State College football beats Delaware Valley to advance to the PIAA quarterfinals
The Lions relied on a strong running game and a stout defense that kept Warriors star RB Joe Sciascia to under 100 yards — and got two interceptions — as State College took a hard-earned 28-19 victory over Delaware Valley at Harman-Geist Stadium.
“This was a solid team-oriented victory. Several players stepped up and we got plays when we needed it the most,” said State College head coach Matt Lintal. “Credit needs to go to our defensive coordinator, Mark Baney for our tremendous game plan and we’re playing really good football.”
The Warriors started with the ball and after CJ Ross found Aidan Black on a nine-yard completion, Delaware Valley was forced to punt. On the first play, the Little Lions got a 27-yard run by Brady Bendik. The drive went 14 plays over 86 yards as Bendik ended up finishing off the drive with a four-yard score as State College took a 7-0 lead with 2:21 remaining in the first quarter.
It didn’t take long for Delaware Valley to tie up the ballgame. On the fourth play of the drive, Ross found Harlem Cook past the Lions secondary for a 54-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7 with 38.5 remaining in the first quarter. State College looked to answer.
The Lions got into Warrior territory on the first play as Owen Yerka found Jashaun Green for a 21-yard completion to the Delaware Valley 38-yard line. State College faced a fourth and three from the Warrior 31-yard line and the pass fell incomplete. The Little Lions forced a three and out. However on the punt, the ball bounced off a State College player and Delaware Valley recovered. No damage was done as the Lions forced the punt.
Even though the Little Lions went three and out on their ensuing drive, the punt took a good bounce and the Warriors took over at their own three-yard line. Delaware Valley faced a third and 8. Ross’s pass was intercepted by Will Stone and returned for a touchdown but a flag for a holding penalty took the touchdown off the board. On the very first play of the drive, Yerka found Green for a 20-yard score and a 14-7 lead with 5:52 remaining in the second quarter.
The Warriors started at their own 14-yard line and Ross found Cook for an 18-yard completion on second and 8 to their own 34-yard line. Cook then ran for 10 yards on the next play. After a Ross pass to Jayden Ramirez for 12 yards on a second and 1, Ross found Cook for 27-yard completion to the State College 10-yard line for a first and goal. The drive ended with a 24 yard field goal by Everett Bell to make it 14-10 State College with 2.9 to go in the first half.
The Little Lions started with the ball in the second half. The drive ended in a fumble that was recovered by Delaware Valley. The Warriors drove down the field where they faced a third and 8 at the State College 38-yard line as Ross went to Cook for a 23-yard completion. After a holding penalty on second and 10 backed it up to a second and 20, the Warriors faced a fourth and 20. Ross tried going to Cook, but the pass fell incomplete as Cook was interfered with. Delaware Valley elected to kick a 29-yard field goal by Bell and the Warriors made it a one-point game at 14-13 with 5:56 remaining in the third quarter.
The Lions continued to move the ball at will as they drove all the way to the Warrior 14-yard line to end the fourth quarter. On the very first play of the fourth, Yerka found Stephen Scourtis for a 13-yard completion to the Delaware Valley one-yard line. Yerka scored from one yard out and made it an eight-point game as State College took a 21-13 lead with 11:14 remaining in the game.
The Warriors faced a third and 8 down eight points and Ross found Cook for a 10-yard completion. On the same drive, they faced a fourth and three and Joe Sciascia ran for nine yards. The drive relied on the ground game at this point as Delaware Valley ended the drive with a four-yard touchdown run by Paulie Weinrich. They went for two but could not get the two point conversion to tie the game. The Lions still maintained a 21-19 lead with 5:24 remaining in the game.
All State College needed to do on the drive is get several first downs. The Little Lions got some first downs and then some as Yerka ended up scoring his second rushing touchdown of the game from 24 yards out. The PAT made it a 28-19 game with 1:10 remaining. Delaware Valley’s last ditch effort ended up being intercepted by Stone for his second pick of the night and took a knee at the one yard line instead of scoring.
“That was unbelievable. That’s hard to do when you have a touchdown right in front of you as a defensive player, you don’t get to score too often.” Lintal said.
The Lions wasted out the clock as they improve to 7-5 and advance into next week’s 6A state quarterfinals to take on Harrisburg, which beat Wilson, 14-10, Saturday afternoon.
Delaware Valley saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end after starting the season 0-3. Despite the loss, senior wideout Harlem Cook had an excellent game with six catches for 141 yards and a touchdown.
State College 28, Delaware Valley 19
(PIAA 6A first round at Hazleton High School)
State College 7 7 0 14 28
Delaware Valley 7 3 3 6 19
1st Quarter
Bednik 4 yard run (Kowalski kick) 2:21
Ross to Cook 54 yard pass (Bell kick) 38.5
2nd quarter
Yerka to Green 20 yard pass (Kowalski kick) 5:52
Bell 24 yard field goal 9.5
3rd quarter
Bell 29 yard field goal 5:56
4th quarter
Yerka 1 yard run (Kowalski kick) 11:14
Weinrich 4 yard run (run failed) 5:24
Yerka 24 yard run (Kowalski kick) 1:10
Rushing
SC Bednik 28-158 1 TD Yerka 8-50 2 TDs Yoder 1-2 Green 1-11 DV Sciascia 23-77 Weinrich 3-9 1 TD Cook 2-15
Passing
SC Yerka 8-12-0-92 1 TD Green 0-1-0-0 DV Ross 9-25-2-190 1 TD
Receiving
SC Price 1-7 Green 1-41 1 TD Yoder 1-7 Scourtis 3-26 Faran 1-11 DV Black 3-17 Kizis 1-10 Cook 6-141 1 TD Ramirez 1-12
Interception: Stone 2
This story was originally published November 20, 2021 at 2:32 PM.