Bald Eagle football takes Curtin Bowl back to Wingate following 48-0 win vs. Bellefonte
Bald Eagle stumbled twice to start the season in losses to Troy and Clearfield.
Things were different in Friday night’s 48-0 Curtin Bowl victory against Bellefonte. Extremely different.
The Eagles got off to a 35-0 lead at the half and continued to generate turnovers. Bald Eagle punted just two times during the course of the game. One loss of possession was on a turnover on downs and another was an interception. The rest of the Eagles’ possessions resulted in touchdowns or winding down the clock to end the game.
That their defense stepped up is all that head coach Jesse Nagle could’ve asked for in response to the first two weeks of the season.
“During the first game, we gave up two defensive touchdowns,” Nagle said. “So realistically, we gave up a broken play on 98 yards and short field for a touchdown (in earlier weeks). We’re flying around and excited to get after it and I’m really proud of them. That’s for sure.”
Leading the pack was the explosive Kahale Burns. The speedy slot receiver caught two passes for touchdowns and made the defense pay with his shiftiness. He juked past defenders with precision on a 78-yard touchdown from a screen pass by quarterback Carson Nagle and linked up with him again on a 25-yard pass in the third quarter.
He enjoyed the embrace from his teammates on both scores.
“It’s perfect because for the past couple of weeks, we’ve been struggling with team unity, and tonight it really felt like we had each other’s backs,” Burns said. “You saw what happened here — 48-0. It’s a great team win.”
Joining Burns in the end zone was Cam Watkins on a 32-yard touchdown reception from a Carson Nagle pass in the second quarter. Most of the noise that Watkins made was on the defensive end, grabbing a sack and a few tackles for loss. It’s part of the tone that he and the defense likes to set — holding their first three opponents to just 27 points this season.
“We know our defense can work really well,” Watkins said. “We know we’re good right now, but we can be better. Our scout offense in practice gives it their all and it makes us better and they gave us a great look for our next opponent. We couldn’t do it without them.”
Bald Eagle jumped to a 7-0 lead with 9 minutes, 22 seconds left in the first quarter on Trey Greene’s 6-yard rushing touchdown. The Eagles continued to control with a Carson Nagle 11-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Spackman to boost the lead to 14-0 with 11:48 left in the half.
Carson Nagle tossed his second touchdown to Watkins on a screen pass with 6:37 left in the second quarter and Greene plunged into the end zone for his second touchdown rush with 4:59 left.
Burns finished off the second half by taking a screen 78 yards from Carson Nagle past the pylons for a touchdown before the half. The Eagles had a 35-0 advantage at the half.
Burns later scored on the opening drive of the second half with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Carson Nagle with 10:29 left. Bald Eagle scored its final touchdown on Mike Snyder’s 10-yard interception return for a touchdown off Bellefonte quarterback Trevor Johnson with 6:51 left in the third quarter for a 48-0 lead.
Carson Nagle finished the game with four touchdown passes and one interception. It’s also a complete reversal from what he’s had in the first two weeks of the season with one touchdown pass and four interceptions. Now with his fortunes overturned, the sophomore quarterback is excited to take the momentum into the rest of the season.
“As an offense, we were struggling because they tried to stop the pass,” Carson Nagle said. “This week, we just made our mindset that we were going to get what we needed. When we wanted to run the ball, we ran the ball. It opened up the pass, and it was a well-executed game. No miscues other than the interception.”
Bald Eagle 48, Bellefonte 0
(Friday at Bellefonte)
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bald Eagle 7 28 13 0
Bellefonte 0 0 0 0
First quarter
BEA – Greene 6 run (PAT good), 9:22
Second quarter
BEA – Spackman 11 pass from Nagle (PAT good), 11:48
BEA – Watkins 32 pass from Nagle (PAT good), 6:37
BEA – Greene 3 run (PAT good), 4:59
BEA – Burns 78 pass from Nagle (PAT good), 0:38
Third quarter
BEA – Burns 25 pass from Nagle (PAT good), 10:29
BEA – Snyder 10 interception (PAT no good), 6:51
Interceptions: Mike Snyder, Bald Eagle (2)
Records: Bellefonte 0-3, Bald Eagle 1-2
Next game: Bellefonte at Tyrone, Friday 7 p.m. and Bald Eagle at Penns Valley, Friday, 7 p.m.
Tyrone is 3-0 after 49-0 victory over Philipsburg-Osceola
When it comes to comparing high school football teams in the Mountain League, Philipsburg-Osceola is probably the smallest in the conference.
The Mounties have 28 players on their roster compared to the 40 that Tyrone has.
On Friday night, the difference in numbers played a factor in P-O’s 49-0 loss to the Golden Eagles at Memorial Field.
“It’s a 3A school, much larger than we are. People don’t realize the difference in the numbers,” Mountaineers coach Jeff Vroman said. “It showed tonight. We are going to graduate under 100 kids for the third out of five years now. It starts to show its ugly head, and that’s what people fail to realize is the enrollment numbers. When you are going against 3A competition, and you are a very small 2A school, it’s tough.”
P-O hung tough through the first quarter and a third of play, but there was a key play that Vroman pointed out was the turning point.
Tyrone had a third-and-10 at the Mounties’ 37, when the Golden Eagles’ center snapped the ball over quarterback Ashton Walk’s head back to the 50. Walk picked the ball up at the near sideline, ran around a few defenders on his way to the far sideline, and managed to get a 13-yard gain on the play.
Three plays later, Walk found a wide open Joshua Patterson in the end zone on a 2-yard pass to begin the scoring onslaught.
“We played well in that first quarter. We played well up until that bad snap,” Vroman said. “They were better in all areas. The team speed was evident. Up front, they were much quicker, we never touched them all night.”
Following an interception from P-O quarterback Ben Gustkey, Tyrone used a seven-play drive capped off with a 12-yard rushing score from Seth Hoover to go up 14-0 midway through the second quarter. On the Mounties’ next possession, they were forced to punt and saw the Golden Eagles’ Dravyn Crowell return it 62 yards for another score.
Tyrone was able to score two more touchdowns 17 seconds apart to hold a 35-0 lead with 7 seconds remaining in the first half.
All night long, P-O was unable to get anything going.. It managed just 15 total yards of offense — 21 carries for 6 rushing yards and one completion for 9 yards. The completion came from the Mounties’ punter Brandon Hahn on a botched snap.
“Whenever you can’t get anything accomplished up front, you are going to struggle, and that’s where we were. When you don’t block people, that’s what happens,” Vroman said. “If you don’t block people, and they are living in your backfield, there you go, that’s what happens. You are not going to be successful doing that. We are better than that. I know that. It’s one of those nights.”
The second half had a running clock the entire time. The Golden Eagles final scores of the night came on a punt return from Deegan Baldauf for 62 yards with 4:21 left in the third quarter, and a 3-yard run from Brody Klein with 7:20 left in the game.
P-O continued to struggle on offense in the second half only mustering up 3 yards of total offense in the half. However, the way the game started was still what stuck out the most to Vroman.
“I can’t fault the kids for their effort. It was one of those games, once it gets away, it is what it is,” he said. “In the first quarter, our kids didn’t quit, so that was good to see. We got to get some positives out of it, and move on.”
Tyrone 49, Philipsburg-Osceola 0
(Friday at Tyrone)
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Philipsburg-Osceola 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Tyrone 0 35 7 7 -- 49
Second Quarter
T--Joshua Patterson 2 pass from Ashton Walk (Rocky Romani kick), 9:58
T--Seth Hoover 12 run (Romani kick), 6:17
T--Dravyn Crowell 62 punt return (Romani kick), 3:49
T--Luke Walk 3 pass from A. Walk (Romani kick), 0:24
T--L. Walk 28 fumble recovery (Romani kick), 0:07
Third Quarter
T--Deegan Baldauf 62 punt return (Romani kick), 0:03
Fourth Quarter
T--Brody Klein 3 run (Jay Isenberg kick), 7:20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Philipsburg-Osecola, Dawson Snyder 4-17, Sam McDonald 1-5, Brandon Hahn 6-4, Jake Shaw 2-2, Ben Gustkey 8-(-22). Tyrone, Kolten Miller 15-162, Hoover 6-46, A. Walk 6-45, Klein 5-36, Logan Rumberger 2-9, Steven Buck 4-4, Cohen Wallace 1-(-2), TEAM 1-(-2).
PASSING--Philipsburg-Osceola, Gustkey 0-4-0-1 INT, Hahn 1-1-9-0, Zack Meyers 0-1-0-1 INT. Tyrone, A. Walk 9-16-94-2 TDs.
RECEIVING--Philipsburg-Osceola, Lucas Peterson 1-9. Tyrone, Ross Gampe 2-27, Colton Veres 2-23, Baldauf 1-19, Crowell 1-14, Andrew Weaver 1-6, L. Walk 1-3, Patterson 1-2.
INTERCEPTIONS--Tyrone, Veres 1, AJ Coleman 1.
Records: Philipsburg-Osceola 1-2, Tyrone 3-0
Next game: Clearfield at Philipsburg-Osceola, Friday, 7 p.m.
D’Antae Sheffey leads State College with 197 rushing yards in 45-3 win over Hollidaysburg
Led by freshman D’Antae Sheffey’s three rushing touchdowns and a stout defensive performance, State College Area High School crushed visiting Hollidaysburg 45-3.
The Little Lions dominated early, putting up 17 points on 103 first-quarter rushing yards from Sheffey, who also scored a touchdown in the frame. For the game, Sheffey had 197 yards on the ground, in addition to the aforementioned three scores.
“He’s a tremendous athlete,” coach Matt Lintal said of Sheffey. “It’s more than just God-given, the kid works. He understands the game, he comes out here and plays and gives a lot of credit to his teammates.”
Going into the team’s third game, the freshman phenom led his team in rushing yards and total touchdowns, totaling 204 and three, respectively — according to MaxPreps — through his first two contests as a high school football player.
Sheffey nearly doubled those numbers against the Golden Tigers.
While the Sheffey led the charge on offense, State High’s defense was no slouch, allowing just three points — while holding strong numerous times deep in its own end.
“We’re super proud of the way our defense is playing. They’re playing really tough, physical football,” Lintal said. “Mark Baney, our defensive coordinator, and his staff are getting our kids prepared each and every week, so couldn’t be more proud of them.”
After surrendering 31 points to Downingtown East High School in its previous win, the defense’s bounce-back effort should give it added confidence heading into a contest with local rival Altoona Area High School on Sept. 16.
The two teams split their last two matchups, and both enter next Friday with 3-0 records. With the game also serving as the first conference test for each team, expect fireworks from Oakleaf Stadium.
State College 45, Hollidaysburg 3
(Friday at State College)
SCORE BY QUARTERS
State College 17 13 15 0
Hollidaysburg 0 3 0 0
First quarter
Field goal from Kajetan Kaszubowski, 3-0 SC
Owen Yerka 23-yard pass to Finn Furmanek, extra point from Kaszubowski 10-0 SC
D’Antae Sheffey one-yard run, extra point from Kaszubowski 17-0 SC
Second quarter
Field goal from Ben Sosnowski, 17-3 SC
Finn Furmanek three-yard pass to Donte Nastasi, XP is no good. 23-3 SC
D’Antae Sheffey ten-yard run, extra point from Kaszubowski 30-3 SC
Third quarter
D’Antae Sheffey 46-yard rush, 2PC run from Furmanek. 38-3 SC
Matt Wall 12-yard run, extra point from Kaszubowski. 45-3
Records: State College 3-0, Hollidaysburg 0-3
Next Game: State College at Altoona, Friday 7 p.m.
Reporter Nate Cobler and intern reporter Andrew Buckman contributed to this report.
