County high school football teams look to rebound
It was a disappointing first week for four Centre County programs.
Bellefonte and Penns Valley fell just short in their season openers. Philipsburg-Osceola couldn’t contain West Branch in a 26-point loss, and St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy couldn’t compete with Bald Eagle Area.
They all continue their seasons this week, while State College opens its year against J.P. McCaskey in Lancaster.
Here’s a look at the matchups:
Bald Eagle Area (1-0) at Philipsburg-Osceola (0-1)
Time: 7 p.m.
Coaches: BEA — Jesse Nagle (first season); P-O — Mike Mann (first season)
Last meeting: Bald Eagle Area 14, Philipsburg-Osceola 0, last season
Players to watch: BEA — Tanner Kresovich, QB; P-O — Daniel Slogosky, QB
The skinny: Bald Eagle Area was dominant in Week 1, beating St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy 54-0.
Quarterback Tanner Kresovich led the way, accounting for four touchdowns in the first half to help the Eagles build a 40-0 lead. BEA was efficient offensively as its quarterbacks completed 80 percent of their passes and its running game piled up 10.1 yards per carry.
The Eagles will look to build on that performance against Philipsburg-Osceola.
The Mounties secondary proved to be vulnerable in a 54-28 loss to West Branch last week. Warriors quarterback Kyle Myers completed 8 of 12 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns.
Myers connected on an 88-yard touchdown pass with Cameron Lytle, who also returned a kickoff 87 yards for a score.
P-O quarterback Daniel Slogosky threw for two touchdowns and two interceptions in the season opener.
Bellefonte (0-1) at Huntingdon (1-0)
Time: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Bel — Shanon Manning (fourth season); H — Mike Hudy (fifth season)
Last meeting: Huntingdon 27, Bellefonte 6, last season
Players to watch: Bel — Tanner Helms, TE; H — Ian Border, RB
The skinny: Bellefonte nearly overcame a 27-point halftime deficit against Jersey Shore in Week 1.
The Red Raiders came back to take a 28-27 lead early in the fourth quarter before falling 33-28. They had success through the air as quarterback Chase Gardner finished 17 for 25 for 245 yards passing. He connected with Tanner Helms for two touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions.
Helms made three catches for 106 yards.
Huntingdon earned a 29-15 win over Mount Union behind Ian Border’s 100-plus yards and three touchdowns on the ground last week.
Clearfield (0-1) at Penns Valley (0-1)
Time: 7 p.m.
Coaches: C— Tim Janocko (32nd season); PV— Martin Tobias (21st season)
Last meeting: Clearfield 42, Penns Valley 18, last season
Players to watch: C — Seth Caldwell, RB; PV — Jared Hurd, WR
The skinny: Clearfield’s Seth Caldwell recorded his first 100-yard rushing performance of the 2015 season against Penns Valley.
He rushed for 159 yards to help Clearfield to a 42-18 win and went on to rush for more than 1,000 yards.
The Rams will face Caldwell and the Bison on Friday night.
Both teams are looking for their first win of the season. Clearfield fell 30-20 to DuBois in its opener, and Penns Valley lost 27-24 in overtime to Marian Catholic.
Penns Valley relied on its passing game to keep pace with Marian Catholic. Rams quarterback Andrew Tobias threw for 255 yards, and wide receiver Jared Hurd hauled in six passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.
State College at J.P. McCaskey
Time: 7 p.m.
Coaches: SC — Matt Lintal (third season); JPM — Eric Spencer (first season)
Player to watch: SC — Tristen Lyons, RB
The skinny: State College captured a share of the Mid Penn Conference Commonwealth division title and went to the PIAA quarterfinals last year.
The Little Lions lost plenty of talented players from that group, including running back Jordan Misher, who rushed for 1,444 yards and 21 touchdowns last year.
Tristen Lyons was the team’s second-leading rusher in 2015, piling up 516 yards on 72 carries. He filled in for Misher and ran for 227 yards in a win over Central Dauphin East last year.
Now, he’ll take over in the backfield.
McCaskey will be led by a new coach, Eric Spencer. The Red Tornado went 4-6 in 2015 and lost standout receiver Kobe Gantz to graduation.
Fairfield at St. Joseph’s (0-1) at Memorial Field
Time: 7 p.m.
Coaches: F — Darwin Seiler; — SJCA — Steve Guthoff (first season)
Player to watch: SJCA — Jared Stormer, RB
The skinny: St. Joseph’s was overmatched in its loss to Bald Eagle Area.
St. Joseph’s managed just four first downs, finished with negative-4 yards rushing and completed one pass.
The Wolves will take on a smaller school this Friday. Fairfield is a Class A program from District 3.
This story was originally published September 2, 2016 at 12:29 AM with the headline "County high school football teams look to rebound."