Here are 5 takeaways from State College’s football’s 2021 season
State College football finished its season last week with a 49-28 loss against a 14-0 Mount Lebanon squad.
However, the Little Lions have plenty of reasons to be proud of what they accomplished this year. They fought through injuries to key players, a tough Mid Penn conference schedule and had to make some significant changes to the face of their offense to get to the PIAA Class 6A state semifinals for the first time since 2009.
Here are five takeaways from the Little Lions’ season.
Coaching staff deserves a ton of credit
State College had a lot to overcome this season. That much has been stated over the course of the year in detail. However, the credit hasn’t yet been given to a coaching staff that had to devise plans to redesign the offense and raise the play of a fairly steady defense to an elite level.
Matt Lintal’s staff shifted players around from their natural positions like Jashaun Green and Owen Yerka, who usually play wide receiver and quarterback on offense, to running back. Green usually is a defensive back, but saw some time at outside linebacker in the latter portion of the season. JW Scott played some of the year at linebacker, but shifted to his natural position of defensive end at times. It made for a perfect storm to get them to the state semifinals.
Defense nearly got Little Lions to the championship
The Little Lions allowed 23 points per game on the year. That statistic doesn’t tell the entire story and has a number of outliers, but it still shows that the defense played championship-caliber football with all things considered. Beginning with their game against Cumberland Valley on Oct. 8 where the Little Lions won 21-18 in overtime, State College allowed just 14 points per game over the seven-game stretch prior to their semifinal game with Mount Lebanon.
Defensive standouts took them to higher heights
For their defense to be as strong as it was, they needed some key players. The aforementioned Scott led the team in tackles with 139 (87 solo), had five tackles for loss on the season, three sacks, four quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery. Cornerback Calvin Roan had two picks, seven pass deflections and was third in the team in tackles with 117 (67 solo). Linebacker Jack Roeshot was second on the team in tackles with 125 (80 solo) and had seven for loss, a sack and nine quarterback hurries.
Not to mention, the team had defensive ends Stephen Scourtis and Kyle Kurzinger, linebacker Michael Gaul, Owen Barr, Will Stone and a number of other defensive players doing their best impression of the 2013 Seattle Seahawks defense.
Finn Furmanek, Jack Morris and Owen Yerka are a selfless quarterbacking trio
There were no egos between the three quarterbacks all season. Furmanek manned the wide receiver position at times during the year, while Yerka played running back. Morris, usually the third-string quarterback, saw a ton of time following Furmanek’s injury against Central Dauphin East. When Furmanek came back, he backed up Yerka with Morris becoming the third-string quarterback once again.
Furmanek went 51-for-94 on passes (54.3% completion rate) for 834 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception. He rushed 48 times for 223 yards and six touchdowns and caught five passes for 109 yards. Morris went 43-for-103 (41.7%) on passes for 664 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions. He added 37 carries for 127 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Yerka went 43-for-82 on passes (52.4%) with four touchdown passes and five interceptions. He did some damage on the ground with 135 carries 571 yards and four touchdowns.
Each of them are set to return next season.
State College will be just as fun to watch next season
Seniors are always an important part of establishing a culture in any sport. They’ve been there the longest, they’ve experienced the most and they understand what it means to win and lose close games. It’s something that’s etched into their psyche the second that they step onto the field. They pass those ideals down to the younger players in every workout, every practice and each game that they play in.
After the seniors walked off of the field at Mansion Park for one final time, many of them told their junior teammates to continue carrying the torch for them. Plenty of juniors are set to return to the team, and the same goes for sophomores and freshmen. It’s a good situation to have for a program that made it all of the way to the state semifinals and has a sour taste in its mouth from defeat. That should make State College hungry to make it even further next season.
