick), 8:23.
SC – Green 75 pass from Furmanek (Murphy kick), 3:20.
SC – Murphy 38 field goal, 1:41.
Fourth Quarter
SC – Kurzinger 46 pass from Furmanek (Murphy kick), 5:03.
H – Wyland 28 pass from McGinnis (kick failed), 2:15.
TEAM STATISTICS SC H
First downs 22 14
Total yards 493 336
Rushes-yards 44-247 23-10
Yards passing 251 326
Passing (comp-att-int) 15-25-0 22-34-1
Punts-avg 2-39.5 5-27.4
Penalties-yards 6-59 3-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: State College, Furmanek 16-69, Yerka 9-46, Bendik 11-83, Stone 1-2, Yoder 1-9, Murphy 1-1, West 3-36; Hollidaysburg, Fox 8-(-2), McGinnis 8-(-2), Bainey 7-14.
PASSING: State College, Furmanek 15-25-0-251; Hollidaysburg, McGinnis 24-36-1-326.
RECEIVING: State College, Green 7-136, Yoder 3-40, Scourtis 1-7, Price 1-6, Nastasi 1-13, Yerka 1-3, Kurzinger 1-46; Hollidaysburg, Wolfe 6-133, Burkey 5-38, Renyck 2-13, Wyland 4-38, Bainey 1-(-3), Fox 1-4, Sloan 1-77, DeLattre 2-26.
This story was originally published September 11, 2021 at 1:47 AM.