Who should be the Centre Daily Times’ 2021 Athlete of the Fall Sports Season? Vote here
Editor’s note: Cast your vote for the Centre Daily Times’ Athlete of the 2021 fall season by emailing clicking on this story at CentreDaily.com or by emailing cdtscores@centredaily.com.
The 2021 high school fall sports season isn’t quite over yet for Centre County teams, as State College football beat Harrisburg 16-13 on Saturday to advance to the PIAA Class 6A semifinals. But with the winter season fast-approaching, we wanted to take the time to look back on some of the top athletic performances of the season — from state championships to broken records and tales of resiliency.
Here are the nominees for the Centre Daily Times’ high school athlete of the fall sports season, presented in alphabetical order. They were selected by the CDT sports staff via stats compiled by the CDT or sent to cdtscores@centredaily.com, and by readers’ votes in the weekly polls. Vote for your favorite.
If you’d like to nominate a player’s performance for future weeks, please contact the CDT via email at cdtscores@centredaily.com. The poll closes at noon Friday, and a short profile of the winner will appear in Sunday’s paper.
Garrett Burns, BEA football
Burns entered this season as the returning starter at quarterback for the Eagles. But it soon became clear to the coaching staff that Burns’ skill set could be maximized at running back. That decision paid off, as Burns became one of the most dynamic players on the Eagles’ offense, helping to lead the team to an 8-3 record. Burns became Bald Eagle Area’s first 1,000-yard rusher in 17 years, rushing for 1,157 yards on 181 carries and 12 touchdowns, adding 100 receiving yards and 88 passing on the year. Burns also contributed on the defensive side of the ball, tallying 63 total tackles — 46 solo and 17 assisted.
Jashaun Green, State College football
State College football is one of the biggest comeback stories of the season. The Little Lions struggled a bit to start the season, going 4-5 before rattling off four straight wins and counting. Green went down with a head injury in the Little Lions’ Sept. 17 win over Chambersburg, and missed the next two games — a pair of losses. His return helped boost his team’s offense in its overtime win over Cumberland Valley on Oct. 8 and in each game since. Green has had 16 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown on the ground, along with 32 catches for 533 yards and five touchdowns. He was voted the Centre Daily Times’ Athlete of the Week award on the week of Nov. 8-13 for his performance in the Division 6 Class 6A championship. He had a 31-yard rushing touchdown to give State College an early 7-0 lead in its win over Williamsport.
Quiana Guo, State College tennis
Guo already had two District 6 3A doubles titles under her belt entering into this season, having won her freshman and sophomore years with then-partner Catelyn Janac, but had come up short in her quest for a singles title. That changed this year. Guo had a strong season as State College’s No. 1 singles, finishing with a 23-3 record. At the district championships, Guo beat Altoona’s Morgan Stevens, who denied her of the singles title in 2020, in the semifinals, and went on to win the district crown and qualify for the PIAA championships. She also helped the Little Lions to a District 6 team title and appearance in the quarterfinals of the PIAA team championships.
Reese Hazelton, Philipsburg-Osceola Volleyball
Philipsburg-Osceola girls volleyball has been knocking on the door of a state championship title for the past two years, and that fact has a lot to do with star outside hitter Reese Hazelton. The Mounties ended their season in a five-set battle in the PIAA Class 2A semifinals to eventual champion North Catholic. That was their lone loss of the season. The 6-foot, 2-inch Hazelton posted an impressive 628 kills this season, surpassing 1,000 career kills as a sophomore. She also had 357 digs, 62 aces and 48 blocks.
Carson Long, Philipsburg-Osceola soccer/football
Long pulled double duty for the Mounties this season, filling crucial roles for the soccer and football teams. The freshman phenom led P-O’s boys soccer team with 22 goals and 16 assists for 60 points and a 3.3 points per game average. He knocked down nine of 10 PATs for P-O football and had five kickoffs for 235 yards. Long broke the program’s 25-year-old single-game assist record — held by his father, Ryan Long — with eight against Tyrone. Just a few days before that, Long nailed a key PAT to give the Mounties football team a 7-6 win over Huntingdon.
Tim Peters, Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy golf
Peters was one of Centre County’s breakout stars of the 2021 fall season. The junior captain made his name known early, shooting a 72 (par) to tie for second out of more than 80 golfers at the Happy Valley Invitational to start the season. Peters, who first picked up a golf club for the first time the spring before his freshman year, worked on lowering his competition average throughout the season, recording the school’s lowest individual match score since 2015. He went on to win the District 6 Class 2A championship on Sept. 28 at Scotch Valley Country Club, shooting a low score of 75. He shot a career-low of 67 to win sectionals, and tied for sixth with a score of 76 (+5) at the PIAA Class 2A boys individual golf championships at Heritage Hills in York.
Jackson Romig, Penns Valley football
There were plenty of question marks surrounding Penns Valley at the beginning of the season, as the Rams returned just one starter on each side of the ball from the previous season. While the Rams got off to a slow start, dropping three of their first five games, they started to turn things around with a convincing 41-14 win over Bellefonte. That game was also the first where Romig took over at quarterback. From there, the Rams put together a 6-5 season, falling in the first round of the District 6 Class 2A playoffs. The sophomore went 85-for-120 on passes for 1,261 yards, 20 touchdowns and four interceptions on the year. He was also voted the Centre Daily Times’ Athlete of the Week for Oct. 11-16 for his performance against Everett, where he had five touchdown passes.
State College boys golf
State College boys golf made history when it became the first State College team to qualify for the PIAA championships since the Little Lions moved up to Class 3A, then became the first team in program history to win it. The Little Lions shot +8 (292 total) in the pool of Fox Chapel (+8, 292), LaSalle College (+15, 299), Central Bucks West (+16, 300), Dallastown (+19, 303) and Dallas (+45, 329) at Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York. They then defeated Fox Chapel in a team playoff to take home the PIAA Class 3A title. Senior John Olsen finished shooting one under par with a 70, Maxwell Wager shot a 72 (+1), Luke Janac 74 (+3) and Joey Sabol 76 (+5). Thomas Hay finished outside of the team’s scoring by shooting 84 (+13). The Little Lions were also District 6 and Mid Penn champions, and Olsen tied for 28th in the state individually and was a district champ.
Anna Stitzer, Penns Valley Cross Country
Stitzer made the most of her senior season with the Rams, collecting Mountain League, District 6 and PIAA Class 1A gold medals, and breaking a pile of course records along the way. Stitzer, who placed 23rd at last year’s state meet, showed she was going to be a force to be reckoned with early in the 2021 season, placing third at the PIAA Foundation meet in Hershey. From there, she broke course records at State College, Clearfield, Hollidaysburg and Penns Valley. She helped her team to its fifth consecutive regular season Mountain League title, before sweeping her three postseason races, winning PIAA gold in 19:32.0.
Nolan Weaver, Bellefonte football
Weaver was a two-time winner of the Athlete of the Week honor for Aug. 30-Sept. 4 and Oct. 4-9. He had two standout performances — his first coming against Philipsburg-Osceola where he had a forced fumble and added a 9-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown and a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown. He added four receptions for 23 yards on the night for the Raiders to retain the Luther Trophy. His second was against Huntingdon, where he had 21 carries for 266 yards and two touchdowns and six tackles on defense.
